On Wednesday, July 11 through Sunday, July 15, while attending the Comic-Con International 2012 in San Diego, I ran around to as many of my favorite kids comics creators as I could and asked them all the exact same questions. Keep in mind, comic book conventions are crazy loud and crazy busy, so there is a lot of background noise. Let me know in the comments if you have trouble hearing anything and I’ll translate for you.

I think it was in 2008, back when I was just beginning to build my graphic novel collection and was asking around for title suggestions, that someone said to me, “well, Archie, of course.” Of course Archie. Of course. How had I missed Archie? Maybe because Archie and the rest of the Riverdale gang had been around for so long that they’d become invisible to me. And yet, Archie and Friends (or maybe it was Betty and Veronica) was the first comic I read when I was a teen. Those comics made trips to the dentist bearable (my orthodontist was smart enough to have them in his waiting room) and I looked forward to being able to read them. And I’d forgotten all about them. Shame on me.

Since then, I’ve bought dozens of the Archie books, including my new favorite, Kevin Keller, as well as the monthly comics for my magazine collection. My tweens adore these books. Adore them. They’re never on the shelves. If you find you’ve forgotten about Archie and the gang, too, get to it. Because, of course Archie.

Books mentioned in this video: