The World of Archie Comics Archive
The World of Archie Comics archive includes thousands of digitized & indexed comic books published by Archie Comics, spanning 1943-2020. Providing unprecedented access to a deeply influential franchise, it has tremendous potential to inform research on comics, pop culture & American history. 1/12
The Archie archive is owned by Alexander Street, subsidiary of Clarivate (formerly ProQuest). It was developed by resource managers at Alexander Street in partnership with Archie Comics. But material did not originate with the publisher, who doesn’t have a complete archive of its own material. 2/12
This is not uncommon. Because comics were long considered disposable entertainment, publishers didn’t maintain any standard archives of their own material. Historically, fans have maintained more complete archives than what’s available in the offices of any mainstream comics publisher. 3/12
To build the World of Archie Comics archive, resource managers at Alexander Street sourced comics from physical holdings at research libraries and ebay. They also contacted fans. A significant portion of the Archie archive is sourced from the personal collection of fan/retailer Jack Copley. 4/12
One major advantage that Alexander Street’s Archie archive has over other collections of mainstream digital comics–such as those offered by DC Universe Infinite and Marvel Unlimited–is that it’s fully indexed. This means you can search the archive in a variety of ways. 5/12
Indexing means you can search the World of Archie Comics archive by date, title, character, writer, artist, and subject matter. For instance, you can filter for every story drawn by Dan DeCarlo, every story that includes extraterrestrials, and every story featuring Satan. 6/12
In addition to teen humor comics starring Archie Andrews & the Riverdale gang and spinoffs like Josie & the Pussycats and Sabrina the Teenage Witch, the World of Archie Comics archive also includes rare Golden Age superhero stories appearing in titles like Zip Comics and Blue Ribbon Comics. 7/12
But why Archie Comics? Per a ProQuest brochure advertising the archive: “The evolution of these publications, across more than eight decades, offers insight into changes in society and attitudes pertaining to, for example, issues of race, class, sexuality/gender, and politics.” 8/12
“In a guide to the archive, scholar Bart Beaty adds: “A regular fixture on the newsstands & grocery check outs to this day, Archie is an example of a cultural phenomenon that has worked to adapt to changing sensibilities… [and] has become a cultural referent for generations of American readers.” 9/12
This type of archive is a boon for comics scholars who’ve historically struggled to access primary materials that are rarely in libraries and/or difficult to physically obtain. Access affects what gets studied & how and thus, the shape of the field and even basic understandings of comics. 10/12
For instance, comics studies has historically prioritized graphic novels and post-1960s superhero comics published by Marvel and DC partly because they’re easier to obtain. But for decades, Archie’s teen humor comics rivaled the popularity of Batman and Superman. 11/12
To fully understand what comics are, we need access to comics. The World of Archie Comics archive offers this access, with an important caveat–it’s only accessible to academics whose libraries subscribe to the database. Our next thread will discuss the pros and cons of free, fan-made archives. 12/12