I'm thinking of reading the archie comics soon, I have a couple of questions... Are the original stories regularly interrupted with long game based arcs? (I wouldn't mind this so much if I didn't already know how the games ended) What would be a good starting point? I'm looking for a more story driven start, and I realise that at the beginning the comic was very light hearted and slapstick, and also that at some point during it's run the comic took a huge dip in quality for a long period of time. Thanks in advance
I would definitely say start in the mid-forties and work your way to issue #100. That was probably the strongest run the comic had, though it had its problems. Avoid issues 102-121 completely and never pick up #105. Things pick up again starting from #123 on, but not to the level it had previously. Things got kind of crappy again around 140's-150's, if I recall, but I believe #161 was Ian Flynn's first issue being in charge, and from there, the comic became very consistent. It's definately more of a throwback towards the earlier issues of less seriousness, but they're not really bad. They're not my cup of tea, but you may enjoy them. I haven't been keeping up nearly as much for a few years now, so I can't really speak for their current quality.
Occasionally there are arcs based off of the games, but they aren't a direct retelling of the game verbatim, and they don't tend to interrupt a plot or story-arc in progress. The game-based arcs are adjusted to account for the comic-exclusive characters and subplots (they way they handle Sonic Adventure is especially pleasing). Also a lot of the game-based arcs tend to be short or side-series. I'd also recommend just reading it from the start. They're quick reads compared to the story driven parts and are still entertaining.
You could just start when E.V.E first appeared if you want (#21). It's gets very story driven from there. OR you could just start with #52 as it recaps everything beforehand. EDIT: You would still have to jump around with the Super Specials, Mini-Series, Special comics, and Knuckles comics though. Then later you get into Universe.
