Archie #7 Review (SPOILERS!)


Previously on...Archie! (dramatic music begins to play…)


Archie and Betty used to date, but broke up after a humiliating exchange only known as #LipstickIncident. Suffice it to say, it involved a makeover and awkwardness. Archie falls head over heels for the new girl in town, Veronica Lodge, while also destroying her father’s new house. Whoops.


Later, Veronica officially becomes the richest student ever to transfer to Riverdale High, while Jughead begins his famous rivalry with her, mostly because he thinks she’s an obnoxious, spoiled brat who has no compulsions about manipulating Archie. We see another side of Veronica as she throws up in the cafeteria, unable to stomach the food. Betty graciously comes to the bathroom to give her some help. Even so, Veronica laughs in her face when Betty offers her some clothes, causing her to team up with Jughead. Later, they ally with Reggie, Riverdale’s resident creepy slimeball.


Archie sees Jughead and Betty with Reggie and assumes that he’s trying to trick them into doing something stupid. At Veronica’s party, Archie manages to humiliate Reggie and tells Betty and Jughead that he temporarily needs some space from them.


The sixth issue starts up a new arc with Betty developing a crush on another student, Archie getting hit with a baseball, and Reggie unsuccessfully tries to ally himself with Mr. Lodge. After finding out from Smithers, the Lodge butler, that Archie was the one who caused all the trouble with crafting the mansion, Reggie goes to Mr. Lodge. Mr. Lodge goes into a steaming rage after seeing a carefully-cropped photo of a hospital-ridden Archie, .


Archie #7: Written by Mark Waid, drawn by Veronica Fish, colored by Andre Syzmanowicz and Jen Vaughn, and lettered by Jack Morelli.


Recap:
-Veronica and her dad are feuding over his anger at Archie.
-Mr. Lodge has hired Donald Trump, Jr. Reggie as his consultant, purely so he can give him dirt on Archie and the various Riverdale residents.
-Archie learns about Reggie’s actions and sees that Betty is dating someone new. He gets Jughead’s help to bring Reggie down.
-They try to get Pop Tate to assist them by dishing some dirt. Initially reluctant to break his "sacred trust" against revealing gossip, he later tells them that Reggie gets his information from his dad, a newspaper editor.
-Archie gets a job cleaning up at the newspaper and accidentally messes up the next day’s paper by replacing a photo of Mr. Lodge with himself. He overhears something about Reggie’s criminal record, but stops short of stealing it, as it’s against his moral code.
-Crushed, Archie goes to Pop Tate’s Choklit Shoppe to drown his sorrows. Coincidentally, Reggie Mantle and his father appear shortly thereafter. Annoyed by Mr. Mantle’s poor treatment, Pop whispers something unheard to Reggie, getting him to give up his job with Mr. Lodge.
-Archie delivers another Bueller-esque monologue, hoping that he can someday make things right with Mr. Lodge.


Highlights:
  1. I love it when they make sly references to past Archie series (in this case: R.I.V.E.R.D.A.L.E., Everything’s Archie). I have probably missed at least one, so comment below if you spotted something! Firstly, Jughead refers to Archie as "The Man From R.I.V.E.R.D.A.L.E.," a recurring series of stories taking place in an alternate universe where every member of the comic is some sort of spy. Secondly, Archie sarcastically drops the phrase “Everything’s Archie,” a reference to both a classic album from The Archies and one of the numerous comics featuring Archie.
  2. The hilarious facial expressions throughout the issue. Veronica Finch’s art is a delight.
  3. For the most part, I enjoyed the plot development. Mark Waid’s reinterpretation of classic Archie character continues to impress. I just wish that Riverdale was a straight adaptation of the comic.


Lowlights:
  1. Normally, I enjoy Archie breaking the fourth wall to comment on events, but encouraging the Archie readers to send tweets to the official Archie Comics Twitter account irks me. It’s a clever way to fuel guesses about what Reggie did to earn a record, but it almost feels cheap. I feel as though it could just as easily have been delivered in a caption box or in the letter’s page.

Overall: 9/10

Zachary Krishef is an evil genius. Do not question his knowledge of Saturday Night Live trivia or the Harry Potter books.