# He's not half the Moose he used to be... **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [January 20, 2015, 11:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hes-not-half-the-moose-he-used-to-be/710428 "2015-01-20T23:44:03Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Penfeather](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/penfeather/32/384_2.png) [@Penfeather](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Penfeather)\ **Post date:** [January 21, 2015, 7:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hes-not-half-the-moose-he-used-to-be/710428/21 "2015-01-21T19:04:11Z")
> [@dougie\_monty](#): > > I followed that link. Cthulu looks as repulsive as the monster in the movie _Alien._ There’s a movie called _Alien_? That’s offensive! No wonder Earth’s always being invaded. ---
**Author:** ![Hail\_Ants](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/dc4da7/32.png) [@Hail\_Ants](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hail_Ants)\ **Post date:** [January 21, 2015, 8:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hes-not-half-the-moose-he-used-to-be/710428/22 "2015-01-21T20:29:17Z")
> [@BrotherCadfael](#): > > Here’s the [Darker and Edgier](http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/DarkerAndEdgier) video version: [Riverdale](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=djRAiiFlCy8). > > (Hilarious!) Ah, once again _Lux Aeterna_ makes anything over the top! (actually I think it was the \*Requiem for a Tower \*version). The only Archie I ever knew was the awful 70s Saturday morning show (I hated it even as a kid). Ya know, the one with the Groovy Ghoulies or something. How long has there been a ‘Jughead is gay’ vibe?! And who’s the kid who goes all Columbine? ---
**Author:** ![dougie\_monty](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/439d5e/32.png) [@dougie\_monty](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dougie_monty)\ **Post date:** [January 21, 2015, 9:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hes-not-half-the-moose-he-used-to-be/710428/23 "2015-01-21T21:54:18Z")
> [@running\_coach](#): > > Now you’ve hurt his feelings. He was hoping he looked worse. > > […] He was? Oh…maybe I should have said _at least_ as repulsive. Feel better, Cthulu? 🙂 Oh…Incest between Jason and Cheryl? That sounds interesting. Remember Helen and Irwin Sharp? ---
**Author:** ![Trinopus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/2bfe46/32.png) [@Trinopus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Trinopus)\ **Post date:** [January 22, 2015, 12:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hes-not-half-the-moose-he-used-to-be/710428/24 "2015-01-22T00:46:09Z")
> [@Hail\_Ants](#): > > . . . And Archie Comics is still in print?!? Not only Archie Comics with Archie, Betty, Veronica, and the gang, but they’re publishing the successful Sonic the Hedgehog comics (three titles, right now, I believe.) Anybody else remember Thunder Bunny? When that title switched from an Archie affiliate to another publisher, the artist/writer engaged in a bit of cathartic expression by having space aliens vaporize a very recognizable Archie and Jughead. ---
**Author:** ![Miller](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/miller/32/481_2.png) [@Miller](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Miller)\ **Post date:** [January 22, 2015, 12:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hes-not-half-the-moose-he-used-to-be/710428/25 "2015-01-22T00:57:54Z")
> [@Trinopus](#): > > Not only Archie Comics with Archie, Betty, Veronica, and the gang, but they’re publishing the successful Sonic the Hedgehog comics (three titles, right now, I believe.) They’re also relaunching their old silver-age superhero titles. ---
**Author:** ![Kamino\_Neko](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kamino_neko/32/34_2.png) [@Kamino\_Neko](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kamino_Neko)\ **Post date:** [January 22, 2015, 3:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hes-not-half-the-moose-he-used-to-be/710428/26 "2015-01-22T03:48:37Z")
> [@Miller](#): > > They’re also relaunching their old silver-age superhero titles. Rerelaunching, even…they’ve been doing the Red Circle comics for a while, they’re relaunching them again as Dark Circle sometime soon. ---
**Author:** ![Derleth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b9e5f3/32.png) [@Derleth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Derleth)\ **Post date:** [January 22, 2015, 4:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hes-not-half-the-moose-he-used-to-be/710428/27 "2015-01-22T04:23:04Z")
> [@dougie\_monty](#): > > Feel better, Cthulu? 🙂 Despite what my namesake did to the mythos, the Ancient Ones in general are to humans what humans are to gnats, if the knowledge of the existence of humans drove gnats violently insane. It doesn’t really realize that humans are sentient, assuming it’s aware we exist. One day, when the stars are right, it will destroy us all; not out of malice, but because it exists. Sleep tight. ---
**Author:** ![dougie\_monty](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/439d5e/32.png) [@dougie\_monty](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dougie_monty)\ **Post date:** [January 22, 2015, 6:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hes-not-half-the-moose-he-used-to-be/710428/28 "2015-01-22T06:00:21Z")
> [@Derleth](#): > > […] > > Sleep tight. Nothing doing–I don’t drink. ---
**Author:** ![Guinastasia](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/guinastasia/32/5751_2.png) [@Guinastasia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Guinastasia)\ **Post date:** [January 22, 2015, 6:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hes-not-half-the-moose-he-used-to-be/710428/29 "2015-01-22T06:17:35Z")
I’m half the Moose I used to be This I feel as the dawn It fades to gray Well, I’m half the Moose I used to be This I feel as the dawn It fades to gray Well, I’m half the Moose I used to be This I feel as the dawn It fades to gray Well, I’m half the Moose I used to be, half the Moose I used to be (With apologies to Stone Temple Pilots) ---
**Author:** ![Horatio\_Hellpop](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/e5b9ba/32.png) [@Horatio\_Hellpop](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Horatio_Hellpop)\ **Post date:** [January 22, 2015, 8:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hes-not-half-the-moose-he-used-to-be/710428/30 "2015-01-22T08:17:33Z")
My cousin posted a selfie from Riverdale, Utah and made an Archie joke. I think Archie and Utah are a pretty good fit. Retro clothes, small-town values, no black friends, polygamy… ---
**Author:** ![Kamino\_Neko](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kamino_neko/32/34_2.png) [@Kamino\_Neko](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kamino_Neko)\ **Post date:** [January 22, 2015, 10:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hes-not-half-the-moose-he-used-to-be/710428/31 "2015-01-22T10:46:25Z")
> [@Horatio\_Hellpop](#): > > no black friends Aside, of course, from Chuck Clayton, Nancy Woods (both of whom have been around since the 70s), and Valerie Smith (who dated Archie for a short time, as already mentioned (and got a short future-story of her marriage to him) - though she mostly hangs out with the other Pussycats). ---
**Author:** ![FriarTed](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/friarted/32/1052_2.png) [@FriarTed](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FriarTed)\ **Post date:** [January 22, 2015, 11:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hes-not-half-the-moose-he-used-to-be/710428/32 "2015-01-22T11:01:51Z")
So far no one has felt compelled to introduced dougie\_monty to the work of H.P. Lovecraft? OK, HPL was a SciFi/Horror writer of the 1920s-30s, many of his stories included the concept of extraterrestrial/interdimensional “demon-gods” who have, at least for the time being, been displaced by humanity, and while now bound from direct interference with humans, can still exert some influence on us, even as we can do ritual magick to connect to them. His two most “popular” creations are the Octopus-headed humanoid Cthulhu & the black magick book The Necronomicon. To the subject of the thread, Big Ethel has also had cartoonist orthodontial & a makeover, is smarter, talented at cooking, has greater self-esteem, and Jughead is somewhat more tolerant of her expressions of affection for him. ---
**Author:** ![dougie\_monty](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/439d5e/32.png) [@dougie\_monty](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dougie_monty)\ **Post date:** [January 22, 2015, 3:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hes-not-half-the-moose-he-used-to-be/710428/33 "2015-01-22T15:29:21Z")
> [@FriarTed](#): > > So far no one has felt compelled to introduced dougie\_monty to the work of H.P. Lovecraft? > > OK, HPL was a SciFi/Horror writer of the 1920s-30s, many of his stories included the concept of extraterrestrial/interdimensional “demon-gods” who have, at least for the time being, been displaced by humanity, and while now bound from direct interference with humans, can still exert some influence on us, even as we can do ritual magick to connect to them. His two most “popular” creations are the Octopus-headed humanoid Cthulhu & the black magick book The Necronomicon. > > To the subject of the thread, Big Ethel has also had cartoonist orthodontial & a makeover, is smarter, talented at cooking, has greater self-esteem, and Jughead is somewhat more tolerant of her expressions of affection for him. How does H. P. Lovecraft compare to Stephen King? (Not that I particularly care for HIS works either.) ---
**Author:** ![Scumpup](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ce73a5/32.png) [@Scumpup](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Scumpup)\ **Post date:** [January 22, 2015, 3:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hes-not-half-the-moose-he-used-to-be/710428/34 "2015-01-22T15:36:15Z")
Lovecraft is of historical importance WRT fantastic literature. His big picture mythos that underpins many of his stories was awesome and has taken on a life of its own. OTOH, he just wasn’t a very good writer a lot of the time. Also, many modern readers are put off by overt racism in more that a few of his stories. ---
**Author:** ![dougie\_monty](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/439d5e/32.png) [@dougie\_monty](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dougie_monty)\ **Post date:** [January 22, 2015, 3:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hes-not-half-the-moose-he-used-to-be/710428/35 "2015-01-22T15:40:26Z")
> [@Scumpup](#): > > Lovecraft is of historical importance WRT fantastic literature. His big picture mythos that underpins many of his stories was awesome and has taken on a life of its own. OTOH, he just wasn’t a very good writer a lot of the time. Also, many modern readers are put off by overt racism in more that a few of his stories. So he wrote in a more supernatural vein, perhaps? ---
**Author:** ![Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/7cd45c/32.png) [@Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Elendil_s_Heir)\ **Post date:** [January 22, 2015, 3:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hes-not-half-the-moose-he-used-to-be/710428/36 "2015-01-22T15:52:14Z")
Both King and Lovecraft wrote supernatural-themed stories. King has been _much_ more successful in his own lifetime and is, IMHO, a better writer, as well as having a broader range. > **[H. P. Lovecraft](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/H.p._lovecraft)** > > Howard Phillips Lovecraft (US: /ˈlʌvkræft/; August 20, 1890 – March 15, 1937) was an American writer of weird, science, fantasy, and horror fiction. He is best known for his creation of the Cthulhu Mythos.\[a\] > Born in Providence, Rhode Island, Lovecraft spent most of his life in New England. After his father's institutionalization in 1893, he lived affluently until his family's wealth dissipated after the death of his grandfather. Lovecraft then lived with his mother, in reduced financial se... ---
**Author:** ![Son\_of\_a\_Rich](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/son_of_a_rich/32/5439_2.png) [@Son\_of\_a\_Rich](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Son_of_a_Rich)\ **Post date:** [January 22, 2015, 3:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hes-not-half-the-moose-he-used-to-be/710428/37 "2015-01-22T15:57:22Z")
I love the old Mad Magazine parody “Starchie”. He’s a juvenile delinquent who, when he finally ends up in prison and thinks about how Betty would throw herself at him, repeatedly bangs his head against the wall until there’s a big divot in it (the wall that is). ---
**Author:** ![dougie\_monty](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/439d5e/32.png) [@dougie\_monty](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dougie_monty)\ **Post date:** [January 22, 2015, 4:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hes-not-half-the-moose-he-used-to-be/710428/38 "2015-01-22T16:04:10Z")
I remember reading that as a kid. At the end, when “Starchie” was in prison, I cried hard. ( By this time I had started reading the regular Archie comics.) My Dad, who introduced me to _Mad,_ saw this and told me that I should behave–or I could wind up like Starchie Standrews. ☹ ---
**Author:** ![Biffy\_the\_Elephant\_Shrew](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/e47c2d/32.png) [@Biffy\_the\_Elephant\_Shrew](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Biffy_the_Elephant_Shrew)\ **Post date:** [January 22, 2015, 5:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hes-not-half-the-moose-he-used-to-be/710428/39 "2015-01-22T17:05:58Z")
> [@dougie\_monty](#): > > My Dad, who introduced me to _Mad,_ saw this and told me that I should behave–or I could wind up like Starchie Standrews. ☹ _Who makes noise in my teenage house???_ ---
**Author:** ![dougie\_monty](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/439d5e/32.png) [@dougie\_monty](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dougie_monty)\ **Post date:** [January 22, 2015, 6:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hes-not-half-the-moose-he-used-to-be/710428/40 "2015-01-22T18:12:27Z")
> [@Biffy\_the\_Elephant\_Shrew](#): > > _Who makes noise in my teenage house???_ Yeah…that couple looked nothing like Fred and Mary Andrews! [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hes-not-half-the-moose-he-used-to-be/710428.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hes-not-half-the-moose-he-used-to-be/710428.md?page=3)