Archie Horror 2019
Written by Frank Tieri
Illustrated by Pat & Tim Kennedy & Joe Eisma
Inks by Bob Smith & Ryan Jampole
Coloured by Matt Herms
Lettered by Jack Morelli
In the world of JUGHEAD THE HUNGER, there are no vampires, having been wiped out in their great war with the werewolves. In the VAMPIRONICA universe, the opposite is the case, as it was the vampires who were the victors. So what happens when these two eternal enemies are brought together again? Whatever it is, it can’t be good for poor ol’ Jug and Vampironica, you can count on that much…
So, just the fact that none of these Horror books, okay the two remaining horror books (I want more Afterlife and Sabrina!!!!) share a universe is fantastic. That now we are getting a crossover event within the companies worlds is killer! Now, let’s add into all that the fact that what Frank has done with this issue is it allows new readers to get into this without feeling left out if they haven’t read either of the other series. New Reader Friendly!
I love the way that this is structured as well. I have been an advocate and supporter of Frank’s for a while now as he has this tendency (habit?) of putting out some rather extraordinary and totally underrated stories. I won’t lie I was hoping that we’d also see Jughead here but what this issue does is flesh out Veronica as she has problems of her own to contend with. It is those problems that catch the reader up on her series as well giving us some characterisation to die for! I mean we all know she can be a little too self-centred and a bit vapid and to see both that as well as how she when her danders up well Frank really goes above and beyond with bringing her character to life.
There is some absolutely delightful things that happen within this issue and poor Pop it seems his Diner is usually ground zero for some sort of fight. What really impresses me about some of these more major moments is not only are they fun, or break up the monotony of just story no it’s how they are utilised in making what’s to come that more intriguing. It almost seems random at first until you think about and see more of what’s happening and then Frank has your mind working outside the book and into what the reader thinks is happening. Engaging the reader and making them think it’s a lovely thing to see.
The interiors here are pretty darn impressive as well. I am in Love with how we see the varying weights of the linework being utilised to create this attention to detail. Backgrounds are utilised fairly well, some more than others, but I would still like to see them all the time whenever it’s possible because it keeps that consistency of what and where things happen. The utilisation of the page layouts and how we see the angles and perspective in the panels show off some mighty fine eyes for storytelling. Also the fact that you’d not really notice that Joe finished off the issue as it seamlessly transitions in both look and feel. The creativity and imagination is also amazingly well conceived and executed here and the eye for fashion indeed is nice. Matt’s colour work is stupendous and I love his use of shading, colour variations and how he make these colours muted and yet noticeably vibrant at the same time.
Archie has branched out like never before and it’s utterly brilliant to see books like these. We know it’s a different take, not a replacement for the original because that still exists. No Archie has opened up it’s doors, minds and capabilities so that can produce some of the most interesting, creative and knock your socks off books like this!