Crossovers can be an odd lot. When done within the same setting, characters from two or more sources, typically series, meet and work out a way to solve a problem they have in common, whether the problem is medical, social, or villainous. Crossovers become events in comics and on TV; casts appearing outside their own title does draw an audience but the writing has to take into account the new personalities. Cross-corporate crossovers are an oddity. Normally found in the realm of fanfiction, where negotiations between companies about how their property appears isn’t a thing, the cross-corporate crossover does occur from time to time and is treated as an event by all companies involved. Examples of successful cross-corporate crossovers include JLA/Avengers, bringing DC and Marvel’s premier super teams together, and Who Framed Roger Rabbit?, bringing together cartoon characters from Disney and Warner Bros.

Archie Comics, though, tends to have the more interesting crossovers in the comic industry. Among the crossovers are The Punisher Meets Archie, Archie Meets KISS, Archie vs Predator and Archie vs Sharknado, the latter being an official crossover written by the Sharknado creators. Archie is the little black dress of comics; he goes with everything, no matter how odd the pairing seems on first glance.

DC, in the meantime, has been continuing some if the older TV series based on their characters, notable Batman ’66, based on the Adam West series, and Wonder Woman ’77, based on the Lynda Carter show. Both series aim to capture the feel of the original series. And this is where Archie comes in. Archie Comics has a timelessness thanks to being around since 1939. Their titles have reflected a wholesome image of teenagers ever since, with the characters remaining a constant despite changes in culture and society over time. The company’s digests have featured current and older stories, with the only real difference being art style and fashion. This makes dropping Archie and his friends into a specific era easy to do.

Archie Meets Batman ’66 is not an unusual crossover for Archie. The Adam West Batman series shows a more wholesome version of Gotham City, a Gotham terrorized by villains foul, that wouldn’t look out of place beside Riverdale. Archie fits into that setting without any need to shoehorn details.

The comic ran as a six issue mini-series in 2019, then later released as a trade paperback collection. It begins in Gotham City as Poison Ivy terrorizes the World’s Science Fair with her snapdragon, only to be thwarted by Batman, Robin, and Batgirl. But Ivy provides the distraction Bookworm needs for he and his henchwoman, Footnote, to steal an electronic book. Elsewhere, the United Underworld – Catwoman, Joker, Penguin, and Riddler – comment on Ivy’s efforts, The Riddler realizes that Gotham isn’t where the United Underworld should start its world domination. Batman is just too difficult to overcome. It would be easier to take over a city that doesn’t have a superhero. Riverdale has everything Gotham has – a chief of police, a rich millionaire – and no Batman. Very low crime rate, even. Perfect for striking.

Hiram Lodge is the first victim of United Underworld’s mind control scheme. However, the scheme only affects grown men. With coerced help from Riverdale technical genius Dilton Doiley, the villains manage to get all the adults, but teenagers are still a random element. Riddler finds a protege in Reggie Mantle, while the Joker needs effort to turn Jughead into a junior version. Catwoman’s alter ego Miss Kitka gets most of the teenaged boys on board, leaving Veronica, Betty, and the other teenaged girls, plus Kevin Keller, to figure out how to stop the United Underworld. Fortunately, Batman is on the case. It takes a combined effort from Batman, Robin, Batgirl with Archie and his friends to defeat the United Underworld and save Riverdale.

With crossovers, characters from both sources need to be equally active in the plot, at least to the point of believability. Having one set of characters be in the backseat of the plot, being dragged around from plot point to plot point, does them a disservice. The spotlight’s on all the characters, not just the ones from one of the sources. Archie Meets Batman ’66 does this. While Archie and his friends aren’t trained crime fighters, they do pitch in. They may not fight, but they are willing to be distractions. Likewise, Batman, Batgirl, and Robin don’t stand alone against the villains in Riverdale. They accept the help offered.

Details are also important. DC’s Batman ’66 is based on the Adam West Batman, not the regular continuity. A Batman that works only in black and really dark gray wouldn’t fit in. The colours are bright, suiting both the 1966 series and Archie Comics. Even the smaller details help. United Underworld is pulled straight from the movie, as is Miss Kitka. The Joker has Cesar Romero’s mustache under the whitepaint. The Batusi makes an appearance as does The Archies’ hit single, “Sugar Sugar“, albeit three years too early.

There are scenes, though, when the soundtrack starts playing in your head. Fight scenes have the appropriate written sound effects, none repeated in the run of the mini-series. The narrator, who in most comics serves to remind readers of past events, takes on the voice of the TV series’, with alliteration during the cliffhangers at the end of chapters 1-5.

Archie Meets Batman ’66 manages to meld the two sources, combining Archie Comics’ timelessness and wholesomeness with the 1966 Batman TV series’ sense of fun and camp. The two merge seemlessly, a crossover long overdue. Both sources come through shining.

Archie Comics, the third of the Big Three American comic book publishers, has survived since 1939 on the slice of life, laugh a panel stories of its characters.  Sure, the company has dipped into other genres, like superheroes, but the company’s bread and butter has been the lives of teenagers in Riverdale, a town caught in a perpetual now that has incrementally changed over the years.  Among the cast of characters are Josie and the Pussycats, an all-girl band from the neighbouring town of Midvale.

Josie didn’t start as the lead singer of her own band.  Creator Dan DeCarlo was inspired to create the character after seeing his wife, who he named Josie after, in a cat costume on a cruise.  After shopping the character and her strip around, DeCarlo sold the idea to Archie Comics.  Josie debuted in Archie’s Pals & Gals #23, in 1963, followed by her own title, initially called She’s Josie.  The title became Josie with issue 17.

The initial cast of characters included redhead Josie, who was essentially a gender-flipped Archie Andrews, her friends Melody, a blonde ditz, and Pepper, a dark-haired cynic.  In the supporting cast, Josie had her beatnik boyfriend Albert, Pepper’s brawny boyfriend Sock, Alexander Cabot III who vied for Josie’s affection, and Alexandra Cabot, Alex’s skunk-haired twin sister.  Josie would also appear in Archie titles, and the regular Archie cast would make cameos in hers.

The comic changed its title again in 1969, becoming Josie and the Pussycats.  Josie started a band, becoming the lead singer and lead guitarist with Melody joining as the drummer.  The Pussycats recruited Valerie as both bassist and songwriter.  Alex became the band’s manager.  Alexandra discovers that her cat, Sebastien, is a reincarnation of an ancestor who was executed for witchcraft, giving her some limited magical abilities. With the comic’s new direction, Pepper, Albert, and Sock disappeared.  Alan M. stepped in to fill the role of Josie’s boyfriend, with Alexandra becoming a rival for his affections, and becoming a rival for Alex for Josie’s.  The comic featured stories of the band on tour as well as day-to-day life as teenagers.

Archie had some success with a Filmation cartoon adaptation and a Billboard #1 hit, “Sugar Sugar“.  Hoping to duplicate the success, Hanna-Barbera reached out to Archie Comics to adapt another title, getting Josie and the Pussycats.  The first season of the cartoon saw the band on the road, getting involved in Scooby-Doo-like mysteries, with several characters taking on Scooby roles.  In particular, Alan M. filled in for Fred and Alex, voiced by Casey Kasem, in Kasem’s Scooby role, Shaggy.  The second and final season of the cartoon, Josie and the Pussycats in Outer Space sent the band on tour in space.

The comic ended publication in 1982, though the characters continued to appear in other Archie titles and in various Archie digests, including Pals & Gals.  In 2001, Universal released a live action movie adaptation of the comic and characters, with Rachel Leigh Cook as Josie, Rosario Dawson as Valerie, and Tara Reid as Melody.  The film updates the Pussycats to what was current in 2001, giving the band a new sound without losing the core that people would remember from the cartoon.

The movie begins as the boy band, Dujour (Donald Faison, Alexander Martin, Breckin Meyer, and Seth Green), arrives at the airport to perform their latest hit to a screaming mob before getting on their jet to go to Riverdale.  In the air, though, all is not smooth with Dujour as little annoyances have built up.  Their manager and promoter, Wyatt (Alan Cumming), is more their babysitter.  He smooths the rifts over, but the band brings up a concern on the latest remix.  Wyatt’s denial could only fool the very gullible, so Dujour is placated.  However, Wyatt heads to the cockpit to tell the pilot, “take the Chevy to the levee“, and they both bail out.  The plane goes down near Riverdale.

In Riverdale, Josie, Valerie, and Melody are working hard to break into the music industry, working odd jobs so that they can perform anywhere that will let them, including a bowling alley.  The Pussycats want to be rock stars with their own style.  During the down time, Josie hangs around with Alan M. (Gabriel Mann), where both are having a problem getting out how they feel about each other to each other.  Josie and the other Pussycats also try to find out where their manager, Alexander Cabot III, was during their bowling alley gig.  Alex’s twin sister, Alexandra (Missi Pyle), reveals that he was in line for Dujour tickets.  When the news breaks about Dujour’s disappearance, Josie decides that the band has to work harder to gain a following, something that can’t be done by sitting on a couch.  The Pussycats go out to busk in downtown Riverdale, but a confrontation with a store owner forces them to flee.

Wyatt has been busy.  He’s managed to get news of Dujour’s disappearance out, their last hit song out for listeners, and has been given new orders by the owner of Megarecords, Fiona (Parker Posey), to find a new band.  Downtown Riverdale isn’t exactly bursting open with random bands just crossing his path.  Except, he has to hit the brakes to avoid hitting the Pussycats.  He offers the girls a contract and flies them out to New York.  The roses have a few thorns.  Wyatt renames the band to Josie and the Pussycats.  But the thorns are ignorable as the band begins to chart.

Fiona has what she needs, the new band to replace Dujour.  She takes a group of foreign investors on a tour of her underground facilities.  Megarecords, in conjuction with the American government through Agent Kelly, is working on a massivie subliminal message project.  Hit bands under the Megarecords label have had extra tracks laid under the music with suggestions narrated by Russ Leatherman, Mr. Moviefone himself.  Said suggestions include fashion trends, what slang is hot, what colours are in, and what to buy.  Dujour had made this same discovery and were silenced.  But now, Megarecords has Josie and the Pussycats, who are the number one band in America.

Valerie, though, still sees the thorns.  She sees the media focused on just Josie.  She sees how she and Melody are being shifted away.  Most movies in this genre – band climbing to fame – sees the lead singer arguing with her bandmates and letting her ego get away from her.  The live action Jem and the Holograms is a good example of this plot.  However, Josie cares too much about Valerie and Melody to just toss them aside; they’ve worked too hard together to get where they are.  Nothing will get in between them.

Wyatt and Fiona realize how close the Pussycats are, so arrange to turn Josie into a solo act.  First, Valerie and Melody are lured to a fake taping of Total Request Live where the real Carson Daly and a fake Carson Daly (Aries Spears) try to murder them.  With Josie alone, Wyatt passes along a new remix of a new song to Josie to listen to, one with subliminal messaging telling her that she’s far better than Melody and Valerie.  Valerie and Melody manage to escape both Carson Dalys and return, only to be driven away by Josie.

Alone, Josie storms off, still listening to the remix with the subliminal messaging.  She winds up skipping Alan M.’s gig as a solo guitarist, leaving him to the tender mercies of Alexandra.  Josie does break through the brainwashing, though, and realizes what happened.  With help from Alexander and Alexandra, Josie gets the proof she needs that Megarecords, Wyatt, and Fiona are up to no good.  Fiona catches her in the act, though, and forces her to go to the Sega Megarena to perform.

Melody and Valerie catch up at the Megarena.  Josie tries to make up for her bad behavior to them, but the bridges are too badly burnt.  Fiona threatens to kill Valerie and Melody to force Josie to go on stage, to the point of having an MTV news bulletin already created reporting the deaths of the bandmates in a firey explosion.  Josie acquiesces, but still tries one more time to make up with her friends.  All looks lost, until the deus ex puer cohortem arrives, in the form of Dujour.  They had managed to land their private jet.  Unfortunately, they set down outside a Metallica concert and only escaped the fans because of one of Dujour knew “Enter the Sandman“.  Dujour isn’t up for a fight, but they are the distraction Josie needs to try to free her friends.  Too bad the car Valerie and Melody are in are on a turntable, letting Fiona catch Josie in the act.

Josie, though, has had enough and launches herself at Fiona.  With chaos breaking out, Valerie and Melody break free and help out.  Valerie takes on Wyatt leaving Melody to deal with Fiona’s bodyguards.  The latter fight isn’t fair; Melody knows kung fu.  Valerie manages to clothesline Wyatt.  Josie goads Fiona into swinging a guitar at her; the miss destroys the machine controlling the subliminal messages.  Agent Kelly arrives with several other G-Men.  Josie reveals the plot to them, telling them that Fiona and Wyatt were brainwashing teenagers.  Kelly has little choice but to throw Fiona under the bus and takes her away.

The Megarena is still filled with an audience who wants to see Josie and the Pussycats play.  The Pussycats are blown away by the size of the crowd, but still go on with the show, even without the subliminal messages, giving the audience a chance to make its own decision on whether to like the band.  The Pussycats bring down the house.

The movie is a satire of the music industry and consumerism.  Dujour is the boy band of the day.  Product placement is everywhere, obvious and obnoxious, none of it paid placement.  There’s even an Evian ad in a whale tank.  The Pussycats get co-opted to sell everything, even themselves.  There are times when the movie is cynical about the music industry.  At the same time, the movie understands its target audience.  Teenagers are media savvy and know when they’re being pandered to, with some extras for fans of the cartoon.  Fiona’s plot is comically over the top to satisfy a very human need, the need to be accepted.  All from Archie Comics’ film studio, Riverdale Productions.  Josie and the Pussycats isn’t what is expected from the company*.

The characters from the comic are critical to making the movie about the Pussycats instead of any other all-girl band.  Josie is the ambitious one, wanting to become a rock star, the one pushing her bandmates.  Valerie is the rock, the one still anchored to reality that her friends can count on.  Melody is still the ditz, not quite all there and capable of completely missing the obvious.  Josie and Alan M. are trying to be a couple, with Alexandra trying to insert herself into Alan M.’s life.  Alexandra remains true to her comic book incarnation, unpleasant but willing to let herself be dragged along when the going gets tough.  She even keeps her skunk stripe.  The effort is there to keep the characters true to the original.  Again, it helps that the owners of the property are involved; that’s one less separation between the original work and the adaptation.

The movie has had an effect on the characters in the comics.  The names given in the film – Josie McCoy, Melody Valentine – have been accepted as canonical.  Valerie‘s last name was Smith in the comics, though it changes to Brown when Pepper Smith returns.  With the New Riverdale line of comics, with new but still familiar designs for all of the Archie characters, the Pussycats get a look that fits in with the movie, though Melody is less a ditz and more living in her own comic book that just crosses over with Josie and the Pussycats.

The live action Josie and the Pussycats is an evolution for the characters.  They were brought up to date, given a new sound that resonated with the era, and yet remained true to their comic book forms.  While the movie didn’t do well in theatres, it provided satire of an industry while delivering a comic book-style plot that would fit in with the animated adaptation of 1970.

* Then again, the publisher has released such titles as Archie Meets Kiss, Archie Meets the Punisher, and Archie vs Sharknado, so maybe the movie isn’t all that unexpected.

The dam broke.  News just keeps flowing, with nothing outside consideration.  Let’s get started on the March news roundup.

Catan TV and movie rights purchased.
Gail Katz, producer of /The Perfect Storm/, has bought the rights to the board game, The Settlers of Catan.  While the purchasing of rights is just the first of many steps to get a movie or TV series made, it’s not a guarentee.  Catan also has the interesting problem of having no set plot.  Instead, players are in competition to settle the land of Catan, but may also trade with each other.  The trading is the source of endless “wood for sheep” jokes amongst the game’s players.

Jim Starlin’s Dreadstar becoming TV series.
Starlin, creator of Guardians of the Galaxy, will also be the executive producer of the TV series.  /Dreadstar/ will follow Vanth Dreadstar, sole surviror of the Milky Way galaxy, as he tries to end an war between two empires.  No casting has been announced.

Fox greenlights Sandman spinoff.
Lucifer, a spinoff of Sandman, has been ordered by Fox.  The original Lucifer had the lord of Hell giving up the title and moving to Earth to run a piano bar while interacting with other religious figures.  The Fox series, though, has Lucifer assisting the Los Angeles police department in solving crimes.

New Alien movie to be directed by Neill Blomkamp.
Blomkamp, who directed /District 9/, has a deal with Fox to film a new /Alien/ movie.  This film is separate from Ridley Scott’s Prometheus 2.  Blomkamp’s movie will be a sequel to Aliens, and will bring back Sigourney Weaver as Ripley.

EL James to write script for 50 Shades sequel.
James, who wrote the 50 Shades trilogy, is exerting ownership and control and will be the scriptwriter for the next movie in the series.  The sequel may be delayed as a result; James has not written a script before and the Valentine’s Day 2016 release date may not be possible.  The sequel also needs a new director; Sam Taylor-Johnson will not be back after numerous fights with James on set during the filming.

MacGuyver may be getting a reboot TV series.
Lee Zlotoff, the creator of the original MacGuyver TV series, is working with the National Academy of Engineers on a crowdsourcing competition to find the next MacGuyver.  The challenge – the new character must be a woman, who doesn’t necessarily need to be named MacGuyver.   The prize is $5000 and working with a Hollywood producer to develop the script.

Netflix to make new Inspector Gadget, Danger Mouse series.
Netflix is becoming the newest source for series.  Besides the Marvel offerings, Netflix will be adding animation to the lineup.  First, Inspector Gadget, a 26-episode reboot of the classic cartoon, will start in March in the US and in other countries later.  A revival of Danger Mouse, will follow.

Not to be outdone, Disney brings back Duck Tales.
Duck Tales, a staple of the late 80s and early 90s, is returning with new episodes on Disney XD in 2017.  The same characters from the original will be in the new show.

The Search for More Money may become a reality.
Mel Brooks has said he wants to make Spaceballs: The Search for More Money.  Nothing is confirmed, but the idea is to have the sequel come out after Star Wars: The Force Awakens.

Alfred Bester’s The Stars My Destination may be adapted in near future.
Paramount Pictures may be signing a deal the lead the way to a movie adaptation of the novel.  The novel’s been in development hell for twenty years, with Richard Gere and Paul W.S. Anderson being attached to the project.  Talks are still early, though.

Electra Woman and Dyna Girl getting remade.
Taking the titular roles are Grace Helbigg and Dana Hart, both of whom are known through their work on YouTube.  The original Electra Woman and Dyna Girl was a 1976 Sid and Marty Krofft series and starred a pre-Days of Our Lives Deidre Hall.

Adventure Time to become feature film.
Cartoon Networks’ Adventure Time is in development for an animated film.  Chris McKay and Roy Lee, producers of The LEGO Movie and the upcoming The LEGO Batman Movie will produce the film.

John Barrowman to develop project from Heavy Metal.
Barrowman, known for his role of Captain Jack Harkness on Doctor Who and Torchwood, will produce and star in The 49th Key, a miniseries based on a story by Erika Lewis that just started in the magazine, Heavy Metal, as of issue #273.

Mrs. Frisby and the Rats of NIHM being remade.
MGM will adapt the book by Robert C. O’Brien as a mix of live action and CGI.  Adapted once before by Don Bluth as The Secret of NIHM, Mrs. Frisby and the Rats of NIHM is about a widowed mouse who gets help from escaped lab rats to save her home and her son.

Valiant Comics bringing their characters to the movies.
DMG Entertainment of Beijing has invested in Valiant Comics and wants to bring the Valiant characters to the silver screen and television.  Valiant has Bloodshot, Shadowman, and Archer and Armstrong already in development.

Live action Akira film delayed again.
The director attached to the project, James Collet-Serra, is taking time for himself after making the movies Non-Stop and Run All Night back-to-back.  The fate of the adaptation is back in the hand of Warner Bros.  The studio has been trying to cut the budget from the initial $180 million estimate down to between $60 and $70 million to offset the fan backlash currently happening.  Warner has had the Akira adaptation in some form of development since 2002.

Sony working on an male-driven Ghostbusters remake.
The male-driven remake/reboot is being developed in parallel with the female-driven version.  Sony is hoping to expand the franchise.  Maybe the best approach for the movies is to borrow from the West End Games Ghostbusters role-playing game and set each movie as a separate Ghostbusters International franchise in different cities.  Ghostbusters Tokyo: The Anime anyone?

Three Days of the Condor becoming a TV series.
The conspiracy thriller of the 70s is being developed for TV by Skydance and David Ellison.  The original movie was itself adapted from the book, Six Days of the Condor, and involved a a CIA operative whose co-workers were murdered as part of a government cover-up.

Archie getting a reboot, new look.
In a possible first for the publisher, Archie Comics is getting a reboot and a new #1.  Mark Waid and Fiona Staples will helm the title and will bring Archie to the 21st Century in appearance without taking away from what makes the character who he is.  The re-imagining comes with Archie’s 75th anniversary and follows such works as AfterLife with Archie and the announced Riverdale TV series.

A third Tron movie is in the works.
A sequel to Tron: Legacy will be directed by Joseph Kosinski, who directed the previous Tron movie.  The movie should follow from events in Legacy.

A few tidbits for the month.  The big news involves the Doctor Strange movie.

Jem and the Holograms comic due in March.
The new design for the characters has been released.  The art is updated while still keeping to the original looks of the dolls and TV series.  The hair is outrageous, as to be expected, but either hair spray or holographic display can explain it.

Benedict Cumberbatch to start as Doctor Strange.
Marvel has confirmed that Benedict Cumberbatch will play the title role in Doctor Strange, the first of the Phase 3 movies.  All Marvel needs to do now is get Loki in the movie.

JK Rowling releasing new Harry Potter.
The releases started on December 12.  Among the works are stories about the Malfoy family, Prof. McGonigle before Hogwarts, and how Floo Powder is made.

TOHO announces first Godzilla movie since hiatus.
TOHO will be ending the fallowing of Godzilla movies in 2016.  The success of the 2014 American Godzilla has encouraged TOHO in bringing back the iconic kaiju.

Archie Comics restarting at #1.
Mark Waid and Fiona Stevens will helm the title after the reboot.  Archie Comics, the publisher, has been on a rejuvenation spree of late, adding darker elements while still being family friendly.

SyFy picks up Krypton.
Air date is still unknown, but SyFy will air the Superman prequel series, Krypton, which will follow Jor-El, father of Kal-El, aka Clark Kent, aka Superman.  As with the other DC properties airing on television, there is no connection to the cinematic releases.

Titans pilot to shoot in 2015.
Geoff Johns confirmed that Titans, the live-action version of the follow-up to /Teen Titans/, will have a pilot filmed in 2015.  Nightwing, aka Dick Greyson, has been confirmed as one of the characters and rumours have added Starfire and Raven.  The show will draw influence from Marv Wolfman and George Pérez’s New Teen Titans.