[Welcome to the EL Book Introductions series. These posts are all short (<180 words) introductions/reviews of books in the EL library. They focus on telling you what we think will be interesting for you, a college student and English learner, so use them to help you find the right book for you. You can also use the tags to find books about topics you might be interested in.]
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There is something special about any popular culture that continues for over 70 years. Archie Comics is one such example, and this book contains some of the most popular stories from between the 1940s to the 2010s. One reason that Archie has survived for so long is because the story is so timeless: most stories center on a group of middle class teenagers having fun and dealing with growing up. Another reason that Archie has survived so long is that the artists keep writing fun stories: sometimes the characters are little children, sometimes they are hunting dinosaurs millions of years ago, sometimes they encounter aliens or superheroes or magic, and sometimes it is a serious drama. Archie Comics also has many spin-off series, like Sabrina the Teenage Witch (about…a teenage witch) and Josie and the Pussycats (about a girl band).
Many of the stories in this collection touch on social issues of their time. In addition, the characters’ personalities, concerns, and even fashion are all connected to the years the stories were written. Of course, the art style has also evolved over the years with different artists and writers. Finally, this book is divided into decades, and the short introductions do a really good job of explaining American culture at that time in history.
My two cents: This is a good book to flip to a random page and start reading. Maybe find a decade you are interested in and start reading there.
