(Spoilers)








I hate fakeout tragic endings. It was one of the things that spoiled another recent five part Archie reboot miniseries, and now the Archie 1941 team pulls this sunshiny ending out of nowhere after making us think Archie was dead. Except in this case there wasn't much to spoil, because Archie 1941 was never very good in the first place. more

I'm glad to say the writing in this book is better than Waid's Archie 1941. The plot smacks too much of Riverdale pandering, but I'm pretty interested to see where the mystery goes. The Archie/Sabrina section isn't as good, but it might surprise us later by tying into the mystery. Marguerite Sauvage's art is beautiful, but the way she draws Archie and Jughead is really offputting. They're unattractive, and they look so not like comics Archie and Jughead, it's hard to see them as the same characters. It's easier to accept that kind of deviation in Riverdale where live actors are involved. more

I wish sometimes that I wasn't such a completist so I wouldn't read these mediocre, pretentious Archie books drawn in the new style. There are a few good titles among them, but this ain't one of them. Five issues isn't enough to tell a decent story about Archie going from Riverdale High student to missing in action, so in place of that we get lots of pointless talk from the characters back in Riverdale when we should be concentrating on Archie (I'd say Reggie too, but he's barely even there).


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Pointless. The characters don't look like their comics versions, not from the earliest Archie stories that were written in the 40s, or the later classic stories OR the reboots (Archie is a buff, boring pretty boy, Jughead's hat is gone, they both dress in regular 1940s clothes, the girls' hair is different, Archie's parents look different). The story is nothing like Archie stories either. Archie spends the whole issue angsting around in a daze because he sees the war coming. Mr. Weatherbee and Archie's father are both so hardass they're not themselves at all. No romance or fun. None of this gives any insight into the character, except "thinking about enlisting would make Archie Andrews a lot more moody." Well no shit. The timing is off too since Archie was about 12 in the first Archie story that came out in December 1941. It's not that important, but shows there are better ways these writers could have done a story about Archie fighting in WWII.

If the comic could stand on its own, none of this would matter, but it doesn't. The art is only okay. Archie's self absorbed brooding is monotonous, and there's nothing else going on. The characters have no charisma. No one would buy this without the Archie connection. more

Pretty nice, but I don't know if I really want to keep buying this title since they're putting stuff from the Riverdale tv show in it. It kind of ruins the 1960s atmosphere to include references to a 2017 teen drama.

I gave up on this series after the first issue, but my LCS gave this to me free so I read it. Better than #1. I like Thomas Pitilli's art better than the Joe Eisma's. But the script isn't much better. The romance between Josie and Reggie feels forced, and the bad parent is so predictable at this point. In fact, the whole thing is kind of like Betty, Jughead and FP in the TV show, except not as good. I don't think this will pull up the numbers for this failing title, it's selling about 5000-6000 copies now, so it will probably be dead by the year's end. more

"The return of classic Archie" it ain't. Sigh. It's not bad, just disappointing. It's drawn in a retooling of the classic style that feels wrong somehow, especially the way Archie is designed. The writing is just okay. Worst, this issue is padded out with a reprint of an old story in the true classic style that not only makes this kind of a rip off but emphasizes how much cuter and more vibrant Dan Parent's art was before he had to reboot it for this title. more

I have been so damn spoiled by the art in this book, I'd have a hard time accepting anyone who follows Hughes, let alone the fourth-rater who'll probably replace him. The story is nice too.

If this is "the BIGGEST comic event in ARCHIE HISTORY" no wonder Archie Comics is in trouble. This new plot feels like it came out of nowhere and Archie acts like an idiot.

(spoilers)

Omg why did they lead us to believe that Vader would die and then fake us out? That was such a cheap move. There are other problems with the writing and characterization too. The art is still decent, but it can't save this book. It started off promising in issue one and then just crashed and burned. Maybe cutting it down to a five parter instead of an ongoing hurt it too much. more

I'd dropped this title but checked out this one since it sounded like it might build up events for Archie 20. No, it doesn't, and it was misleadingly described in press releases (it's about a phony award Mr. Lodge arranges). The sudden dropping of Jughead's hate of Veronica is sudden and unconvincing, and only emphasizes how pointlessly nasty it was to include it in the first place.

A decent sendoff to Ryan North, but it's the least of all his Jughead stories. It's not as funny, and (this is becoming a recurring problem, or maybe something I never noticed before) the plot turns on Betty's sadness, the only thing that motivates Jughead to change what he's done. Never mind that he screws over his other friends in the process; Betty comes first. She's gone from being one of my favorite Archie characters to one I'm starting to just tolerate because of how every comic seems to put her on a pedestal. Back when this was briefly done to Kevin Keller, everyone complained that he was a bland token and Gary Stu; why does Betty get a pass? more

Jesu cristo this sucks. Joe Eisma is one of the worst Archie reboot artists, characterization of Chuck Clayton is effed up and the whole book is just an uncomfortably naked cash grab for a floundering company that has no standards left to lose before it goes belly up and gets sold off to a bigger company. I now look forward to that day, if this is the kind of mediocre junk that ACP wants to sell us. more

A nice enough Jughead werewolf comic with Jughead well cast as a lycanthrope and everyone else aptly characterized (though Betty being the savior in every series is starting to grate). The art is good too. I don't feel the need to see this go to series, though.

Spoilers--This time the plot just explodes, in a lame way. All these late, contrived cameos from old ass Archie characters like Little Ambrose and Ginger Snapp, the 'bully' from Central returns (why?), Vader gets hurt because Reggie snaps at him...uncharacteristically, so it feels random. There's much too much Betty; why is she even here? I thought we were supposed to learn more about Midge instead. Plot feels very compressed; you can tell this series was prematurely shortened. The art still holds up, though. more

They should have given the artist a better script to work on. Almost everyone but Reggie, Archie and his dog are out of character, among other problems.

The good news is, the art is still nice. The bad news is, the story gets even more boring. This series' sales are pretty bad, and I can see why.

The art is quite decent. The story...meh. Why all the dog narrators in New Riverdale?

Another well written issue from Ryan North. It sucks that this book is tanking so badly (the worst selling of all the Archie reboots so far). I can understand the bad sales on the Archie main title reboot, which isn't very good, but the Jughead title doesn't deserve that. If you've been meaning to buy this book but haven't gotten around to it, hurry up, because at this rate it won't be around long. more

I finally give up on this series. Too much inexplicable characterization, too little focus, too many artist changes (the current one isn't very good), and there is something about the way it treats its female characters that I just don't like. They probably brought in Waid's female co-writer for some balance, but too late. Sorry.

I have to give this book a 9 just because of the art.

The art is a little better than the last two issues, but the writing is worse. I'm about ready
to give up on this title...I see from the comichron charts that I'm not the only one. In just
a little over a year, sales on this title have gone from 101,488 to 14,341...Archie Comics needs to take a new approach to this book and to all their comics in general.

Spoilers

This issue wasn't as good as the last one. Run of the mill vampire origin story...the Manson
part was tasteless...Pepper is supposed to have short black hair and glasses.