Well that was a quick story.
Little Archie: The Legend Of The Lost Lagoon (Free Comic Book Day edition)
Archie Comic Publications (2007)
WRITER/PENCILER: Bob Bolling
INKER: Jim Amash
COLORIST: Barry Grossman
LETTERER: Teresa Davidson
EDITOR: Victor Gorelick
Archie and his friends are at summer camp, the boys at Camp Riverdale and the girls at Camp Piney Acres, both near Loon Lake. One day counselor Chic (Betty’s big brother) takes Archie, Chuck Clayton, and Billy Wong (I don’t know who the last kid is) fishing while Counselor Kimberly Clark take Betty, Veronica, and Nancy on a nature boating trip. Both parties seek shelter from an oncoming squall and are guided by a golden owl to the “Lost Lagoon” that camp director Weatherbee (because he will never escape these kids) told them about last night. When the squall is over the boys take the girls back to their camp since their engine is bad, and the other counselors fawn over the handsome boy. Meanwhile the kids go looking for an elf sitting under a mushroom to tell them it’s about to rain and the boys head back to their camp…but not before the girl counselors deal with Chic’s splinter by wrapping up like a mummy.
What they got right: The concept of the Archie gang as kids isn’t a bad one given the old target audience for the franchise. (Not so much these days.) A story about the kids searching for a hidden lagoon could have been a good one.
What they got wrong: The problem is it’s over way too fast and they have to pad out the time with poor Chic getting too much attention from the girls while the kids go elf hunting. I’m not well versed in the classic Archie universe, but while I can accept the owl leading them to the lagoon then cutting them off to protect it, the elf just seems a bit much and they really should have committed to a story about the lagoon. Also, why does Archie keep getting called “Little Archie” while the other two boys are referred to by their first and last names like Charlie Brown. We already gave their full names in the narration and the girls would probably referred to their friends by their first name alone, not “Little Archie” and their full name.
Recommendation: A good idea that they didn’t stick with, resulting in an idea squandered. It’s not really one to hunt down I’m afraid.
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