The Archies One-Shot Review: Get Grooving


I might not know a lot about bands or music styles, but I had a great feeling about the comic going into it. All of the other one-shots have been stellar, so why not this one? Also, the writers slated to script the story have had great successes with comics before. Alex Segura wrote the gloriously bizarre Archie Meets Kiss crossover, and Matthew Rosenberg wrote some brilliant Rocket Raccoon and Kingpin-focused limited series for Marvel Comics. I haven't been able to read his most recent offering (Secret Warriors), as of this writing, but I have high hopes. Say what you will about Archie Comics, Inc, but they know how to match the right creative team with the perfect project. It's what makes me anticipate the other one-shots, such as the rest of Art Baltazar's Little ____ specials and Katie Cook's Sabrina The Teenage Witch special.

The Archies feels like a natural extension of Mark Waid's work on the main title, and not just because Archie talks to the reader. The various character arcs flow smoothly, with everything carefully being laid out. You know precisely what the writers are trying to convey with every scene, as much due to the excellent artwork as the clear-cut story. Not only that, but it's really funny, almost like a classic teen comedy film from the eighties or nineties.

Some of my favorite jokes include Jughead somehow being able to sense when Archie's talking to the reader and a wonderful montage of auditions for The Archies. Adding to the cinematic effect, Alex Segura and Matthew Rosenberg weave the various towns in the Riverdale world together to create a shared universe. Jughead's cousin Bingo Wilkin makes his debut "New Riverdale" appearance in an early scene, and several classic locations are mentioned.

Wait a minute...Herman, aka Jughead's uncle, was mentioned in the seventh issue of the current Jughead title. In my review, a particular scene lead me to joke about Jughead being Deadpool. Forget Agents Of Shield, this is what's really connected!
The music references are also spot-on. Alex and Matthew truly are music fans, and you can definitely tell that in the issue. The characters constantly name-drop various real-life bands and talk about music efficiently. They truly put effort into making a great product. Fun side note: I actually knew of Morissey prior to reading the special, primarily due to The Chris Gethard Show. I think it's funny that I actually knew of a band, having a severe lack of knowledge about non-Weird Al singers. In any case, I highly recommend you spread the word about The Archies. With luck, it could lead to an ongoing series.

The Archies one-shot is written by Alex Segura and Matthew Rosenberg, drawn by Joe Eisma, lettered by Jack Morelli, and colored by Matt Herms. You can find it at your local comic book shop.

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