
Archie Comics/ComiXology Originals 2019
Written by Alex de Campi
Illustrated by Devaki Neogi
Coloured by Lee Loughridge
Lettered by Jack Morelli
Josie and the Pussycats are the hottest band in outer space! But with fame and fortune comes turmoil as internal conflicts are threatening to tear the group apart. But that's nothing compared to the alien horrors they're about to encounter as they find themselves adrift in the vastness of space! Even if the Pussycats manage to stick together as a band, will they be able to survive the horrors that await them in the final frontier?
Oh this is so good, I love what Alex is doing with the story. I mean the girls were in stasis for four years while the crew that was piloting the craft was taken by what the substance was that the stuffed animal was actually made of. To awaken and discover the horrors that await them has been brilliantly displayed. While it has all the familiar elements of a big budget horror franchise what we see is kind of this blending of the old school girl band cartoon but reworked for a modern horror/thriller tale. I wish this were something I could actually hold at some point because I will be damned if it's not something I would want in my bookshelf.
The story & plot development that we see through the sequence of events unfolding as well as how the reader learns information is laid down with such skill and talent. The character development that we see is so great! Getting to see Valerie using those smarts and being able to use science and such to do her part and then some against these creatures is brilliant writing. For far too long we've forgotten the girl is super smart. So with each of the in what I would think of as their signature personalities makes this that much more memorable to me. Not only that but we have Alan, Alexander and Alexandria, who lo and behold has a cat in ship, so literally the gang is all here. Sure they might not all be traditional but I gotta tell ya that is part of the brilliance of this story. The pacing is sensational and how it takes us through the pages on this journey revealing the twists and turns is marvellous. All of this works in sync to create one of the best ebb & flows I have seen.
Devaki's work just grows on me. She has a great eye for storytelling and to see the linework and it's varying weights being utilised as they are to bring out this attention to detail is extremely well done. How she utilises backgrounds and how the detail in them create that sensation of a confined space as well as bringing us depth perception, scale and that size and scope to the book is amazing to see. The utilisation of the page layouts and how we see the angles and perspective in the panels is another notch checked off here. I really am enjoying the creativity and imagination on display within these pages with how this alien thingie looks and the effect it has on the reader, as does it's effect on those it infects I mean that face was totally gross. The colour work is nice. How we see the light sources utilised consistently is a well rendered. The colour blocking is good though I would like to see some more shading and highlights in the colours being utilised.
Alex has proven herself as one of today's top writers time and time again and I am proud to be among her followers. What she continues to do and how she tells stories amazes me in the best ways possible. I hadn't known what to expect when this started but when it got underway I knew there was no way I could miss one single issue.