Dynamite Entertainment with Archie Comics 2019
Written by Amy Chu
Illustrated by Maria Sanapo
Coloured by Vinicius Andrade
Lettered by Taylor Esposito
The body count increases, and the mystery deepens as Vampirella and Red Sonja investigate the deaths plaguing Riverdale High. Turns out American high school life is as mysterious and perplexing as the murders themselves! Meanwhile Betty and Veronica have troubles of their own when they butt heads with the editor of the school newspaper over their investigative news coverage. Is there a cover-up afoot?
Once again we see one of those amazing reasons why these company crossovers work so damn well. Granted the Archie franchise right now is one heck of a hot property to be teaming up with but to use all these ladies together blows my mind. What Amy has managed to do with this so far is that dream come true project, of course it’s also one that we wouldn’t have imagined coming up with on our own as it really is the unlikeliest of things to ever happen. Though now I want Amy to do a story with Vampironica and Vampirella.
The way that this is being told is phenomenal! There is something to be said for the fact that Betty & Veronica took to Vampirella and Red Sonja being who and what they are. Now the new fab foursome are up to their necks in a vampire cult conspiracy. Riverdale is starting to remind of Sunnydale in a lot of ways and I am not even bothered by that either. Another thing about what Amy is doing here that has won me over completely is how she has injected humour in the story. That scene in the diner was giving me life in so many ways.
The characterisation here is so utterly marvellous. Not just regarding our fab four either I am talking about all of the characters that we meet. Also I have to say I love the fact that different cultures are represented in Riverdale and that teacher is a great example. Oh and that we see Dilton is fantastic, he’s such the most underrated kid in Riverdale! Though I am surprised we haven’t seen more of Kevin since the girls love him and he’s kind of one of them. I’d love to see Red and Vampi reacting to a gay guy and his version of dialogue!
The interiors here are bloody gorgeous! The linework is sensational and the way the varying weights are utilised tso that they create this amazing attention to detail thrills me. I love the faces and facial expressions that we see as the emotions and feelings come out so well. I think this work with faces is the sign that an artist or illustrator has mega talent. The way that we see backgrounds utilised here really is amazing to see as it does wonders in expanding the moments and bringing us a great sense of size and scope. The utilisation of the page layouts and how we see the angles and perspective in the panels show a strong and talented eye for storytelling. The colour work here is beyond amazing to me. From Vampirella’s eyes to the diner itself what we see is so well done. There is a vibrancy to the work that is delightful which also balances out the softness of the skin tones. While I love to see colour gradation but the colour blocking we see is highly effective and well done.
This has some of the most interesting plot developments that you just don’t expect to see. I mean from the gathering of these women in the first place to the last page shocking cliffhanger ending this really has captured not just my mind and imagination but it engages the reader in ways you’ll be surprised by. Dynamite, Amy and company are doing one of the strongest company crossovers to hit stands.