Archie #1
"Rude Awakening"
"Yes, We Cannes!"
"Jughead's Journal" Part One
Writer: Ben H. Winters
Artist: Fabio Moon
Colorist: Jason Wordie
Main Cover Artist: Stuart Immonen
Publisher: Oni Press
Here we are at last. The long-hyped launch of a line of new, more modern, Archie comics by Oni Press. Does it live up to the hype? And how does it compare to the reboot by Mark Waid from 2015?
For Whom the Bell Tolls
Archie Andrews slept through his alarm.
Six times.
Once he finally gets up, it's a mad dash to get to class, crossing paths with familiar faces along the way. He finally makes it to his desk, only to hear a ringing sound...
He actually slept through his alarm seven times.
Eventually Archie does get out of bed for real and gets to class. After a viewing of Casablanca, the students are informed of the Riverdale Film Festival—it's in two weeks, if they're interested in submitting a film.
Archie has too many ideas for his film. Before he can try to commit to one (something he's never done well), he's pulled away to be the star in Veronica's film. Before he's even done there, he's co-opted by Dilton, then by Reggie. By the time the festival rolls around, Archie has starred in everyone's film but his own. But a conversation with Jughead gives him an idea...
Speaking of Jughead, he gets his own little backup tale set at his favorite place: Pop's Diner. But today is different. Pop tells him that they're closed next week so he can go to his daughter's wedding. That joyous occasion has got him thinking: maybe one day soon he'll need to sell the diner so that he can be closer to his daughter. Jughead doesn't do well with change...
Everything to Everyone
This was a fun read that didn't really pack any surprises.
It was actually a pretty standard classic-style Archie comic, done in a modern way, that didn't mess with the formula much at all.
To contrast it with the Waid run that I mentioned earlier: that run still used self-contained stories, but it had ongoing character arcs. It was more of a total reboot, starting at Square One with the characters and their relationships.
By contrast, Oni Press's Archie #1 just hits the ground running with the characters and relationships already established.
Fortunately, the creative team knows the characters well and makes sure we have a good time with them.
I think my favorite moment in the whole issue (which had quite a few good ones) was in the first story, when Archie was racing to class in his cherry-red Bronco. He passes Betty Cooper in her pickup truck, telling himself, "No time to say hi to Betty Cooper, the girl I love more than anyone in the world!" Then mere moments later, he passes Veronica Lodge and her chauffeur and tells him, "Or Veronica Lodge, the girl I love more than anyone in the world!" Even better is him following those statements with "Don't point out logical contradictions, there's no time!"
Hilarious stuff. I like that Ben H. Winters wastes no time pointing out the central conflict and contradiction at the heart of all Archie stories.
The second story is where the real meat of the issue—and the majority of the page count—rests. This was another fun tale that really let Fabio Moon flex his comedy muscles. As Archie is literally yanked from one movie set to another, we're shown an image of his unclothed form covered by the cloud being kicked up in their haste to get his costume changed while on the move. Riverdale being a small town, they of course pass at least one person each time, leading to some amusing reactions. It's also really funny that, by the third movie set, Archie is confusing his characters and accents. This leads to some entertaining bloopers on his part, although I don't think Reggie was very amused.
The Jughead backup was the weakest part of the issue, but it was only a couple of pages, and it's clear it's setting the burger-loving, crown-wearing teen up for some soul-searching. Hey, if your life revolved around eating, you'd face an existential crisis if your favorite spot was thinking about closing, too.
All in all, this was a fun time. I just wonder if we're going to eventually get a little more meat on the bone, or if this is going to maintain the classic Archie style—which I almost feel like the high-profile creative team is above.
High Hopes
Speaking of the creative team, it's a doozy. Writer Ben H. Winters and artist Fabio Moon are joined by colorist Jason Wordie and pinup artist Nick Cagnetti, plus a cavalcade of cover artists. Stuart Immonen, Karl Kerschl, Kano, Dan Parent, Mahmud Asrar, Travis Charest, Terry Dodson, Steve Lieber... It's a crazy "who's who" list of names.
Ben H. Winters is an Edgar Award-and Philip K. Dick Award-winning novelist whose works include Sense and Sensibility and Sea Monsters, and The Last Policeman trilogy. He is the creator of the CBS TV show Tracker. His previous comics work was titled Benjamin. So he is bringing quite the media pedigree to this series. He's got a great handle on the characters, although Archie got the most panel time by far in this issue. The majority of the jokes landed, and some were pretty hilarious. And he keeps things paced well, again with the Jughead story and its handful of pages for setup faring the worst.
Fabio Moon is a multi-time Eisner Award winner alongside his twin brother Gabriel Ba. The two worked together on Daytripper and Casanova (with Matt Fraction), as well as an adaptation of Neil Gaiman's How to Talk to Girls at Parties. His art works incredibly well on these Archie stories. He has a great sense of motion, and his characters are very expressive. I do feel that some of his faces can get a little too angular (there are some panels where Betty and Veronica wouldn't look out of place on an episode of Phineas and Ferb), but that's really my only complaint. He makes sure that there's plenty going on in each panel (oh, and I love the posters in Archie's room—the David Bowie one made me especially happy).
Jason Wordie's color work is the biggest surprise for me. He brings a much more subdued palette to the issue than I would have expected from an Archie comic. They're normally very bright and colorful, and this issue bucks that trend. In fact, the preview pages of Sabrina in the back are the brightest ones in the entire issue. I don't think this is a bad thing. In fact, I think the typical super-bright Archie palette would have actually hurt Moon's artwork, so the more subdued and almost realistic tones worked much better here. So for me, the colors were a very pleasant surprise.
Under Pressure
Archie #1 is a fun read that has some genuinely hilarious moments, but no real surprises. Actually, the biggest surprise is just how much like a classic Archie comic it feels. The creative team has a heck of a pedigree, and a strong handle on the characters, so maybe there will be a little more substance to come, but for right now it's an enjoyable time.