Archie Digests and My Family's Vacation Plans
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Article by Scott Tingley, August 02, 2009

Tingley Family Vacation Travel list:

-Cooler full of healthy and not so healthy snacks?  Check.

-Sunblock?  Check.

-Trunk full of beach toys, extra clothes, wet clothes left over from the last day trip? Check.

-Stack of Archie comics? Check!!!

I am sure that I did a little piece like this last summer, but I'm doing it again because to me nothing says summer quite like a stack of Archie digests. Archie Digests cure rainy day blues on a camping trip; they take the sting off of long car trips; and they are kind of disposable. Many comic collectors fuss and fret over every little nick and bend on a comic, but when it comes to Archie digests no one seems to care about anything but the stories. Tide washes one away? No problem. Left out in the rain? Dry it out and keep reading.

Now that my daughter is almost five the versatility of the Archie digest has really become clear to me. She has been reading the same one for a week. Once, after we got home, she sat in the car for an extra ten minutes just so she could finish a story. She doesn't read much yet, but by following the sequential art she gets the gist of a lot of the stories. She is developing good visual literacy.

Archies are fun and they travel well. They are a good value for your dollar (digests are under $3 and the double digests are under $4) and they get traded around so much that one can turn into many if you know some other kids/adults that read them. They can be found at corner stores and grocery stores, unlike most other comics. They can also often be found at flea markets and used book stores (they might be open to trades as well- who knows?).

The digests usually start with a new story or two and the rest comes from other decades. I like looking through them for the stories from the 50s and 60s – I really like the art styles from those periods. Funny thing is that kids don't seem to notice that some stories have the Gang sitting around listening to records – I'm not sure why, but the stories all seem new – just like they did when I was a kid

To sum up: Archie Digests = Summer Awesomeness.

And remember, Reading comics = Reading .

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