Archie Comics 2017
Written by Jamie Lee Rotante
Illustrated by Eva Cabrera
Coloured by Elaina Unger
Lettered by Rachel Deering
Betty Cooper and Veronica Lodge are your average teenagers—they’re good students, cheerleaders and best of friends... They’re also about to add “leaders of a fierce motorcycle gang” to their resumes. When Archie Andrews and Reggie Mantle started their own version of a gang, a motorcycle mishap landed them in hot water with the Southside Serpents, a notoriously ruthless gang that hangs out at the edge of town. Now the Serpents have declared war on Riverdale, and the boys aren’t willing to fight back. So it’s up to Betty and Veronica to take matters into their own hands to
defend their beloved town and its residents.
I think I’m in love with this it’s kind of like Glee meets Sons of Anarchy and it’s a pairing that shouldn’t work or see the light of day but these folks have made it into something solid, interesting and a push for the whole girls are just as capable if not more so than boys. I mean I get it, being overlooked or relegated to what is considered women’s roles isn’t cool so by stepping up and taking matters into their own hands they are not only expressing themselves but learning, growing and forming bonds that will be unbreakable.
Jamie Lee has found the right formula here for telling this story. The way he’s got the book structured is amazingly well done. From the now to the then is handled beautifully and doesn’t feel forced or contrite to the reader. There is a natural feeling to the ebb & flow of the book that makes for excellent reading. As a reader I understand the motivation and I can see the potential that perhaps at this time the girls don’t and that is a brilliant way to draw the reader into the story as well as it has been done.
Oh my stars and garters Eva’s take on the character and the way we see everything here is so nicely done. I feel like while this is the present there really is a pin-up girl feel to what we see that takes us back in time. Some of hairdo’s too remind me of that and I gotta say visually speaking the work she and Elaina are doing is superb. The use of page layouts with the angles and perspective in the panels show off a very solid eye for storytelling. It’s very much an all-ages Archie book so the backgrounds minimally used or absent and yeah that’s what people expect but I’d really like to see them more in use here.
The girls really both crack me up and make me happy. I will say that I thing the fact that Jamie Lee is able to show us the after and the before and leading up to the how the two were bridged has just the right effect. Not only is it leading the reader through the experiences but it’s leaving the reader wanting to know if they are right when it comes to what they think is happening to them. This kind of writer/reader interaction is what drives people to talk about the book and get others to read it.
The characterisation is great and the way we get a look at the girls in charge attitude makes this an especially strong story. From the concept, the setting through the execution this book is one of the most fun looks at familiar characters in a new setting. There is a certain kind of joy in their rebellion that is exactly what we want to feel.