Archie Comics: New Riverdale - Retrospective
How does the 2015's reboot of the redhead's universe hold up years after it's premiere. Is there anything worth checking out? What series aged the best? what aged the worst?
It’s 4th of July, the day when Americans are most annoying, so why not talk about the most Americana comic book to ever exist, Archie. For those who might not be familiar with this series Archie comics, its publisher, specializes in telling stories from a fictional American town of “Riverdale”. The stories are sometimes 50s themed soap-operas with various recurring characters, most notably titular Archie Andrews, his best friend Jughead Jones and two love interests of Betty Cooper and Veronica Lodge. The entire quartet is friends with one another. Archie comics (at the time known as M.L.J. Magazines) has been publicizing stories about Riverdale locals since Pep Comics #22 that came out in December of 1941, the middle of so called “golden age of comics”(about which I talked more in my previous piece). The characters have gathered a dedicated set of fans since, allowing the publishers for relatively consistent and long running output up until today (kind of).
A CW show about the group has premiered in 2017, bringing a level of cultural awareness to the younger generation. That is how I personally have heard about their stories for the first time. The show has re-imagined the formula of the comics turning them from idyll Americana into a gritty young adult production. Personally I followed the first and second season while they were coming out and then lost interest soon after. I am aware of shenanigans the characters have went on later on, mostly due to dedicated friends and cultural osmosis, and it gives me confidence to say, I would not enjoy the show.
Before CW aired the first episode, the comic publisher has also went through a bit of a rebrand. They decided to keep its optimistic and down-to-earth aesthetic but they involved big names in the comics business to modernize the art and the storytelling. This reboot, started by Mark Waid in Archie #1 coming out July 8th 2015, has revitalized the tittle and breathed, even if short lasting, life into the publishers prints. The group of tittles that came out under it are colloquially named “New Riverdale“ and it is the main topic of this article. My plan is to see what worked, what didn’t and ponder if our crew (that being the Riverdale quartet not the artist involved) will ever be popular again.
Since the reboot does not have official canon guide it is up to me to decide what precisely I understand as “New“ Riverdale” and it is as follows: Archie written by Mark Waid then given over to Nick Spencer. As well as related tittles of Jughead by Chip Zdarsky (Later Ryan North), both Betty and Veronica minis, The Archies, Reggie and me and Josie and the pussycats miniseries. I consciously leave out the miniseries “Sabrina the Teenage Witch” written by Kelly Thomson, while I believe it is set in universe, Sabrina is a brand large enough of its own and warrants its own piece another time. (Maybe I will write and an addendum in a form of a bonus one day)
Archie by Mark Waid
The issue that started it all, Archie #1 written by Mark Waid, with pencils by Fiona Staples, colors by Jen Vaughn and letters by Jack Morelli. The issue serves as an introduction to new readers, the role of the narrator, similarly to the rest of the series is taken by titular Archie Andrews, he breaks the fourth wall to explain where all characters are in their life as well as to give us quick introduction to them as a person.
The first issue mostly centers around the breakup between Archie and Betty, Childhood best friends who forever were thought to be soulmates. They break up over a mysterious “lipstick incident” the details of which we learn further in the story. In later issues we read how while they are broken up a new girl comes into their high school, her name is Veronica Lodge and she is rich and popular. Archie, to his friends annoyance, quickly takes to being her guide in the school as well as to form a relationship with her (to her dad annoyance). Meanwhile Jughead eats burgers classic.
Art
The comic strides the tight rope between trying to seem both modern and retro. It does that through various means, one of them being the art style. the series changed it’s artists many times throughout the run however some elements implemented by earlier artists have contributed to the modernization of the retro feel. Firstly the colors are vibrant the first 16 issues were rather consistently colored by Andre Szymanowicz who I believe made a good job at representing the surreal idealistic town in further unidentified upstate New York. His addition makes a significant impact on the presentation giving it a more childish and hopeful feel as compared to for example Matt Wilson, the current colorist on Ultimate Spider-man. That is not to say that Wilson’s art is worse, because it isn’t, I just wanted to highlight the difference.
The comics also use shades interestingly. This is a throughline between a few artists but the example I give here is drawn by Veronica Fish. The nuisance is usage of pitch black pencil shading, which is reminiscent of the way golden and silver age (1938-1970) comics were drawn.
At the time comic books were often drawn to the limited amount of colors and in a different production process. Back before digital art was as prevalent as it is today there was another person in the comic making process called the inkier who would “ink” over sketches to create am artwork that was then sent to the colorist [1]. This in turn with four color printing would often lead to black appearing stronger than other colors and often being used as a shadow instead of darker shade of the color. Recreating this detail in the era of digital art is an interesting way to pay homage to the Golden age comics that shaped the basis of the characters of the story.
One final artistic choice I want to focus on is the way this comic utilizes paneling. In current comics it often happens that panels tend to overlap onto one another in order to affect the art and the pacing of the story. It has not however been the case for long stretches of the history of the medium where panels very often were constricted to individual rectangles spread on page.
Archie by Mark Waid however, as pictured above mostly ignores this development. The panels are constricted to their own squares. Such artistic choice allows for three things. Firstly as mentioned above it pays homage to how comics used to be, secondly it affects the pacing of the comic. The breaks between the panels give us a second to rest and go from one panel to another leading to a slower and more relaxed pace and thirdly for unique moments where panels leave this dichotomy it serves as a highlight to engage us further into more dynamic scene. Personally I consider this idea rather ingenious which makes it even sadder that it is dropped as the series goes on with being completely ditched after Mark Waid leaves the writer’s chair.
Writing
The art however is not the only thing that creates that unique feel. Part of that is attributed to the writing and how it references the classic Archie comics digests. Mark Waid does that in a few interesting ways. Firstly the humor, the comic is very slapstick at times. There is a lot of humor that is purely based on an absurd cartoonish situation happening to our characters, this role is mostly filled by the titular redhead. The first page of a number of issues is a 1 page gag putting him in a scene straight from Looney Tunes.
The book also utilizes cutaways, which is not a type of humor I have seen used in a comic. As shown above they generally work by an extreme contrast in between 2 panels where the second represent a completely different situation. Personally I find them extremely fun, its rather unique in this medium as most of the comedic elements of comics, at least in my experience, are restricted to dialogue boxes and utilizing visual storytelling adds to the originality of the book.
The humor of the comic is also dependent on one ongoing plot point, which is Archie looking for work. Every few issues Archie finds a new job and then proceeds to accidentally destroy everything and fail at any even minimal responsibility he is given. I am a big fan of this artistic choice as it allows for many diverse gags in the pages of the comic. it also serves as a bit of a reference to digests since in those 0.5-3 page stories Archie was in many differing work situations over a short amount of time.
One of those occupations proves to be important to the plot, the first volume of the series ends with Archie accidentally destroying a home in construction that belonged to Hiram Lodge, his love interest’s father. This then leads into a bunch of shenanigans about new comer billionaire trying to brass our town hero off. The game of cat and mouse accounts for the majority of the second volume off the book, there we can see various ways evil father stereotype wants to separate our lovable redhead and the ex-reality TV star. At first he offers Archie’s father a better job out of state, which doesn’t work ultimately leading him to send his daughter to a fancy European school in Austria. Thus separating the lovebirds.
The pace of the first two volumes is rather slow, which works in the favor. It allows us to get to know both old and new residents of Riverdale which then makes the twist at the end of the second volume hurt even more. While it is definitely a benefit I think it comes at a price, that being that I would prefer if the book at the start focused more on the supporting cast. I very much enjoy inclusions of both Toni or Dilton but I still consider them underutilized. This goes way more for second one as further in the book we are asked to care about his relationship with Betty. Many side characters feel more like cameos for long time fans of Archie than as small but important elements of the plot. Also WHERE IS KEVIN??
Development of side characters would also help with making the town feel more lived in. I think it would be beneficial to us readers if we felt as if there were various stories happening at the same time all around Riverdale and we are just following one of them. For that reason I wanted to check out the connected series but I will talk about them later on.
The third volume focuses in large part on the life of Veronica in the school abroad, there, as some other Veronica’s in high school, she meets her Heather Chandler, in the comic this role is fulfilled by Cheryl Blossom.
In the original comics Cheryl lives is a resident of Pembrooke, an upper class area of the town. She is often framed as an antagonistic force in those comics, mostly due to her disdain for townies of Riverdale. She, similarly to Veronica, comes from rich background however in contrast to her she has no love for anything she sees in the idyllic town.
I think this adaptation retains the core of the character rather well. Throughout much of the volume we see Cheryl trying to progressively destroy Veronica’s life by ruining her reputation and just generally making her seem rude, which is very much in her style. The feud however ends when old-man Hodge buys out Blossom estate, making them move to Riverdale. One could say that after this volume all of the toys are in their right place.
I very much enjoyed how this comics adapted Cheryl for the modern times. Generally while checking out digests she was my favorite character purely due to the amount of charisma she has. I have a soft spot for characters that everyone loves to hate, I already talked about John Walker in my Thunderbolts review, but miss Blossom is even more fun to read.
It is sad that she does not get a lot of scenes later on however she is still rather integral to the plot of the series, especially the ending.
Veronica also reads well in those issues. I very much liked how the distinction between her and the (un)lovable redhead is highlighted in how she does not want to ruin her life. I also think it was a really good character bit when we learned that she is rather UN-pleased with the blossom estate buyout, it shows how she is written consistently even if she is rather complex personally.
Sales
The first issue of the series was a large success, it sold over 100k copies according to icv2, ranking it as a 7th best selling issue of that month. While number 1s sell pretty easily this result was not a breezy walk. Just by looking at the list we can see that it came out at the same time Marvel was publishing its biggest event in years which was allegedly supposed to reset their continuity, Secret Wars. On top of that it was soon after the same publisher has gotten the rights to publish Star Wars Comics. The 7th place can however be attributed to the week showing of DC, at the time the publisher was suffering the consequence of the late new 52, an initiative that might have brought new fans but has not led to them being retained.
Further comics from Archie series written by Mark Waid have not reached that height ever again. Close to issue 6 the series has remained in 10-18k sold copies where it stayed for over a year. With decreasing demand however the series finished its run with issue 32 and only just over 7k copies sold. Before that happened however the success of the series has motivated Archie comics to greenlight new series accompanying the Waid run, on which I will focus now.
In total
The Archie series as written by Mark Waid has brought new life into the franchise. it has its faults, including but not limited to writing women at times, not flesbing out side characters enough leading to emotional shallowness and a few wierd plot decisions, but overall it makes up for it with the premise, originality and charisma of the cast. If nothing else it should be respected by what it started.
Jughead by Chip Zdarsky and various writers
As the saying goes a rising tide lifts all boats, in this case a big success of Archie nr. 1 meant that more characters from the Riverdale-verse got a chance to shine in their own solos, and arguably no one has done it better than the burger-loving, crowned asexual – Jughead.
The comic was written by Chip Zdarsky and Ryan North (additionally the final issue is written by Mark Waid) with art by Erica Henderson and Derek Charm colors by Andre Szymanowicz and letters by Jack Morelli.
Writing
His solo differs in tone in comparison to what main series was doing. it is somehow even lower in stakes while at the same time retaining a level of absurdist comedy we have not seen in the mainline. Adventures in this series mostly follow Jughead on what can be only described as everyday occurrences, but what makes them special is pure charisma and framing.
The first 8 issues of his series were written by Chip Zdarsky. The Daredevil and Batman writer has given the book a specific tone and direction that was then followed and expanded by subsequent writers. One very interesting thing that Zdarsky does is putting Jughead into a pop culturally charged imaginary scenarios.
What do I mean exactly? Lets take the first arc. In there we can see that Jughead being annoyed at the food served at the cafeteria and him deciding to do something about it by opening his won burgers market. However as the plot continues at some point it just fully becomes a pastiche of Game of Thrones with all characters in medieval guard.
I very much enjoyed that framing, I feel like the extent to which it is done can only be utilized in a comic due to budget constraints in other visual types of media. Additionally as a chronic daydreamer I also think that re-framing everyday stories into more fantastical settings allows for better economical storytelling. Simply put all art to some extent relies on attaching itself to previously ingrained themes and since those are rather sporadically distributed throughout different genres utilizing them in a diverse fashion, Like Zdarsky does here, allows to fit more emotion and engagement into lower page space comparatively.
I feel like this is a strategy utilized rather consistently by many writers but perhaps most prolifically by Dan Harmon, main writer of the TV series “Community”. The author often also put characters in what can be described as pop cultural pastiches in order to tell a more engaging and comprehensive story in a shorter period of time. Personally I love that show and I am glad Jughead by Zdarsky is (intentionally or not) reminiscent of it.
And finally, to not reiterate the point too much, the entire theme works as a commentary on what Archie comics does often as a brand. For those not in the know, there are various comics that include Riverdale Residents trying to escape or fight a threat of a larger magnitude in a genre-shifted story. One of such examples is pictured below Archie vs Predator
The series has definitely brought a smile to my face with one inclusion, that being the Character of Kevin. Long story short, in pure canon, Kevin is the only consistently gay character in all of Archie comics. As I complied before he has not appeared in the mainline book but he is relatively important here. In this comic he plays the role of Jugheads friend with whom he schemes and shares his ideas (on brand).
I very much enjoyed that outside of greater diversity, writing in his character has shown that Jughead has his own friends outside of Archie. Ignoring that was one of my criticisms for the writing in the main series so I am happy that it was not repeated here. I think that giving friends of characters their own friends just overall leads to a more realistic and deeper world-building, which in turn makes the entire setting feel more lived in.
Inclusion of “gay Kevin” also works to establish Jughead’s queerness. Throughout time crowed friend of Archie’s has been interpreted in various ways by various people both closer and further from the writers seat. In this series Chip Zdarsky puts a definitive label on how he views Jughead, in his opinion, and thus in the story itself Jughead introduces himself as asexual. This lands itself as an explanation for why he is not particularly interested in any women in his life, which is then rather important to the plot.
Asexuality is a contested label when it comes to it’s relationship to general queerness, it is also a wide label in of itself. In this book in my read at least Jughead is presented as both aromantic and asexual (or aroace for short) which is rather consistently established through the entire book.
Personally I really enjoy how its presented. Luckily there is no prolonged coming out scene where Jughead just needs to break the news to his parents, what is there is just a short offhand mention to a friend which serves to confirm it for us the audience. I feel like making such writing choice made the story not detract from itself and in turn lead to a more cohesive narrative.
Low bar I know but a bar nevertheless.
Another highlight moment of the series is the camp arc. Over the course of it we can see Jughead being taken along for an “adventure” with his friend Archie. He wants to see the girls camp which he reveals way too late for his ace friend to decline. Over the course of the adventure we see them meet a family retreat of Mantle’s as well as the principal of Riverdale high. Both of those cases allow for top tier dynamics between our duo.
Yea, dynamics. That’s what makes that issue so good. I am so glad to see a healthy disagreement and/or fight being represented here. I think that it is good to sometimes focus on more real aspects of relationships and not only the fun ones. Jughead is genuinely annoyed at his friend, he points out that it isn’t the first time this has happened while also highlighting how creepy Archie is acting. It is good to see that two close friends like that can have disagreements while it also not being friendship-ending.
It is also fun to see Archie from other perspective. As I said before, Jughead thinks that going on a small camping trip just to see a girls retreat in the woods is creepy, while yes Archie has not done things of similar magnitude in his own series the weirdness of this situation does make us ask if we actually see everything.
Overall I very much enjoyed this two issue arc, it was my favorite part of this series (under Zdarsky)
This brings us to the writer swap mid series as it is taken over by Ryan North. The writer of Fantastic Four and highly-acclaimed book “How To Invent Everything” takes over with the issue 9 and starts with a bang, a crossover between Jughead and Sabrina the teenage witch.
In the story we can see Jughead experience his “first love”. Our foodie goes insane as right outside of pop’s dinner he sees a woman dressed in a large burger costume. He begins to question if he is into her or into the burger but ultimately somehow he ends up on a date with her. It is then we learn that the burger lady is in fact Sabrina the teenage which and Jughead… well only wanted to talk to the large burger. highjinks ensue as the date goes horribly since Jughead did not want to hurt teenage witch’s feelings.
The entire situation is hurtful but confusing enough for Sabrina to want to get revenge on him.
North brings a certain aura to the comic that is hard to replicate or describe. Between joint efforts of his dialogue, the creative ways he engages in visual storytelling and the plots themselves he shapes that book into something truly irreplaceable. I want to highlight that I don’t think the previous writer did a bad job, in the contrary in fact, but Squirrel girl writer has a writing style that is way more appealing for someone like me.
Personally I must say that between checking out his current work at marvel, his internet persona on Bluesky and this comic, Ryan North is slowly evolving into one of my favorite writers in the medium currently. (also I would love to see him write a doctor who comic, I am not sure who has the license right now but they should sent an e-mail or two)
With the change in writer a new motif started as well, which is that all pages have a bit of text at the bottom of the page, usually a small line book ending the page, be that joke or a punchline. You can see it on some of the pages I added.
Art
The approach the writers took to the comic is also represented in art. The first volume of the series, while it was still written by Chip Zdarsky were drawn in a rather cartoonish fashion, much of the story was rather unserious and unrealistic so drawing it with tight borders, sharp angles and unrealistic face shapes just allows to keep a certain level of tonal consistency.
There is also a ton of homage, way more than I expected, below I show a reference to an iconic spider-man Panel as well as an entirely stylized sequence trying to highlight the comic art of the past. While I know many people have differing opinions on homages, while I agree sometimes there is something like going too far in a parody, it is hard for me to say that this is what is happening in here. I think the pastiches work in tandem with the plot allowing for once again tonal consistency.
During the North’s part of the run the comic is also often utilizing “non-diegetic” imagery. Personally I think the best example is also what I think is the best joke in the series, as shown below. On there you can see thought bubbles being utilized as panels. Which then one after another work to build up to a punchline. Amazing panel, truly utilizing the medium to the fullest extent.
In total
Jughead is the best of the side series that came out in this inprint. it is original experimental, and truly one of its kind. Absolute joy to read and possibly one of the best comics to ever be published by Archie comics.
Betty and Veronica by Adam Hudges
One other series green-lit in the whole new Riverdale era is Betty and Veronica by Adam Hudges. I saw it in some guide but I must say after reading it I am not sure if it is in canon. See most of those series work in tandem but they don’t ever contradict each other, this series specifically is not contradicting anything but just I can’t see where it fits in canon.
The comic is written by Adam Hughes who also drawn it, letters by Jack Morelli and colors by José Villarrubia.
Writing
The plot of the comic starts as Betty learns that Pop’s is about to close. She does not want the local diner to go out of business. She does not want to let it be, so she organizes herself with her friends to not let it happen. Soon after she learns that the person who wants to destroy Pop’s is Veronica herself, as she wants to… gentrify the place into a fancier restaurant… Hijinx ensue.
As you might be able to read from what I am putting on I am not the biggest fan of this series, no ill will to the creator but I don’t think I enjoyed it that much. The plot isn’t particularly creative, there isn’t a lot of experimental form nor structure so the entire series just falls flat, especially compared to the rest of the offering. The plot isn’t creative, the form neither so we are left with a rather bland story in the end.
I feel like part of my problem with the premise is also that pop’s closing seems like a Jughead type issue rather than something that would concern Betty. The blonde activist has usually been portrayed as someone more engaged in environmental and political action rather than small community changes. I also feel like the comic has not given her a sufficient enough motivation for me to buy that this is something she would be that concerned about. I feel like some scenes of emotional talk with pop himself and wanting to help him rather than a business would suffice but alas.
The comic does seem to be moderately aware of how bad it is, as I show below the first issue ends with… literally an imaginary dog eating 2 pages and the second one being pure exposition delivered by Betty and Veronica in swimsuits. The role of the writer is to integrate exposition in a way that is unobtrusive and fun to read, the fact that this comic gives up on it that much and on top of that uses it to make a cheap swimsuits “joke” is kind of embarrassing. It reminds me of that scene in “Deadpool 2” where he turns into camera and says “that’s just lazy writing”. As many commentators pointed out, just because you say writing is lazy does not mean it stops being that and more importantly, it does not start being good.
As I mentioned before the series appears to be weirdly out of canon, not only is it hard to point out when exactly is It happening in relation to the rest of New Riverdale but all residents seem to be acting out of character. Veronica especially, I do not see her doing what she tries to do in the series (destroy a family owned business for the sake of it) in Archie by Waid.
Honestly my gripe is also that everyone just seems so mean, I do not understand this stylistic choice because it just does not make any sense. Like I understand they are all hormonal teenagers but this series takes that assumption of mine to an extreme where its hard to still believe it.
With all the previous series I touched on humor, mainly because they felt mostly comedic, personally I have not found too much humor I enjoyed in this one. There are some moments that have even made me cringe a little bit. Most notably the scene where we are asked to laugh at hipsters… can’t tell if this aged that badly or if it is actually that old.
To top it off the ending is deus ex machina. It truly feels like trying to weasel itself out of a bad story. I dislike how quick the change of pace is I also dislike that the sudden unveiled mystery felt not teased at all. While technically it does counter some of my criticism as apparently everything was staged, it truly does not make for a better story in the end.
But let me just stop here because I don’t want to stress too much how I didn’t like this comic, I do not want this to be that type of blog. I will say that one thing I like about this series it it gave me this panel which I will use as a reaction image for time to come.
Art
There is little I can say about the art here, It was… fine. Other comics are largely stylized and seem to try to resemble something but this one feels very randomly drawn without much thought. No one looks characteristic enough, the semi-realistic style does not fit the rest of the line, colors are toned down which also adds to my disappointment, but oh well, lets get to something else
Reggie and me by Tom DeFalco
So, since I am jumping in between spin-offs right now let me talk about a different story that I have still seen described as in-canon, Reggie and me. Personally I must say I was not terribly excited, it lacked a hook for me, nothing seemed to distinguish it from other generic comics. That is the mind set I went with into this comic but in the end I actually found it a fun read.
The comic is written by Tom DeFalco and with credits to Ty Templeton and Dan Parent who inked it. it was drawn by Sandy Jarrel, colors by Kelly Fitzpatrick and Andre Szymanowicz and letters by Jack Morelli.
Writing
The plot follows Reggie, the Riverdale dushbag, as first he adopts a dog and then tries to break up a couple. He goes through various plans and schemes for it to ultimately blow up in his face.
Anyway so who is this “me” in the tittle? Well it’s the aforementioned dog, the story is fully narrated by him as Reggie adopts him, names him Vader and then takes him to be part of the adventure. I think the series is utilizing it as a relatively enjoyable and unique aspect of itself. It also lands itself as a way to include some additional gags, like for example conversations between Vader and Jughead’s pet “hot dog”.
The entire story being told from Vaders point of view also allows for more humanization of Reggie. While in Archie he is generally showed as a villain in this story he is shown a an asshole but an asshole who was and is often hurt.
If I were to bring up a criticism for Reggie and me I think I would say that it feels a bit too packed, there is a lot of story happening very fast and it was a bit hard to follow, but that’s just nature of the medium I guess.
I feel like for a 5 issue miniseries it definitely has its moments. I liked the flashback sequence that revealed why Reggie holds so much animosity to Archie and his friends, I liked that the story went for something slightly different then concurrent tittles and I liked the framing.
Art
The drawings are not necessarily anything spectacular but I still enjoyed them nevertheless. It fits tonally with other tittles of the new Riverdale umbrella even if it is hard to put in continuity. It also has a few experimental moments but does not go with it as far as aforementioned Jughead series. To fit what other books were doing Reggie and me also references the classic tales of the Archie verse, at least in the stylistic sense. Some moments are pictured try to reference ”Little Archie” comics but honestly those sections could also be inspired by peanuts.
In total
Overall I feel like it is hard for me to recommend this series by itself, whereas I don’t feel that way about mainline or Jughead this one while having some qualities is still a bit bland. I was positively surprised due to minuscule expectations but if you were to read it as anything different than grand new Riverdale read-reread then I am not sure if it’s worth it
The Archies by Matthew Rosenberg and Alex Segura
In contrast to the previous comic I was relatively interested in reading this one, firstly because it was written by Matthew Rosenberg, with whom I was familiar with due to operating as almost emergency writer in the late pre-krakoan era of X-men. I can’t say I particularly enjoyed those issues of his but also I can’t say they were unreadable. I think they served as a relatively acceptable stories before the atomic Bomb of House of X and Powers of X.
I also have a passing familiarity with Alex Segura as I read his Question book (and enjoyed it) and known him as a “friend of the pod” on CEREBRO.
The series is drawn by Joe Eisma with colors by Matt Herms and Elaina Unge and letters by (once again) Jack Morelli.
Writing
Anyway back to The Archies, I am a sucker for a known name so I obviously wanted to check it out more than some other stuff I read for this retrospective.
The story talks about our Riverdale band “Archies” compromised of our main cast, (Archie, Jughead, Betty, Veronica and Reggie) as they go to on a tour out of state to develop their recognition and “brand”– relatable… of course shenanigans ensue they pass by a famous pop band CHVRCHES and get some guidance from them, pretty standard stuff.
I feel like the story does not take a lot of risks on the plot level but it is very enjoyable to read due to aura it produces around itself. It has a lot of charm, the characters have very recognizable traits and characteristics that make them unique in comparison to one another. They also have a lot of earlier established dynamic which helps in getting engaged.
I would say that while for example Adam Hudges’s Betty and Veronica are losing on the connection to mainline and Jughead and Reggie(and me) are ambivalent to it this comic definitely gains from it. while in there it is sometimes hard to square the circle or there is no reason to want additional context, in “Archies” it definitely helps. It is just nicer to read this while thinking those were the characters we spent so much time with in the previous books.
If I were to raise a criticism on this book I would say that I hate when music is written out in a comic. I always have no idea how to read that in my head so I end up reading it as either full prose or even worse I try to attach it to some melody which just in the end starts sounding junky with the lyrics. I know that there is not really a way to fix it and that ultimately this is a comic about a band so I accept that but it’s a pet peeve of mine.
I also want to just note that I like how music was once portrayed in North’s run on Jughead, in there it was shown on a piece of paper with exactly where I am supposed to put the pauses.
Art
The series is drawn by Joe Eisma who also drawn the mainline Archie book while I liked how it looked the most. Most compliments still apply of course. I feel like the strokes are really nice, I like the approach he took to distinguishing characters. Colors are also great those are done by Matt Herms, I feel like they are important to highlight because since we follow a band a lot of the comic takes places in colorfully lit rooms which naturally makes the entire comic look more appealing. I also want to say that I enjoyed the covers.
In total
I think the series is a fun read as an addition to Riverdale, its mostly what I expected from this series, an appendix to the mainline if nothing more, but can’t say I hated it.
Josie and the pussycats by Marguerite Bennett and Cameron Dordio
I promise it’s the last semi-related mini. Josie and the pussycats is a short running series focused around episodic adventures of Riverdale’s premiere cat themed band. It is written by Marguerite Bennett and Cameron DeOrdio drawn by Audrey Mok with colours by Kelly Fitzpatrick and letters by Jack Morelli.
Writing
As I already mentioned this mini is segmented into episodic structures of issue long stories that tie in a greater plot but only loosely. The first issue follows Josie and her band as through machinations of her enemy Alexandra they nearly split but then decide to stay together and name themselves after the cat Josie adopted.
The following issues sees them flee from trans coded punk antagonist who wanted to kidnap them. And the issue after that the band goes to the beach where Alexandra returns. I think this short summary tells you what is the vibe of the series.
PauseI think that the series is still enjoyable to read it definitely has its moments. There is really no absolute high that made me care about it particularly much but I don’t think I was ever offended by it as well. I liked the rivalry between Alexandra and Josie and I liked how empty but realistic it felt. I am not sure about the character of our antagonist as outside of being “rich queen bee” she does not have much to offer.
I think the humour in Josie and the pussycats is rather tame but still relatively funny. There is a lot of references to pop culture, including queer culture. There issue with the trans coded villain includes a joke about Rupaul’s drag race for example. I think that overload of popcultural references usually ends up with a comic not aging to well, and while I read it only 7 years after it was published and was not embarrassed I cannot promise that the same thing would happen in the next 10.
Of course as it is a comic about a band my problem with sang-not-sang lyrics applies, but I am also aware it’s a pet peeve of mine rather than an actual criticism. What would be criticism is saying that I feel like the type of music they sing has no genre which to an extent breaks the illusion.
Art
The art is pleasing but not revolutionary, feels very much like an average comic from this imprint. The colors are vibrant the line is thick but there really is still some more to be desired. I think the series does not try to experiment with it too much which is a shame as I think episodic structures often allow for a diversity in between different stories.
In total
Relatively enjoyable time but not for me the 9 issues was plenty. I prefer stories that are a bit more risky with their plots and this one just does not do it for me. Characters are alright, art is nice but I just can’t help but feel like I would enjoy it way more if I cared about the characters, which I don’t.
Archie by Nick Spencer
And with this one we are slowly approaching the end. Archie by Nick Spencer. The comic is drawn by Sandy Jarrell as well as Jenn St. Onge with colors by Matt Herms and letters by Jack Morelli and Bill Yoshida. The series is supposed to work as a direct continuation of Waid’s series that at the same time still is a place for new fans to jump in. After the final issue of the previous run the series went back to legacy numbering making the first comic of the new one #699. For those who don’t follow comics closely big “anniversary” issues usually tend to work as soft reboot stories and this one is no different.
Despite being a successor Nick Spencer does not contain himself to only trying to recreate what made the previous series work. He takes many bold risks which I personally think are all good choices. The previous series, while a critical success should stay in the past. I often say that long running pop cultural phenomena only work if they allow themselves to change and grow, that’s why I am glad that I felt like I read a completely different story here than what I’ve read before.
The Spider-man and Captain America writer leaves out what was previously imagined as idyllic almost perfect suburb to focus on a more serious and gritty at times crime thriller. One of the events that kick off the plot of the series is death Reggie’s father that drives our asshole into insanity as he tries to uncover what led to it.
The change in tone is most likely influenced by success of the aforementioned show. The first season of that also started with a town-wide murder mystery that needed to be solved as our suspicions jumped from character to character. As I said before I was not sure about such change in tone in the show but I definitely enjoyed it here. I think what makes it different is that while death of Reggie’s father is an important event it does not seem to consume other plot elements. The comic is emotionally diverse enough as to at the same time give us a chance to follow a crime thriller and an emotional teen drama.
The theme that joins those two storylines is investigation. While Jughead is segmented to help Reggie Betty and Veronica are trying to find out another, less important, Secret of Riverdale – Who is Archie Andrews dating?
At the start of the comic we see our titular redhead acting rather suspicious, not being interested in interpersonal drama and not searching for “the girl”. This sets off Betty’s and Veronica’s suspicions as they believe he is dating someone. Who is this someone? Sabrina the teenage witch.
The author expands our cast of characters by adding the teenage witch as a main stay. Personally I think it was a stellar choice because outside of her being an amazing character she also allows for more growth on Bettys’ and Veronica’s part.
I don’t think it would be revolutionary to say that female characters in media are often delegated to only being interested in the men in the story, hell the infamous Bechdel test includes the rule “and the conversation is not about a man” and I think we all know how many pieces of media do not pass it. For that reason then it is good that both of main female protagonists are not concerned only with male protagonist’s attention. I think it also allows us to see more interpersonal dynamic between just the two of them, which is something I enjoy.
Coming back to introduction of Sabrina, that creative choice also allows for the pivot in types of storylines told. Introduction of magic allows us to see fantastical elements to the story which in turn make it more engaging. As I said I value diversity of storytelling in archie comics and it is a great way to add more of it
On the topic of diversity the comic also works really well at segmenting its storylines. I was never made to feel like one of the 3 main stories (Reggie’s father mysterious death, Betty and Veronica investigation and Archie and Sabrina’s romance) is less important or quality wise worse than the others. This is a harder task than expected as all 3 stories seem to be in completely different genres while at the same time being stellar at them.
I think this is the biggest success of the Nick Spencer run on the tittle. It allowed for a world diverse enough to service various different storylines while never feeling it favourises one of them.
Writing
Anyway now to get more detailed on the story. You might be wondering why is Jughead segmented to solve Reggie’s dad murder. Well simply put it is because just before it happened the crowned butterfly started working for the man. To the surprise of everyone in Riverdale. He was a food reviewer for the local gazette.
This ties him into the plot as he is one of the suspects and on top of that is asked to help by Reggie himself. The duo is fun to read but it is definitely the more plot driven rather than character driven element of the story. It is more about trying to solve the mystery and the duo itself is not that charismatic in the vacuum.
I also enjoyed the dynamic between the lovable redhead and the teenage witch. I think they have more chemistry than any of the two relationships in the previous run and I like how “adult” they feel. I very much enjoyed that neither of them are heads over heels foe another and that they try to be adult about the situation at hand. I think it is just more interesting to read about people who care about each other and want the best for one another than a duo where one feels like a contestant and the other like a prize.
On topic of prizes one of the plotlines in the series involves Archie being set in the role of the bachelor and a prize in a contest for women to fight over. This is so because of Cheryl trying to capitalise on secret relationship of his and to gain clout for herself – I love my blorbo. While it might sound scary from representation perspective I think the comic handles it with care and intelligence and at no point made it feel… well… misogynistic.
Generally I think that this comic is marginally better at writing female characters compared to Archie by Waid. I do think segmenting them into their own story where they can bounce of each other in charisma allows for a certain level of charm that was fun to read. I particularly liked the moment they proclaimed that since Archie is already taken they can bury their rivalry and become best friends. I liked it even better when the next scene was Veronica working on trying to build a movie studio in a forest Betty chose to tree hug. I think that there was way more story in here to be had but sadly the series has ended prematurely
To expand on that, the Nick Spencer run has comprised of 2 volumes both of which of amazing quality. The third volume is written by Kevin Panetta and Mariko Tamaki and was technically collected as a separate mini. I think the Spencer series had a chance to be even better but it is largely undercut by how quickly it ends. This is likely a myriad of factors, including Pandemic, trying to cross promote other projects and the rules of comicbook market in US where smaller publishers rarely get a chance to fly. It still leaves a bitter tase in my mouth but I will expand on this in conclusion.
The Archie and Katy Keene series is nothing special it did bring up the popular character into the spotlight however sadly at the cost of everyone else. There is not enough space to focus on different characters than her which in turn made many people (including me) rather dissapointed. I think this mini would not be as angrily taken in if not for the fact that it bookends the series.
To leave on a positive note the comic utilises a fun writing dynamic of creative “cuts”. Very often the pages are written in such a way where the ending of one scene ends with a question and the seeming answer is provided as the other one starts (as in the example provided below). I am a fan of creative jumps between scenes, I think they allow for a better flow and more engaging pace.
Art
As I mentioned before the story in this comic largely diverts from the aesthetic of the previous run and the same can be said about the art. There comic is drawn in a rather “standard” fashion as compared to offerings of other publishers at the time but it does not mean that it comes off as bland.
I do think there are still great aesthetic choices. I personally like that while colors are not as vibrant as before rather than being muted they look more pastel. I think it allows for a greater clarity of the image while still fitting the tone established within the story.
The thinner lines allow for more expressive looks on characters which in turn allows for greater visual storytelling. I do not think that the comic falls into everyone having the same face but it definitely is closer to that risk compared to the previous one.
The shift in what archie brand is (mostly motivated by the success of riverdale TV show) has also meant that pure Cartoonish look is dropped. I think I am ambivalent on this choice, it is conducted well but I do thing it makes it harder to diversify itself from the offerings of other publishers with that.
In total
Overall I think that Nick spencer has created a worthy successor to Waids run on the characters, I even think he improved it at times especially with more mature themes and heavier importance on realistic characterization.
I think that two series work very well to show the difference between pre TV show and Post-TV show approach of Archie comics to its brand. There is less cartoon and more young adult, I suppose it depends on what you prefer in your comic but I believe both have their place.
Sadly the run has ended prematurely and it is still up in the air if we will ever see it being continued again. I would love to see more of our iconic characters but alas, it is not in the cards now.
Betty and Veronica by Jamie Lee Rotante
This leads us to the final series in this retrospective Betty and Veronica by Jamie Lee Rotante which also is sometimes titled Betty and Veronica senior year. It is drawn by Sandra Lanz with colours by Kelly Fitzpatrick and letters by Jack Morelli.
Writing
The series seems to be final in the chronology as it talks about senior years and collage applications. It follows our characters as they are stressed about what can be the bbiggest decisions in their lives.
It does not characterize our titular duo as rivals and rather as friends which I found rather fun to read. They evidently do care about each other (maybe even more than just as friends) and do not want to split even though they want to go to different collages.
The series deals with themes of change and moving on but I still think it does not explore them deep enough to be satisfactory. I suppose it’s a matter of a short format but it does not feel conclusive or emotional.
It aims for more slice of life approach to Riverdale as opposed to aggression and hyperbolic scenarios of the previous series of the same name. I think it succeeds I what it’s trying to accomplish. There are moments that feel emotional but the entire series still did not affect me emotionally that much.
I feel like much of the impact of the comic is undercut by its ending when after all it all goes back to normal and the problem is solved. I understand the nature of status quo in comic books however it seem to really bug down this story.
Art
The series is drawn in a different aesthetic than previous ones, it is very blocky and stiff which is an interesting choice. Personally I am not the biggest fan of it but there is space for comics like that. It reminds me of art of Jamie McKelvie of Young Avengers fame. He also draws a bit blocky with a lot of similar faces however I do enjoy it more often than not.
In total
Betty and Veronica Senior year is a good but unremarkable story. There is not much to say about it be that good or bad. I enjoyed it fine and will forget about it in a few weeks. Chaces are I wont even remember if I read it or not. It is a bit disappointing to end on such note but I think its indicative of all series without Archie or Jughead in the tittle
Conclusions
And with that we have finally gotten to the end of this retrospective. So was New Riverdale good? I suppose. It was definitely uneven, I think it can be said that the mainline sries that being both Archie by Waid and by Spencer have kept on a rather high quality for majority of their run. There is no “jumping the shark” moment in any of them and it would have been nicer if the second one did not end so abruptly.
The definite stand out for me is the Jughead series, truly incredible piece of literature I enjoyed reading every last bit of it. I would love to read more stories like this or at least with a comparable dose of quality and heart. I will remember this one for a while as if it was truly a joy. It uses the medium in ways that I have never seen before meanwhile not losing the purpose it gave itself. Truly should be used as a standard for what Archie comics can be.
All other series land around the same ballpark for me, while yes I specifically disliked Betty and Veronica series I do not think it was that much worse than Josie and the Pussycats. I think that the best of those still to my surprise remains Reggie and me as it felt the most original and unique. If you are not on a new Riverdale readthrough I would not recommend reaching for those series, of course if you are interested in characters go for it but I do not think there is enough heart in them to retain new fans of them.
The entire line was killed by the pandemic which is a shame, I would love to have regular access to a comic like Nick Spencer’s Archie but it seems not in the cards for the company right now. The sales of individual comics also have not been justifying the continuation and/or revival of the brand therefore sadly I think we as archie fans are stuck with digests and occasional minis like Archie is Mr Justice.
I feel like in its best Archie can work as a space for new comic writers to come in, be given a chance to write and draw which then if quality would suffice would launch them into greater fame.
To answer the question from the intro will the Riverdale quartet ever be popular again? Hard to say. I think that the best strategy for now is to wait, too many people have associated the brand with the hit TV show which ended as a camp and flanderised parody of itself therefore maybe it would be best to wait until people forget about the show to try again. In that sense maybe focusing on digests and small minis is a strategy.
The only other way is to change, but change requires ideas, and for ideas you need people and those are in short supply in Archie comics. It is disheartening but real to see the pandemic has consolidated the market of comics and made it even more hostile to smaller publishers. Perhaps a shift in the function of it would help, such as a stronger move to digital but waiting for that is like waiting for a miracle.
I would say that short and digital is the future. Marvel has their own format of Infinity comic and DC has their webtoons like wayne’s family adventures, but the problem with archie is lack of a consistent and dedicated audience, and for that reason I do not think it would be the best choice.
It’s a hard situation for the publisher, there is no easy solutions. For now I think what’s left for us fans is enjoying what was already published
Alright that’s it. For those who haven’t heard I want to say that Jim Shooter, Marvel editor I criticised for his homophobia died week after I published the piece so in case I have a death note on my hands I want to also say I believe Donald Trump, Elon Musk, JD Vance, Benjamin Netanyahu, Vladimir Putin and Victor Orban are also homophobic
And to know I mean it just publishing that sentence might have made myself unable to enter United States for years to come
Anyway I hope you enjoyed the piece. I figured somewhere around 4000th word you realised that I did put a lot of work into it and if you want to know what the next one will be about here is a hint: