Archie Horror 2019
Written by Cullen Bunn
Illustrated by Laura Braga
Coloured by Matt Herms
Lettered by Jack Morelli
Cheryl and Jason Blossom are a pair of seemingly normal kids in Riverdale. They’re wealthy, popular and likeable—but they also harbour a deep, dark secret—one of the Blossom Twins is the Anti-Christ. Both want the title, and no one in Riverdale is safe.
We all knew this one would be exceptional from the creative talent alone but ya know what the idea behind this one is too bloody perfect. I mean I won’t lie here either for whatever reason all I could keep thinking of was Rosemary’s Baby so the creepy effect here is in full force. With the whole Archie Horror line of books hitting stands like some kind of force of nature and none really sharing the same timeline we are treated to such stellar storytelling.
The way that this book is structured is sensational! While Cullen wastes no time in bringing us some of the meat of the story there is still much more he’s left wide open. We all know that high school is likely hell on earth for many but the twins in any incarnation tend to increase that tenfold. Now that we know what we know about them well it’s even worse, I mean after all how many people can shut Reggie up and put him in his place with nearly the snap of the fingers? So it’s no stretch to put them in this has the children of the devil himself and being as competitive as they are well let the bloodshed begin.
There are a few aspects to this that I found immensely interesting. First Archie and Jughead aren’t featured in the story, as of yet. However interestingly enough Dilton is and it really is nice to see Cullen flesh him out as the timid science geek kind of kid, who it wouldn’t surprise me to find a rock solid body under those clothes. Now I have no idea what is happening with Jason and who he’s really focusing his attention upon. Initially you’d think it was Betty or Veronica and in these pages it might look like someone else but Cullen being a master of deception and misdirection well there’s no real way of knowing. Though I will say this much would Jason sleep with a man to get what he desires as easily he would a woman?
Oh Laura does beyond a magnificent job with her work on the interiors here. The linework is simply beautiful and stunning to see. The varying weights that we see utilised to bring the faces and facial expressions to these characters is amazing to see. The attention to detail is superb and while I always more backgrounds she does use them rather effectively in fleshing out the scenes or bringing us a size and scope to the story. Of course there is also the Blossom Mansion and all the minutiae aspects that give it personality, not life mind you but personality makes you not only appreciate what it is we see but the hand that brought this imagination and creativity to life. The utilisation of the page layouts and how we see the angles and perspective in the panels shows of a sensational eye for storytelling. Matt’s colour work here is gorgeous and really finishes everything off with such aplomb.
With such a magnificent first issue I am shivering in anticipation to see how this is going to move forward. Finally the Blossom’s get to be front and centre and they get to revel in their own unique sense of delicious evil. Forget Dallas or Dynasty, any telenovela too for that matter they’ve got nothing on this and could learn a thing or two about manipulation and doing things with no emotion attached. With flawless characterisation, a premise we should’ve had decades ago, strong pacing, story & plot development and some truly stunningly gorgeous interior artwork the Archie universe has another break-out hit on it’s hands.