Archie #1
Ben H Winters – writer
Fabio Moon – line artist
Jason Wordie – color artist
Stuart Immonen – artist / main cover
Andworld Design – lettering
Oni Press
$4.99 / 40 pages
Archie, Betty, Veronica, Reggie, and Jughead have been staples in comics for eighty five years and now Archie and the gang are about to experience a new renaissance thanks to an arrangement between Archie Comics and Oni Press. Let me tell you this first issue promises the start of a fun and exciting new period for the Riverdale gang!
Stuart Immonen’s cover art with Archie at the center encompassed by revolving scenes of Betty, Veronica, Jughead, and Reggie is the first sign of what lies ahead. That promise is lived up to by the talented trio of writer Ben H Winter, artist Fabio Moon, and colorist Jason Wordie. They’ve accomplished this feat by focusing on the personalities and chemistry of these beloved characters while bringing them into the present day with the occasional Easter eggs pointing to yesteryear.
Winters’ plot is straightforward and upbeat with natural sounding dialog feels that is genuinely humorous and clever as the situation calls for it. The sixth annual Riverdale Film is two weeks away and high school students are encouraged to enter a film. The gang each have their own ideas but poor Archie never gets around to turning his idea into a movie because he’s co-opted into appearing in his friends’ projects. Each film reveals aspects of their makers and their relationship with Archie with an omnipresent Jughead connecting the scenes. The story ends on a perfect note that encapsulates the charm of these perennial teens. A second short story features Jughead and portends to future events. Moon and Wordie are the perfect art team to bring Winters’ script and tone to four color life. Moon’s skillful cartoon realism and energetic linework are combined with a depth of field in his drawings to create visual interest that plays well off of Winters’ script. An inventive page layout across a small handful of pages does double duty as framing sequences while giving a sense of the town itself. Wordie’s range of soft yet vibrant coloring with just the right touch of lighting gives extra pop to Moon’s lines. Truly an absolute delight to look at on the page.
All in all, Winters, Moon, and Wordie make for perfect creative harmony!
The cast sticks to the “OG 5:” Archie, Betty, Veronica, Jughead, and Reggie and Dilton, both the latter two appearing a bit later. To a lesser degree Pop Tate and his Chock’lit Shoppe, Archie’s parents, Mr Lodge, and Moose are there. Cameos are made by Mr Weatherbee and Miss Grundy, who always reminds me of Ms Joss, a high school algebra teacher I had oh so many years ago. Pay attention and you’ll spot an Easter egg for Josie & the Pussy Cats.
As a boy of nine I was a comics snob and preferred superhero adventures over high school shenanigans. Over the years the superhero genre began to loosen its grip on me but I’d grown too old for the gentle humor of Archie comics. That is until September 2010 when Dan Parent introduced Kevin Keller in Veronica #202 and suddenly I found a character to whom I could relate. When Oni announced this series and two other new titles to follow I was hopeful Kevin would be in the cast. Alas, Keller does not appear in either story in this issue. Or maybe this blond boy is Kevin and Winters and Moon are hinting at future appearances? An old dinosaur fan boy can dream, right?
Would Kevin’s absence become a deal breaker for me? A disappointment certainly but not a deal breaker although it would give me impetus to advocate for Kevin’s return.
Do the thoughts of an extremely casual Archie reader count for anything in a review? I’ll leave that to you to decide. Maybe just give the issue a look when it comes out though. For what it’s worth, this is the second time in my many years of reading comics my pull list includes an Archie comic.
Archie #1 will be in comic shops and in digital release on September 2nd!