Tag Archives: Archie

Comics

Is Archie Horror A Success?

Leave a comment

You are probably familiar to some extent with what Archie Comics is typically like. Archie and his friends in Riverdale getting into comedic, almost sitcom-like scenarios for some casual fun and shenanigans. They can be fun and cute. But…what if they wanted to tell darker stories with these characters? Do some scary stories that haunt the reader and put the characters in real danger. Well, a lot of people over at Archie Comics were probably thinking just that, because in 2015 they launched the Archie Horror imprint. Basically their version of DC’s Vertigo or the Marvel MAX imprints, the stories published under Archie Horror will tell darker stories outside of the main universe. And it has gone on to print it’s fair share of titles. Some of them I’ve already covered in separate pieces, but let’s just go over the main highlights.

The first official story from this imprint is Afterlife with Archie. It begins with Jughead’s dog being run over, the grieving boy going to Sabrina for a spell to bring him back. She does just that, but the spell goes wrong and soon zombies descend on Riverdale. It became a very well-liked story and inspired the company to go ahead with another title called Chilling Adventures of Sabrina. Taking place during the 1960s, we follow Sabrina Spellman as she starts to become a true witch and the chaos that brings into her life. Both of these titles technically began before the official creation of the imprint, but these are referred to as the first to come from Archie Horror and are probably the most famous titles. And both of them are very enjoyable, with dark atmosphere oozing from every panel.

There is one story that technically wasn’t published under the imprint but I will argue belongs under it – Archie vs Predator. I’ve already talked about this story and it’s sequel in their own posts, so check them out for more details. But both of these stories focus on the characters being forced to confront a creature that brings an unprecedented amount of carnage and destruction to their world. Worlds collide, characters die, and nothing was ever the same. Two great mini-series that brought a lot of entertainment and a fair sense of genuine drama and heart. Mini-series are kind of specialty of the imprint, another example of that being Blossoms 666, which I also covered in a separate piece. That one is admittedly not as great as some of the other mentioned titles. But it’s still an enjoyable read of the Blossom children feuding over who gets to be the Anti-Christ.

But let’s get to the longest running titles from the Imprint. First, there is Jughead: The Hunger. Originally just a one-shot, it quickly became an ongoing title. Jughead is revealed to be a werewolf, the newest member of the Jones family to become one. But it turns out Betty’s family has a long history of hunting the Jones family and werewolves in general. There is some genuine drama between Jughead, Archie, and Betty who starts off as an enemy but slowly becomes an ally. The second longest running title is Vampironica. The story starts off with Veronica seemingly being turned into a vampire and now must work with her friends to stop an evil blood-sucker from turning the entire town. But it later turns out that the Lodge family is the most powerful vampire family in America, creating inner conflict for Veronica as she must go head-to-head with one of her ancestors later on. Both of these stories actually had a crossover mini-series. It was advertised as versus story, but that isn’t entirely accurate to what actually happens. However, it was still great to see characters from two different yet similar worlds interact.

These are the most well-known titles to come from the imprint. But now we must ask the question. Has Archie Horror been successful. Well…yes and no. A number of these titles will go on to have influence on the comic book company in general. The TV show Riverdale has an atmosphere that does closely resemble the atmosphere in several of the imprint’s titles. And the Chilling Adventures of Sabrina title got it’s own show. But it’s difficult to determine if the imprint has long-term success. The previous mentioned Sabrina series is about to have a second trade released, but it will only contain 3 issues as opposed to 5 issues in the first trade. This is due to the release of future installments being repeatedly delayed. While Afterlife with Archie was turned into an ongoing title, it’s still advertised as a graphic novel with just the one trade collection. There are additional comic issues but there isn’t a widely available trade collecting these issues and it also has faced repeated delays.

And as mentioned earlier, the title mainly focuses on mini-series. While Jughead: The Hunger & Vampironica have been the longest running titles, there hasn’t been any recent follow up with the characters. The Jughead title came to a pause after the crossover with Vampironica. And while the young Lodge vampire did continue for a little while after said crossover, it also came to a pause despite clearly setting up for more stories. I think I heard there is a one-shot that will focus on the Jughead: The Hunger characters, that isn’t the continuation a lot of fans wants. The imprint does struggle with keeping to a schedule and maintaining their popular titles. Part of this can be explained by writes & creators being involved with TV shows and other projects. But the imprint should realize that it needs to commit to publishing trades of their stories to keep interest in their brand.

Despite these issues facing the imprint, all of these titles are worth checking out. The Season of Evil never ends for Archie Horror. Pick up one of currently accessible trades and read what they have to offer. The imprint has such sights to show you!

Comics

Archie vs Predator II – The More Bizarre Sequel

Leave a comment

It’s not uncommon for different comic book companies to have multiple crossovers. Hell, Batman and TMNT have had three crossovers. But to give “Archie vs Predator” a sequel seems like an odd choice. The original story left the town destroyed and only three survivors – Betty, Veronica, and the teen Predator now physically transformed to look like Archie. It doesn’t seem like there is anywhere left to go after an intense ending like that. But it turns out there is one path. Make it bigger but even more insane than first by doing whatever you want.

Right from the first page of this story, you know your in for a wild ride. Because both Betty & Veronica break the Fourth Wall and speak to the reader! To be fair, I’m not a regular Archie Comics reader. And I don’t really read the main series. But this is the first time I’ve heard of any Archie comic turn full Deadpool like this. But shortly after that, they actually introduce an idea that’s actually kind of cool & clever. Apparently, the characters of Riverdale just have to walk down Memory Lane – an actual street in their town – and it resets the town and the residents back to normal. There are details later on in the story that make me question how much they actually do that and how that actually works. As well as question if that’s always been a thing. But it for sure was utilized in the story “Archie Marries Veronica/Archie Marries Betty” about a decade before this story. And it does help a long-running comic series like Archie maintain the status quo while still keeping a bunch of random events canon to varying degrees.

But when they try to do that, it turns out the road is closed. And they immediately recognize this as them being canceled. So…there is one thing to note about the original “Archie vs Predator” story. Around the time it was being published, Archie Comics was planning a relaunch of their Archie title. Restart from the beginning and have a modern take on their characters. And when the last issue of “Archie vs Predator” came out, the first issue of their relaunch came out roughly within the same month. You can quite literally say that the original crossover killed off the Classic Archie Universe. But there is good news – all three of them get in a car and find themselves in the new modern Riverdale with their modern counterparts! We have straight up entered the multiverse within the first issue of this story!

And when I say their other counterparts are modern, I mean that their actual modern title has them more grounded as well. They have no experiences with the supernatural, aliens, or anything like that. And when you hear the stuff that Classic Betty & Veronica – including summoning THE DEVIL! – it does make them come off as crazy and over the top. But the modern counterparts to agree to help them figure out what is going on. That is, until a bunch of other Predators show up with their dogs to attack everyone at the Halloween Dance.

Time to tackle the Predator aspect of the comic. Our teen Predator spends the time in Classic Archie’s body, but it’s not the Predator’s head on top. Probably due to the skin breaking off due to the shape and size of the Predator’s natural head. In the original story, the comic would occasionally give him text balloons that only had emojis in it. It was a neat way of getting across the gist of what he is trying to communicate. This is utilized a bit more in the sequel and it does flesh him out a bit more. Doesn’t make him the most complex character, but adds a bit extra to him. The other Predators in this comic are great. But there is one flaw that is hard to overlook. In this comic, the art is more in line with the art used for the modern Archie Comics. Specifically, more in line with what you might get from the Archie Horror imprint. It works for the most part. But the art does make it hard to tell what species these other Predators are. Since our main Predator is a teen, these could just be older members of his race. But since they have their dogs, these also could be the Super Predators as seen in the movies “Predators” & “The Predator”. The art doesn’t do a great job of clarifying that for the readers, but I think they are supposed to be the Super Predators and I’ll explain why later.

Classic Betty & Veronica are trying to figure out how to help. They start trying to text people they used to know back in their universe to see if any made it. And that includes Frank AKA THE PUNISHER! You see why I question how often they use their walking down Memory Lane trick or how it works? It befuddles me why Frank would want to stay in touch with a bunch of teens in a town from a different comic book company. But that’s not the most surprising thing that occurs with our main ladies. As they are hiding from the Super Predators during their Halloween Dance massacre, there is a moment that actually took me by surprise. Classic Veronica saves Classic Betty’s life and admits to how she probably wouldn’t have saved their Archie in the same way. But then Betty gets Veronica to admit that Archie hasn’t actually been her romantic focus in years. And then Betty brings Veronica in for an embrace and kisses her forehead. From the way it is drawn in the comic – combined with a couple of other moments of interactions later on in the story – this is confirmation that Classic Betty & Veronica are attracted to each other.

I feel like this could have been a divisive moment depending on what kind of Archie Comics fan you are. The brand and title have historically been defined by the love triangle of Archie, Betty & Veronica. And while certain writers might have slipped in a joke that generally links this kind of romance between the ladies, I’m not aware of anything significant to support the theory that the two are non-heterosexual. And there is something more unique about having two girls with a strong bond like Betty & Veronica’s be strictly platonic. But…there is a strong argument for how the two of them always fighting each other yet still be friendly did lay the seeds for a realization for the two girls. And they are teenagers, which means they probably didn’t even realize who they really are in that sense quite yet. Speaking for myself, I’m fully behind this relationship pairing. Even if it is for just this story that – unlike it’s predecessor – isn’t technically canon. At least for the more modern version of the Archie title.

Anyway, while all the modern Riverdale counterparts are fighting for their lives, Classic Betty & Veronica try summoning the Devil. And he arrives and recognizes them from their own universe! Although I think in the Classic Archie-Verse, he’s referred to as Mr. Inferno. As they helplessly watch the final explosion happen with their teen Predator friend who survived, Veronica & even Betty talk about how much this miss their old home and how these modern versions might even be better than them. Mr Inferno surprisingly enough actually gives them genuine advice. He tells them they should stop being stuck in the past, trying to reclaim their glory days, and move on to new adventures. Turn into the Betty & Veronica they can truly be. And with that, Mr. Inferno resets the Modern Archie-Verse back to normal, erasing the events of the comic for them. But Classic Betty & Veronica, along with their Predator friend, are adults living in New York. And the two ladies admit that they don’t miss being eternal teenagers.

This is definitely not what I was expecting for “Archie vs Predator II”. With all the references to past events in Classic Archie and they way it’s presented, it kind of has the vibe of a Grant Morrison story. The writer of both of these crossovers, Alex de Campi, admits to how she kind of became a bit meaner & cynical in between the two crossovers. She’s a fan of the Classic Archie title and the bizarre things that happened in their continuity. But to try and do a similar yet different story that involved the more modern version was a tough thing to figure out. So she essentially turned it into a love letter to the Classic Archie-Verse. As well as tell a meta-story about growing up and finding your place in the world. This is why I think the Super Predators were used in this story. Even though the Predator films never went through a full on reboot/remake, the Super Predators were introduced in recent years and could be seen as the studio finding a way to reboot the idea and creatures. So the teen Predator fighting back against them can be seen as the original version of the creature as we know it still maintaining it’s status and fighting back against being changed to that degree.

But the commentary about growing up despite drastic changes is stronger in regards to Betty & Veronica. Which makes this story surprisingly have a lot of depth. From the first which was a surreal and delightfully twisted slasher story to this story, a bizarre multiversal coming of age story about growing up and being more sure of yourself. Again, not what I was expecting at all. But I’ll admit that this is far better than it had any right to be.

Comics

The Predator Hunts…Archie?!

Leave a comment

Archie Comics has had a number of crossovers featuring their title character. Archie has met The Ramones, TMNT, Glee, The Punisher…just to name a few. And recent years have shown the company isn’t afraid to get more experimental when it comes to their characters. And thankfully, that applies to their crossovers. But even though Frank Castle traveled to Riverdale, I don’t think anyone was expecting this to actually materialize. Friends, allow me to tell about the time Archie and his friends went up against…The Predator.

First things first – yes, it did take me until after I finished the comic to realize this comic can be spelled as AVP. I’m not mad, the first AVP film is underrated. But enough about that. It is truly bizarre that Dark Horse Comics (who owned the comic right to the Predator franchise at the time) was willing to do this. But one thing that took advantage of that shock was the art work. The style used is very much the traditional style utilized for Archie and his crew. This cleverly lulls you into a false sense of security and familiarity. Even when the hunter begins killing people in the first 2 issues of the 4 issue mini-series, it still feels like that somehow our main characters are going to come out of this okay.

Speaking of which, let’s talk about the characters. Even though the title is “Archie vs Predator”, our main human focus is on Betty & Veronica. Although slightly more on Betty because the Predator turns out to have a crush on her. Yes, seriously. The comic points out that this specific hunter is a teenage version of the average Predator. And they are able to establish that because apparently they have been coming to Archie’s Earth for years and the government knew they existed. Now I’m developing a theory about how this comic takes place in the same continuity as the Predator movies. Anyway, Betty actually does get several moments to shine in a weirdly darkly comedic way. Veronica is more of a supporting character in a few scenes because of that. But she makes contributions to the story, both good and bad. Bad in the sense that she got Jughead to dress up like her in an attempt to lure out the Predator as part of a trap. That did not work. Side note – the teen Predator also has a crush on Veronica.

But let’s actually get to the other person mentioned in the title – Archie. The ginger does try and take some sort of leadership as the conflict reveals itself and begins to escalate. He goes up against the alien a couple of times over the course of the series. But unfortunately…he’s killed. Yea, the Predator actually wins the title fight and survives to the end. There was an Afterword in my copy that talked about how the team were uncertain if they should kill off Archie, for fear it would seem repetitive of the then recent “Death of Archie” story. But they ultimately decided that as long as he wasn’t shot, no one would really mind. And I have to hand it to them, I didn’t think that would actually happen. Archie is killed off along with most of Riverdale and the recognizable characters.

That is except for Betty & Veronica. They do in fact survive due to the teen hunter’s surprise affection for them. And after he does help them escape an explosion, it seems only fair to thank him…as well as get a little payback. So Betty uses an advanced medical room that Veronica’s father has to not just heal the Predator’s wounds, but also TURN THE PREDATOR INTO ARCHIE! Remember how I mentioned Betty has a handful of darkly comedic moments in the comic? Turns out that’s because she is secretly unhinged! But I guess that’s predictable when you spend decades in a love triangle with two of your closest friends. That surprise is certainly insane but also manages to fit into the surreal tone and fun experienced throughout the mini-series.

Is there anything worth criticizing? If I’m going to be nit-picky…there are a couple of things. A character named Dilton has this weird speech about how he’s been jealous of the attention Archie always gets from women and how he’s the only one of the friend group that never seems to ever date or be asked out. And that leads him to reveal a robot suit he made in his free time where the head is a replica of Archie’s. It’s weird and bizarre but more in a something is off and goes against the story kind of way. And Sabrina Spellman has a small role in one of the issues. The way the comic portrays her is weird. I think they were going for a version where she comes off as a weird and disturbing goth girl. But it didn’t feel at place in this specific story.

But putting that aside, this is highly enjoyable! There is plenty of blood and violence to satisfy any Predator fan. Seeing Archie and the gang try and be action heroes is certainly enjoyable for Archie fans to see. And the ending is so delightfully twisted! Please seek out and read this comic.

Comics

The Strange Story of Blossoms 666

Leave a comment

Archie was my first exposure to reading comic books. Sure, as a young kid I was into superheroes. But that was through other media & adaptations. Such as the Sam Raimi directed Spider-Man movies, or the various animated kids shows based on characters like the Justice League or the Teen Titans. My family used to have this cabin and there were some old collections of Archie comics I found back during the summer right before ninth grade.. There were a few of those large collections collecting various different issues. The most intense it got was Archie trying to figure out how to the movie theater while on two separate dates at the same time while Moose was trapped in roller blades and constantly running into other people. Fast forward to college when I saw the CW was making a Riverdale show and I was at first surprised by it’s really dark tone. But also kind of digging it for the first couple of seasons. This ultimately lead me to discover the existence of Archie Horror and the story in question.

The basic plot is that Cheryl & Jason Blossom are the children of Satan worshippers and one of them is destined to become the Anti-Christ. But it’s sort of like a contest/competition where the two of them are trying to out-evil the other by manipulating people in town. But wait! There is a third sibling that neither of them knew about – Julian Blossom. He arrives in town and now Cheryl & Jason are scheming together to get rid of their competition.

Right off the bat, I think the art work for this mini series is pretty solid. It takes a semi-realistic approach to how it depicts the characters and their world. And it has a variety of different of colors on display. All though it does lean towards the darker shades and of course red definitely has it’s fair share of page time. But I think some of more eye catching art you will find are the designs from the individual comic issues which are included in the trade. It embraces the supernatural aspect in a more flashy display.

As for the story itself, it is pretty solid. It does have a sense of fun and a touch of dark humor. Characterization for the main players are vaguely similar to how they are in the CW show with a few exceptions. Jason is more similar to Cheryl and their parents are surprisingly decent people, devil worshipping aside. But Betty and Jughead are still similar enough to their TV actors which would help bring in fans of that show. But even if you aren’t a fan of the show, they still work well in the context of the mini series. But there are a few problems that do kind of bug me.

Julian makes his surprise appearance at the end of an issue, which in itself isn’t bad. But it’s in issue two and this is a five issue mini series. It doesn’t give the story a lot of time to build tension between the three siblings. I think the thinking is that they waited on that reveal because they wanted to give us an idea of how Jason & Cheryl normally act in Riverdale and how Julian’s appearance changes life for them and the town. And the timing would make more sense of this was a six issue story. But it probably should have happened at the end of issue one. There are also a couple of cutaways to an unidentified dead body as well as an unseen person throughout the story. At the end, it’s revealed this is Julian after his siblings killed them. The implication is supposed to be that he came back from the dead and is now returning for revenge. But at first, I thought the story was implying a time loop where the events of the story play out over and over again. That could have just been my stupid brain interpreting it that way, but those cutaways do seem a little out of place at first.

Speaking of the story implying Julian comes back from the dead, the series also has another cliffhanger. Betty does investigating and digs into Riverdale’s dark past and Jughead gets s little too involved in Cheryl & Jason’s games. The two of them end up getting together at Pop’s diner and they try to come up with a plan of what to do with their information. But as far as I know, this story doesn’t have a sequel nor are there any current plans to continue the mini series. That combined with Julian resurrecting does feel anti-climatic when you come across that realization. And personally, I think it would be really cool to have the Blossom siblings use more obvious supernatural abilities. A little something to really show off that these are potential dark rulers of Hell with a wide arsenal of tricks and magical powers.

Having said that, it isn’t a bad story. I still find myself enjoying it. Though that could be me just being a big fan of Horror in general. It’s a more tame example of what the Archie Horror imprint has to offer. I mean, with other titles like Afterlife with Archie & Chilling Adventures of Sabrina, this does feel the most grounded. Think of it like a gateway to discovering a bunch of other cool Horror stories, whether it’s from Archie or elsewhere.