This is a feature called "Nothing is Better." I have a feature called "Reason to Get Excited," where I spotlight aspects of current comic books that have particularly impressed me. I had started to expand it to older comics, but it just didn't feel right. I really think "Reason to Get Excited" should be reserved for current comic books. Therefore, this is the equivalent column for older comic books, "Nothing is Better," where I spotlight aspects of classic comic books that have particularly impressed me.

Today, we look at how much the legendary Archie writer, Frank Doyle, mastered the art of conversation in his comics.

Frank Doyle wrote more Archie stories than any other person in history and likely is way at the top for the most comic book stories written by ANY person. We're talking welllll into the thousands. The Archie format is a fascinating one to me because it is both limiting and especially freeing. You have to fit everything into the realm of a group of teenagers who can never TRULY change, but at the same time, you can pretty much do ANYTHING you want with them. However, even though you can do ANYTHING, you're constrained by the fact that these are inherently short stories that make up the vast majority of Archie comics.

Therefore, Doyle mastered the art of centering a story around a conversation. This is key because it allows you to avoid extraneous action that might take away from your plot. This allows you, then, to fill up the entire story pages with, well, you know, STORY.

Here are two perfect examples. From Betty and Veronica Annual #8, "Sweet Sorrow," drawn by the perhaps even more legendary Dan DeCarlo, where Betty is feeling down in the dumps because of how she compares herself to the wealthy Veronica...

And then, from Archie's Pal, Jughead #99 (drawn by the amazing Samm Schwartz), Jughead and Archie discuss why Jughead won't lend Archie money. This one is probably the epitome of the approach that I'm talking about, because while the Betty and Veronica one had other stuff happen in it, this one is PURELY conversation and it is wonderful...

Doyle was a brilliant writer who really knew how to make the format shine for him.

Okay, folks, this is a feature that is a BIT less conducive to suggestions (as it really is about stories that spoke to me, ya know?), but hey, feel free to still send suggestions in to brianc@cbr.com! Maybe you and I have the same take on things and I'll use your idea!