Big news. I have finally decided to collect Archie comics OFFICIALLY. It means that yes, I've been buying Archie comics for as long as I can remember (I was, like, 6 or 7 then. Anyway, I'll tell you about it later), but last night, I thought about buying comic book boxes, plastic containers, etc. It was a mad, mad idea but the good thing is, we already have like HUNDREDS and HUNDREDS of comic books to start with so it's not gonna be a big problem or nuisance. Oh man, I can feel the excitement!

So anyway, I wanna tell you about the first time I bought an Archie. I was 6 or 7, right? And at that time, my mom had a store in Tutuban so I often hung out there when I was out of school. So one time, my mom and I went up to the top floor, where the movie theatre was. And there was a little store there, full of knick knacks. We went there to look at stuff. While my mom was talking to the store owner, something caught my eye. It was -surprise, surprise!- an Archie comic. And Betty and Archie were on the cover. It wasn't a double digest. Just a thin comic book. But it really attracted me. I didn't have the guts to tell mom that I wanted to buy it, so we just went back to mom's store. We moved on to do some other stuff, but the only thing on my mind was that comic book, so finally, I told my mom about it, so she gave me money (a hundred pesos, i think) and asked my Tita Velia to accompany me to the store. I bought the comic and I remember feeling so happy and relieved to finally reading it and finding out what it was all about.

Archie and the Gang represent the promising youth. They relate to us and we relate to them. We all know what they're doing because we go through the same stuff, too. I realized that I was a little young when I first read it, but it somehow gave me some perspective about life, my peers, youth, teenhood, etc. It lead me to believe that anything is possible in this world, and even though the series aims to make the reader laugh, it changed my whole view of things. It also made me want to read other kinds of stuff. I graduated from fairy tales and went on to much more mature reading materials. It was refreshing. It still is. Now, I regret about how I once vandalized those comic books. Some of them have missing covers due to age, but I'm glad the content is still untarnished and readable. The Archie comic series is a work of genius. I don't think there's nothing else in the world quite like it. Yes, there are far more humorous comics out there, but they don't have the charm, the pizzazz, the storylines, the teen troubles, love triangles, disgruntled teachers and professors, and I mean, who doesn't wanna go hang out at Pop Tate's? Even in a fictional world? I hope you get what I mean.

Archie comics are an important part of my childhood and adolescence. And now, I wanna pay tribute to them.