Sparks cartoonist mourns Archie

Brian Crane, whose comic strip “Pickles” appears in more than 900 newspapers, thinks the killing of Archie Andrews is crazy.

On April 8, Archie Comics announced that the famous comic book character after whom the corporation is named will be killed off while saving a friend. Crane said he was surprised to hear the news and could only guess it had something to do with trying to prop up the comic.

At a book signing in South Reno, Crane said, “It sounds like a desperate grab for attention to me, you know. Like jumping the shark, where you can't think of anything else—‘Well, let's kill the hero and see what happens.' … I just kind of wonder, what were they thinking?”

Jumping the shark is a trope referencing the point when a television show, advertising promotion or other endeavor begins losing public favor and tries something extreme to regain ground. It is named for a fifth season Happy Days episode in which “Fonzie” is shown in his leather jacket on water skis jumping over a shark.

Archie's death will take place in one comic book, Life with Archie, which has recently been using two story lines on the character's later life, one in which he is married to Betty, the other to Veronica. He will die in both story lines.