Archie and Friends #111

June 29, 2008

Quick Rating: Good
Title: Making it Big and other stories

Is this the end of the Archies? (Again?)

Writers: George Gladir, Mike Pellowski & Craig Boldman
Pencils: Stan Goldberg
Inks: Bob Smith
Colors: Barry Grossman
Letters: Jack Morelli
Editor: Victor Gorelick
Cover Art: Stan Goldberg
Publisher: Archie Comics

After a series of mishaps causes half the band to quit, it looks like it may be the end for the Archies. Of course, since roughly half of the stories featuring the band involve members quitting, there isn’t too much suspense here. Salvation comes in the form of a stranger who used to play in his own band in Archie’s garage – and who has a dandy surprise.

The lead story in this issue is actually kind of dull. “Cool Customers” is better. A traffic mishap on a trip to the beach leads Jughead to play mediator. His calm demeanor continues to serve him throughout the day, but naturally, there are some things even Jughead’s cool head can’t stand.

The final story, “Ms. Match,” is the best of the book. Nancy is so happy with Chuck that she gets it in her head to try matching up all her single friends – starting with the notoriously single Jughead. Her hints that Jughead should date Betty, however, backfire when Jughead mistakenly thinks Nancy has a crush on him herself. This is the sort of misunderstanding farce that the Archie gang does extremely well. The end of this story is particularly funny, and a bit perplexing.

This is an issue that gets increasingly better as it progresses.

Rating: 7/10

Archie and Friends #149

January 11, 2011

Title: Prankenstein and the Twitters (New Kids Off the Wall Part Four)

Writer: Alex Simmons
Pencils: Dan Parent
Inks: Rich Koslowski
Colorist: Digikore Studios
Letterer: Jack Morelli
Cover: Rex W. Lindsey
Editor: Victor Gorelick
Publisher: Archie Comics

The bloom has gone off the rose between Reggie and the new students at Riverdale High. One of the new students, anonymously calling himself Prankenstein, has subjected Reggie to one practical joke after another for weeks now, and he’s not going to rest until he figures out who it is.

I like the basic format this “New Kids Off the Wall” storyline has taken. Each issue has told a self-contained story for its A-plot, but the writers have created several subplots that are running throughout the series—the wall of girls that are fascinated by Jughead, for example, or the blind girl with her sights on Chuck (pun intended), and the continued friction between the new English teacher, Ms. Ashton, and the rest of the faculty. Alex Simmons also freely references other recent Archie storylines, giving the book a nice sense of continuity. He even references one of the “New Look” Archie stories, which is the first time I’ve seen that done in one of the more traditional tales.

The story is let down a little, though, by the rather anticlimactic reveal of Prankenstein. The concept, of course, is that the character flies under the radar, but I don’t think this character even appeared elsewhere in the issue. That’s a too under the radar for me, and makes the mystery reveal feel somewhat unearned.

Even with two issues left, I feel good about this infusion of new characters into Archie’s world. Only time will tell how much mileage any of these characters have in them, though.

Rating: 7/10