Archie #1 Review – A Promising New Start
I’ll admit to not being overly familiar with Archie Comics before now, aside from the massive cultural impact of the Riverdale show. So it’s hard to say exactly how the latest Archie reboot differs from other takes on the book and I can really only judge it on its own merit. Coming in with over a dozen variant covers from some real A-list artists like Stuart Immonen and Elsa Charretier, it’s clear Oni Press and Archie Comics are investing heavily in this relaunch with 3 new ongoings launching at once. So let’s take a look at the first of those books, Archie.
The issue is structured around 3 stories all written by novelist and TV writer Ben H. Winters (Legion, Big Time, Quiet Boy) and drawn by Fabio Moon (Daytripper, Casanova), “Archie”, “Archie and Friends”, and “Jugheads Journal”, with “Archie and Friends” making up the bulk of the issue. The first story, “Rude Awakening” is a great introduction, with a stunning splash page from Fabio Moon laying out all the basics you need to know for this iteration of Archie in a single wordless (apart from some boops) page. He loves football, hanging out with his friends, and most of all: Betty and Veronica. It’s a perfect introduction.
The rest of the story lays out the world of Archie brilliantly, this heightened parody of suburban Americana. Archie opens his wardrobe to a dozen identical outfits, he races out the door, his mother literally throws a full plate of home cooked breakfast because there’s simply no time to eat it, and he races through town in his truck on his way to school. While he races from bedroom to classroom he monologues to us about his life, reinforcing all the seeds already planted in the initial splash to perfectly catch a new reader on exactly who Archie is and what’s going on in the world around him. Ultimately, Archie arrives in school just in time, only to be told by Jughead that he is in fact still asleep, a perfect way to introduce this version of Jughead who seems to exist in a world of his own. It’s a brief 6-pager that perfectly sets the tone for the book and the characters.
The second story, “Yes, We Cannes!” follows Archie and friends as they compete to create a movie. Much like the first story, this perfectly captures Archie and his relationship to the world around him, and each of his friends and the relationships between them and Archie. Betty and Veronica are best friends, and they both love Archie and he loves them both, and even if they have petty schemes to win his heart they’re still there for each other, while Jughead moves around, somehow always in the background, always with food and always hungry, no other care in the world. Fabio Moon understands the vibe of the book perfectly and has some great recurring gags, like Archie being forced through hair and make-up while travelling through the city. The comedic pacing often reminds me of a newspaper strip at times, but much longer in form, which is a great way to give it its own identity. Aside from being a great introduction to the larger cast, it’s a really fun story too and hopefully a great indicator of the fun one-and-done continuity-free storytelling this book will be.
The third story, “Jugheads Journal, Part 1”, is a bit of a tonal shift. While the other two stories follow the fun and carefree Archie, moving about this cartoon world without a single care, Jughead’s world feels real, as do his concerns. “Pops Chock’lit Shoppe” is an ever present background location in Archie’s cartoon world and a safe respite in Jugheads, the one place where he feels at home. While Archie’s world is one in which problems come and go and everything works out in the end, no matter how nonsensical the problem or solution, Jughead is faced with a harsh reminder of reality, that the shop can close for a day while the owner goes to his daughter’s wedding and ponders a future closing the shop permanently so he can move closer to her.
It’s a deeply real, human concern that pulls you abruptly into reality, further compounding the return to Jughead and his realisation that his status quo is temporary and the future comes for us all. Even as Archie burst through the doors, literally carried on his team’s shoulders over to the booth in the return to the “cartoon”, the concerns of reality lingers for Jughead as he looks at his menu and sees the impending future, still there. While the other stories end with a definitive “THE END”, this one ends with a foreboding “to be continued”, promising a more real, serialised story for Jughead in this book. It’s my favourite of the 3 stories, but it only works so well thanks to the great contrast of the other two.
Complemented by a few pin-ups and magazine-esque puzzle pages, Archie feels like a fun throwback to the sorts of comics of an older era you might pick up as a kid, updated for a modern age and blended with more modern sensibilities. It’s a delightful read, combining one and done, fun side stories with a deeper, serialised style. It both captures the heightened parody of Americana that defines Archie and plays against it. This fresh start is a great starting point for new Archie readers and feels like the start of something great.
View on Kindle Store
Buy from Third Eye
This post contains affiliate links. We receive a small commission if you buy through this link.
