Archie Comics 2016
Written by Marguerite Bennett & Cameron Deordio
Illustrated by Audrey Mok
Coloured by Kelly Fitzpatrick
Lettered by Jack Morelli
JOSIE AND THE PUSSYCATS have hit the big time and are headlining tours all across the country! Well, not quite. They had one successful show that happened to catch the eye of the mysterious music exec Alan M., who became their band manager, got them a snazzy tour bus like something straight out of Spice World and hooked them up with a couple of gigs. Unfortunately, the shows were at some less-than-glamorous biker dive bars. Fortunately, their last show ended in a HIGH SPEED MOTORCYLE RACE that proved that no one can try to tell Josie, Melody and Valerie what to do. The road to stardom may be a rocky one, but one thing’s for certain—these girls know how to turn a bad night into the adventure of a lifetime!
Marguerite and Cameron not only successfully make this a completely modern series but keep true to it’s cartoon roots. All these elements make this such a huge delight to read as the girls try and discover themselves as a band and uncover criminal activity and stop bad guys along the way. With Alexandria around and Alan M. as their manager all we’re missing is Alex and Sebastian to really tie the two together. I mean otherwise I feel like a kid again and this is the kind of hijinks that they were always meant to be a part of!
There are a few things about this issue that make you wonder, one is that Alan keeps disappearing and reappearing so what’s his deal? Is there more to him than meets the eye and is he behind the girls or just another plot device that’ll turn into something a little more nefarious? The other thing is that the history between Josie and Alexandra is brought to the forefront it’s a serious moment amidst the fun that we expect to see.
The interiors here are marvelously done! The use of page layouts through angles, perspective and backgrounds really give off this feel of fun and playfulness that the series needs. Plus there’s a creativity and imagination on display here that keeps it modern and interesting with the gadgets Alexandra uses and the props on her yacht. The use of facial expressions and body language not to mention the costumes really bring the characters to life wonderfully.
There’s a great amount of kitsch to go along with the whole seriousness of the storytelling. The characterisation is incredibly strong and the story progression is expertly done. The balance between the way they write the girls and the band trying to establish themselves alongside the emotions and inadvertent crime busting to create a new mythology based on established versions is so delightful to see. There really is this whole fresh and yet familiar feel to what we see here that is undeniably fun.
With such stunning accuracy to what’s come before and making feel completely new and modern this creative team brings everything we love about them back and better than ever!