Archie #7
Writer: Mark Waid
Artist: Veronica Fish
Colourist: Andre Szymanowicz with Jen Vaughn
Letterer: Jack Morelli
Editor: Mike Pellerito
Publisher: Archie Comics Publications
A review by Amelia Wellman
What’s happening in the new and improved Riverdale? Issue seven of Archie opens with a tense dinner in the Lodge household as Mr. Lodge fumes about Archie and Veronica fumes that he’s fuming at her Archiekins! After Veronica makes a dramatic exit from dinner she mentions to Archie how Reggie is working as her father’s consultant, gathering all the sleazy little details that Mr. Lodge can’t be bothered to find out himself, and Archie takes it upon himself to discover what Reggie is up to.
Not much is seen of Betty or Jughead this issue as it centres on Archie bungling his way through his mission to take down Reggie and on Reggie himself. We catch a few uncomfortable glimpses into Reggie’s relationship with his father and long time burger joint owner Pop Tate makes his first appearance in the series. He’s more than just the burger flipper here as he’s been made the keeper of the town’s secrets. He’s honest about it too, keeping them confidential since they were told confidentially. Not that he’s above dropping some hints when it’s going to be put to good use. It’s a clever position to put Pop in and it’ll be fun to discover what other secrets he’s hiding under his little paper hat!
Veronica Fish has provided the artwork for the third issue in a row and she once again knocks it out of the park! Her character models are wonderful. They’re all cute, expressive, and cartoony but not to a ridiculous degree. She draws characters reacting to things like they’re emojis in teenagers’ text messages and it’s so charismatic, so energetic! Plus, with distance shots of characters, they get dot eyes. Dot eyes! The colourists have also done an amazing job with no end to vivid, beautiful colours that draw your eye across the page.
The Verdict
Buy it! This new Archie series is so good! My one gripe with this reboot is the way they’re writing “@” and “#” into Archie’s inner dialogue. It takes me out of the story and reminds me that I’m reading a comic that’s still rebranding itself, but that’s in no way a deal breaker. Especially when the art is so captivating and the relationships and interactions feel so authentic. It’s such a smart move after years of the gang getting into ridiculous, slap-stick situations. So simply ignore the forced social media drops and enjoy literally everything else!
