Riverdale #1 Review

Riverdale #1

Writers: Will Ewing, Michael Grassi
Artist: Joe Eisma
Colourist: Andre Szymanowicz
Letterers: Janice Chiang, John Workman
Editor: Mike Pellerito
Publisher: Archie Comics

A review by Amelia Wellman

I am absolutely in love with Riverdale on the CW. It’s an interesting twist on the classic Archie characters, compelling to watch, and beautiful in its Twin Peaks inspired visuals. But I rave about those in separate reviews. Today I’m here to talk about Riverdale #1, a comic born of another comic that was supposed to be a one-shot to introduce the television series but has now become its own thing. Talk about meta.

Set in the universe of the television series, Riverdale #1 tells untold stories that take place between episodes. In issue one, Archie, Betty, and Veronica are all being dragged through hell! With football and cheerleader Hell Weeks.

Much like the CW teen drama that bore it, Riverdale #1 is melodramatic and angsty. The summary was pulled straight from official channels and talk about laying it on thick! The two stories included in this first issue, “Bloodsport” and “Bring It On”, centre on the grief from Jason’s death and the way people are dealing with it.

Archie stars in “Bloodsport” and it’s about him coming to terms with being given Jason’s number for the varsity football team. He wants to honour Jason’s memory and goes through the football Hell Week to work towards being worthy of the jersey. “Bring It On” features Betty and Veronica being put through a cheerleader Hell Week because Cheryl wants to avenge Jason and she believes that Betty’s sister Polly had something to do with it. Both stories are fairly standard and don’t really offer any new insight into the characters. We see Archie feels guilt at the drop of a hat, Cheryl is queen bitch, and Betty and Veronica are great friends. It’s what’s being shown week-to-week on television.

What Riverdale #1 does offer is yet more insight that the middle aged men they hire to write teenagers are just getting more and more out of it. There’s a part where Betty has to wear an iddy-biddy cheerleading uniform as part of the Hell Week and she thinks to herself that she looks like a backup dancer in a Drake video. Drake? Really? Then there’s the always atrocious verbal hashtag. When Jughead sees Betty in said iddy-biddy outfit he says out loud, #HotBetty. This is not how teenagers speak. Teenagers would only ever talk like this to mock the adults that honestly think this is how they communicate with their peers. #TeenagersMockYouAndYouDeserveIt

The art of Riverdale #1 is nothing to get overly excited about either. It’s not photorealistic to the Riverdale actors, opting instead for a sort of sketchy style with recognizable details. The characters are cartoony with only minimal details on them, but the details included are pulled straight from the television series so we instantly recognize and associate each of the classic Archie comic characters with their television counterparts. It’s okay, just not anything special. And certainly not as striking was the visuals in the show are.

The Verdict
Wait and See. The two stories presented in Riverdale #1 are kind of inconsequential and dull. I guess when you write the stories happening in between the stories you’re already telling on Riverdale the show, that’s what happens. I like the idea of getting into the character’s heads a little more, but this opening issue doesn’t offer much more than the show has. Only time will tell if Riverdale is a comic series you should await as eagerly as the show.

Riverdale #1 will be available April 5^th, 2017.