Most of us started reading comic books before we actually started reading fiction and moved on from there. In the beginning (and by this we mean the 80s and 90s), there was Tinkle and other great offerings from local publishers. Then there were Archie Comics. One of the best pop culture exports from the United States over the past few decades, Archie Comics captured the fun and angst of being a teenager in America. But what it also did was it gave us insight into many things, from making music, to making out (Mothers, look away now!). It also introduced us to sundaes and burgers. Without looking at it from an ‘American culture is destroying our social fabric’ point of view, Archie did change the perception of then young Indians and perhaps does even now. Towards the turn of the century, Archie Comics changed to. The artwork changed, and later mindsets. In 2010, Archie met Kevin Keller, the series first gay character.
Now though, Archie and his friends have come to the small screen in India. The recent premiere of Riverdale will introduce a whole new generation to Archie, and his perennial dating problems - Betty or Veronica. But, there’s a dark side to this series. It’s no more fun and games. There’s a murder involved. What’s even more intriguing, not from a positive angle, is the teacher-student ‘romantic’ relationship that occurs. Someone is going to have to call out “statutory rape” soon. But besides that, Riverdale doesn’t seem to have the same effect as the comic books did all those years ago, although we’ve only seen just two episodes. Goa seems to think so too!
So I watched the first two episodes of Riverdale, the latest show from the CW network adapted from an old time classic favourite comic "Archie Comics" which we all grew up on. This is nothing like the comics though. The characters are all dark and twisted and tortured in their own lives and the show is pretty sinister in terms of the plot so far. Very much like Pretty Little Liars actually. There doesn't seem to be any levity. The Archie-Veronica-Betty triangle is still sorting themselves out so let's wait and watch. Should be interesting to see how it pans out. And the student-hot teacher relationship is definitely a crazy twist given that Ms.Grundy was supposed to be on the elderly and stern type. Definitely controversial and can only hope it doesn't get emulated on this side of the world if it hasn't already. Still too early for me to say if the show is a write off though. Will watch a few more episodes and then decide.
Karina de Gouveia Pinto, travel industry executive
Although I grew up reading the comic book, I do feel the series provides a whole different perception to the audience - the portrayal of characters, the storylines, etc. Taking into consideration the general outline of the entire series, it's unfortunate that it's probably not advisable for viewing by all ages - the need to enhance drama by emphasis on sex, affairs and prohibited relationships as opposing to clean school fun in the books.
Casha Rozario e Nogar, entrepreneur
It's been so long since I picked up an Archie digest. I was very curious to see what the characters would be like in the TV series, which is the main reason I started watching it! I think I would have enjoyed it a lot more if it was a light-hearted comedy show, similar to the books. I'm only on the second episode though, so I might change my mind about that. Right now, I'm definitely curious to see where this goes. About the student teacher relationship, it's taken me a while to get used to Miss Grundy being hot! So maybe once I'm past that I would have an opinion on whether it's a romance or something else entirely!
Falon D'Cruz, fashion designer
