Archie comics gets a 21st century upgrade: Meet the revamped American teens

Archie comics have been framing the high-flying high school life of American suburbia on its colourful pages for the last 75 years. Archie and his gang, Jughead, Betty and Veronica, have been delighting fans over the world and the comics have become a part of pop culture.

But just like everyone else, Archie and his friends too have to keep up with fashion and discard those polyester high-waist flares. And that’s what exactly the comic book writers have done.

Archie Comics have undergone a generational upgrade and the characters and their lives have been updated to modern day life, from skinny jeans to hollywood haircuts and even social media.

According to a report in Bloomberg , Archie comics, with a new hipster look, made its debut at the San Diego Comic Con Wednesday and is launching a modernized Archie after the comics experimented for six years on how to upgrade Archie for the 21st century.

“It was clear to me that Archie was moving down the path of irrelevancy. I really wanted to aim for the comic book shops and the real comic book reader and do a complete relaunch of Archie,” the report quotes Jon Goldwater, chief executive officer of Archie Comics as saying.

Archie now sports a perfect jawline, a Justin Bieber haircut, skinny jeans and smartphone. All this is a far cry from the round-faced jolly high schooler of the ages. He still has the red hair and freckles. Betty now wears a torn jeans and looks like a high school diva, while Jughead, still sporting a crown, wears a high top black sneakers but retains his laidback charm.

The Archie reboot has come out with its first issue, Archie #1, with Mark Waid and Fiona Staples, veteran comic book artists, at the helm, according to Business Insider.

But what has been the reaction of the old school fans to the hipper, sexier Archie.

“The reaction has been overwhelmingly positive. I think in part because we didn’t stray too far afield. Jughead still wears that absurd hat. Archie still looks like an all-American teen, and we’ve made a conscious effort to reflect that racial and cultural diversity of the 21st century without pandering,” Entertainment Weekly quotes Mark Waid as saying.

What do you prefer? The old-school average teen Archie, or the contemporary, shinier, Justin-Bieber-like Archie . Choose fast, the world didn’t wait for Archie, it won’t wait for you.

Check out the revamped Archie issues below. More images are available on their website .