Afterlife with Archie: Issues #1-5

Afterlife with Archie

Issues #1-5

Publisher: Archie Comics

Writer: Roberto Aguirre-Sacasa

Artist: Francesco Francavilla

Rated: T/Teen

Genre: Horror

Price: $2.99/issue

Yes, that Archie. You used to beg for the comic in line at the grocery store (me too). You have fond memories of the gang's shenanigans (me too). You thought those stories were something you left in your childhood (me too). The first time you heard of this comic you scoffed (me too). I walked by it a couple of times at my local comicbook store (Galactic Quest shout out!) and just shook my head. After a few weeks I noticed that it had gone on to its second printing, and I thought to myself, “Why the hell not?” I picked up the first two issues, and its been on my pull list ever since.

I don't know about you, but I know I smiled when I first opened this book. Sure the art's not as bright and colorful as those old comics, but the characters! They're just like you remember them. (Aside from the Sabrina the Teenage Witch reference, which for some strange reason I didn't even catch on my first read-through. As an aside, doing a little research shows me that this isn't her first foray in the Archie-verse) The art is all browns, oranges, dark greens and purples and it works. Francesco Francavila keeps the general look of an Archie book, and then pulpifies it, in doing so he makes reading it almost feel like watching a horror flick at the drive-in.

My memories of those early comics aren't perfect, and work in a more general way then remembering specifics, but these characters feel just like they should. Roberto Aguirre-Scasa does a great job of slipping into them and making them feel right. Sure the situation isn't standard Archie fare, but they still feel like the Riverdalians (Riverdalites?) we all grew up with. One great character specifically is Hubert H. Smithers, I don't remember any of his previous backstory, but the balding butler of the Lodge's oversteps the rules set out by his father and mediates a tense situation and in the process has me hoping he sticks around for a while.

It had been a long time since I'd read an Archie Comic and, aside from the veritable cornucopia of zombie mayhem, there is some admirable social commentary going on in Riverdale. I'm not going to get into individual instances that made me happy to see, suffice to say I hope that those characters and many of the relationships as they're presented make or have made their way into the Archie universe proper. If our children are reading about such a wide range of people it might actually mean something to their ideas of inclusion and acceptance in their futures. That's as soapboxish as I want to get, pardon me.

Conclusion: I wish I could've been there for the pitch. I can't imagine how these gentlemen convinced the powers-that-be at Archie Comics to sign off on this, but I'm glad they did. Underneath the immediate nostalgia for the characters is a surprisingly savage zombie story that causes me to relish each new release.

Rating: 8/10