By Frank Tieri, Michael Walsh, Pat & Tim Kennedy & various (Archie Comics)
ISBN: 978-1-68255-901-7 (TPB/Digital edition)
For over 80 years Archie Andrews has epitomised good, safe, wholesome fun, but the staid and stable company shepherding his adventures has always harboured an ingeniously hidden and deviously subversive element of mischief. Family-friendly superheroes, spooky chills, sci-fi thrills and genre yarns have been as much a part of the publisher’s varied portfolio as those romantic comedy capers of America’s cleanest-cut teens since the company Golden Age debut as MLJ publications.
As you surely know by now, Archie has been around since 1941, spending most of the intervening decades chasing both tantalisingly attainable (yeah, right!) Betty Cooper and wildly out-of-his-league debutante Veronica Lodge. The game was played with best friend Jughead Jones alternately mocking and abetting his romantic endeavours whilst rival Reggie Mantle sought to scuttle every move…
As crafted by a legion of writers and artists who logged innumerable stories of teen antics in and around idyllic, utopian small-town Riverdale, these timeless tales of decent, fun-loving kids captivated successive generations of readers and entertained millions worldwide.
To keep all that accumulated attention riveted, the company has always looked to modern trends with which to expand upon their archetypal brief. In times past they strengthened and cross-fertilised their stable of stars through a variety of team-ups such as Archie Meets the Punisher, Archie Meets Glee, Archie Meets Vampirella and Archie Meets Kiss, whilst every type of fashion-fad and youth-culture sensation have invariably been shoehorned in and explored on the pages of the regular titles.
The company has long exploited a close affinity with horror stories and – combined with the boost of racy new TV franchise Riverdale specifically aimed at “young adults” – launched a range of alternate scary, gory spins-off including Vampironica, Chilling Adventures of Sabrina and the tasty treat on view here…
The premise is deliciously sharp and appetising: ever since his 1941 debut, Forsythe Pendleton “Jughead” Jones has been a witty, sarcastic outsider: a little bit weird, very intelligent, immune to teenage love, faithful and loyal to Archie but – above all else – preternaturally hungry and apparently insatiable.
Reimagining this evergreen comedy prop, Frank Tieri injected some harsh (meta) reality in One-Shot’ – illustrated by Michael Walsh, coloured by Dee Cunniffe and lettered by Jack Morelli – by heading deep into Teen Wolf territory…
In this Riverdale, the traditional setup maintains until the night when beloved teacher Miss Grundy is eviscerated and beheaded by “the Riverdale Ripper”. The old gang are the last to hear the awful news about their favourite educator because they’re all watching Jughead put another All-you-can-eat diner out of business…
However, all notions of innocent fun forever vanish as a season of mayhem continues. Pop Tate, Big Ethel and Jug’s cousin Bingo Wilkins are also victims of a savage serial killer, and the Jones kid is feeling utterly unlike himself as he shambles home at nightfall. Everything seems sharper, clearer, and more intense.
The answer to Jug’s inner turmoil becomes clear when he meets Dilton Doily and the safe old life ends forever. As a wave of sensation overwhelms him, Jug he feels a change coming… and wakes up in his own bedroom, covered in blood and bits of Dilton…
Panicked and desperate, “Juggie” rushes to his best friend, only to learn Archie was a traumatised witness to the entire revolting encounter and saw him transform into a ravening beast… as well as what followed…
Before the best buds can even begin to process what’s happened, sweet dependable Betty arrives. The dilemma of whether to share the secret with her is solved when she explodes into martial arts mayhem, ruthlessly beating Jug before trying to shoot him…
Barely able to restrain her, Archie hears an incredible story: how the Jones clan have been lycanthropes for centuries, with her family – the Coopers – hereditary werewolf hunters for just as long. They are raised from birth to end their depredations when they turn feral…
She’s been watching and waiting for most of the gang’s lives and now it’s time to abandon friendship and do her duty…
Incredibly, Archies entreaties convince her to try an old unproven method, seeking to cure instead of kill. Days pass and all seems well until Jughead (and his beloved pet Hotdog) vanish from Riverdale. In their absence, the mangled body of Reggie Mantle is discovered…
All that occurred in a stand-alone debut released in March 2017, but the story picked up in October with a continuing series, joining other books in a separate Archie Horror imprint. Tieri remained as scripter, with Pat & Tim Kennedy, Bob Smith, Jim Amash, Matt Herms & Morelli completing the creative cast. The first three issues complete this terror tome, with the tale expanding as emergency doctors manage to resuscitate Reggie. They don’t live long enough to regret it…
Meanwhile, young wanderer “Smith” and his dog have joined a circus. Friendly but tight-lipped, they fit right in, and nobody asks why the kid “borrows” the escape artist’s gear every night…
Archie and Betty are relentlessly searching the region, but she is becoming increasingly unstable and violent. All Archie’s attempts to placate her are wasted, especially after she links up with her kin in the Cooper Underground: all eagerly looking for a fresh werewolf to kill. Andrews is now painfully aware that the entire world is crazy and he was utterly unaware of how it really works…
The same can be said for Jughead, who wakes up beside the bloody remnants of a circus girl. However, once he calms down enough to doublecheck, he realises he didn’t escape his bonds but was released by persons unknown…
Back in Riverdale, Ronnie Lodge is baffled and shaken by events and only achieves understanding in the brief moments before the true architect of all Jughead’s woes adds her to the body count…
With additional art contributions from Joe Eisma, the second chapter sees even more beloved characters fall to the mystery murderer. Not far away, Archie gets a crash course in monster-fighting and comes to the appalling conclusion that the only way to be true to his friend is to end him…
With Juggie’s face all over TV, a manhunt closes in on the “teen serial killer”, but when cops close in, Jones finds he has an unsuspected ally, someone he’d believed long dead…
Issue #3 finds that comrade sharing some useful werewolf tricks and tips; disclosing how he’d been using Jug to protect his own secret life. Their falling out mirrors the moment Betty takes Archie to meet her Auntie Elena who runs a global cabal dedicated to killing weird beasts, and the Andrews boy makes his own momentous decision. Inevitably all factions converge just as Jughead is battling for his life and trying to decide who’s side he’s on.
Silver bullets fly and the decision is taken out of his gore-streaked hands…
To Be Continued…
Fast-paced, pleasingly irreverent, blood-soaked and bombastic, the wild ride also offers a Special Features section comprising an Introduction by screenwriter Matthew Rosenberg discussing “Americana”, and a closing gallery of covers & variants by Franco Francavilla, Adam Goreham, Robert Hack, Walsh, and T-Rex, plus Character Sketches and Sample Pages by the Kennedys and pages tracing the process from pencils to finished art.
This terror-packed tome closes with a bonus story: the initial outing of Vampironica by Greg & Meg Smallwood, detailing how the darling debutante became a decidedly unconventional bloodsucker. Stay braced for a full review of her own in the weeks to come…
Brilliantly reimagining cosy comforting friends into compelling new roles, this is a spooky feast for fans and newcomers alike.
™ & © 2018 Archie Comic Publications, Inc. All rights reserved.