Josie And The Pussycats #1: Adorable Animals, Evil Machinations, And An Origin!


Josie And The Pussycats #1 reboots the world famous pop trio for a new generation. Being slightly more realistic than the original series, it doesn’t immediately start off with the band already being famous. Instead, Josie has a struggling solo act. She’s already friends and roommates with Melody. It’s implied that they are somewhere around college-age, unlike the very early original stories, where high school was briefly mentioned.



Already, I can tell that Melody is going to be my favorite character. She’s funny, an animal lover, and I’m ninety percent sure that she knows that she’s a comic book character.


Valerie is introduced as an animal shelter employee, agreeing to help Josie and Melody after they hear her heavenly singing voice. Seriously, Josie asks her multiple times if she’s a celestial being.



I don’t want to ruin the rest of the first issue, so I’m going to discuss the backup story. I don’t usually reference the classic stories in the back of the “New Riverdale” issues, but this one is really interesting. It’s a retelling of the Josie And The Pussycats origin, reprinted from an issue in the late sixties. It’s funny to see how different it is from the newer version. Alexandra still has magical powers (yes, that happened), the band actually wears the cat costumes, and Alexandra’s brother is in the story. Time will tell if Alex and the classic costumes will appear in the series. Also, keep an eye out for a certain beanie-wearing Archie character at the animal hospital.

Josie And The Pussycats #1 is a fantastic first issue, cleverly introducing all of the characters and setting up future plots. Already, I’m engaged in the plot and I want to see more of Alexandra and Josie’s rivalry. I would recommend it to fans of the classic comics and new readers. Be warned, however. The comic is slightly raunchier than the other new universe series. Younger readers might want to wait, depending on their maturity level.

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