Riverdale fans aren’t down with a ‘perfect’ Archie Andrews

Riverdale has amassed a quick following online, and while Archie Comics fans are mostly excited for the direction the series is headed in, many are annoyed with the “perfect” Archie Andrews portrayed on the show.

In the comics, Archie is a lovable goofball, the quintessential, accident-prone American teenager ripped right from the 1950s with a tendency to find himself in uncomfortable situations. Even when Archie tries his best to not mess up — like getting to school on time or not injuring himself while walking down the street — he somehow manages to do just that. Archie’s goofiness is an endearing quality, and as Riverdale continues, fans of the comics are noticing that Archie isn’t as klutzy or as awkward as he’s always been known to be.

“He's kind of too perfect, which makes him boring, there's not really much to his character,” one Reddit user wrote on the Riverdale subreddit.

Another fan echoed those thoughts, adding that Archie’s not supposed to be good at basketball or even apt at dating Veronica and Betty. Archie’s supposed to represent the common teen, but between being the new stud of Riverdale, a star football player and a talented musician, Archie has become the epitome of every other main character on a teen genre show (think Lucas Scott in One Tree Hill or Tony in Skins).

Without the goofs, fans have started referring to Archie as a one-dimensional, annoying character with few redeeming qualities.

The issue, which has been prominent since the pilot, is trying to fit typical, G-rated Archie Comics humor into Riverdale. Showrunner Roberto Aguirre-Sacasa has said in previous interviews that Riverdale isn’t an adaptation of Archie Comics, but a reimagining of the classic characters in a murder-mystery setting. Simply put, it’s a teen drama, not a family sitcom.

Still, fans are complaining about the change, asking to bring back the lovable red-headed goof who can be seen in the collected comic panels and covers of issues below.

Archie Comics

Archie Comics

Archie Comics

In a 2015 interview with Nerdist, Aguirre-Sacasa specifically said Riverdale was going to be a weird interpretation of both the characters and the comics, and that it wouldn’t rely on the original source material. That’s why characters like Betty and Jughead appear quite different from their original form.

“It is a little subversive; it is a little darker and deeper,” Aguirre-Sacasa said. “It’s still very emotional. It’s still got humor in it. It has Josie and the Pussycats, and music in it as well. I would say that it’s [sic] overall tone is a little bit weirder than you might think.”

That hasn’t stopped fans from complaining on Reddit and Twitter, however, asking where the goofy and awkward teen has gone.

It seems unlikely that Riverdale’s Archie will get more awkward anytime soon, but the show has managed to include some references to the original comics with relative ease that fans should be happy about. Veronica calling Archie “Archiekins” — her pet name for him in their on-and-off-again relationship in the comics — seemed to slip into the series pretty comfortably and to the thrill of most fans.

Riverdale airs Thursday nights at 9 p.m. ET on the CW.