Mike Pellerito

In advance of the airing of the television series Riverdale, this book presents the first volume in a number of Archie universe comic series, including Betty & Veronica, Reggie and Me, and Josie and the Pussycats, in which the gang of teenaged friends form a band and play at a charity event, get a new principal and protest new policy, and fight to keep their favorite diner up and running, among various other plots and subplots.

This book is basically just a piece of promotion, but it was kind show more of fun to have the beginning of a lot of different stories. Readers can pick and choose which ones interest them and/or leave a cliffhanger big enough for them to want to keep reading the rest of that series elsewhere.

There are also some quick editorials at the beginning of the book and before each volume. In these, readers learn that these first volumes represent a relaunch and a bit of a rebranding to bring the Archie universe to a modern audience. That being said, this title doesn't have the dark, gritty feel that Riverdale brought to audiences, and instead feels pretty much like standard Archie fare. show less

As someone who read Archie comics as a kid, this was interesting from a cultural standpoint. I'm a fan of Fiona Staples and definitely enjoyed the artwork but ultimately, this is clearly crass commercialization and an attempt to keep the comic relevant and selling to a modern audience.

A little unusual in that this is the first issues of the revamped Archie line of comics. On the plus side it is a way to easily check out 5 different comics. It has been a long time since I have read any Archie stuff with the exception of the horror titles the last couple of years. I was pleasantly surprised to revisit Riverdale and see how the gang has come along. Now I need to track down the other issues to see how the story goes from here.

The consequences of the last story arc are felt well in this, and the characters start to take a breather before things pick up again (it never seems to end, does it?)