There's never a dull moment at Archie Comics. When the powers at be aren't rebooting classic titles with today's best and brightest talent, they're pitting the Riverdale gang against zombies and witches. In another fun twist, Archie has gathered Alex Segura, Matthew Rosenberg, and Joe Eisma to take you behind the music of the greatest rock band led by Archie Andrews,
The Archies.
THE ARCHIES ONE-SHOT
Script: Alex Segura and Matt Rosenberg
Art: Joe Eisma, Matt Herms, Jack Morelli
Cover: Jaime Hernandez
Variant Covers: David Mack, Audrey Mok
On Sale Date: 5/24
48-page, full color comic
$4.99 U.S.
★★★★☆ (4/5)
Many a teenage garage band began with just a bunch of buddies hanging out, messing around with instruments tying to craft a song or two, not sure if it'll lead to anything. Fans of Archie Comics already know it does lead to something but how did it all come together? Segura and Rosenberg lay out this funny and sweet origin story with that very premise. The writers know their musical history and in turn, so do the characters. With references to The White Stripes, The Violent Femmes, Suicide, and The Vaselines, it's nice to know that the Riverdale kids know their aesthetic.
The perfect opportunity arises when Jughead's Uncle's club is looking for new bands to perform. Archie has no excuses and plenty of time to put a band together. Of course, the exhaustive search for musicians leads right back to some familiar faces. Betty, Veronica, Jughead, and Archie form the eventual band 'The Archies' but of course, nothing goes as planned and we see their rise, fall, and rise again in the most Archie way.
Joe Eisma has proven to be one of the cleanest artists in the business with sharp lines and plenty of detail. It serves the world of Archie well as few people are as emotional and expressive as teenagers and Eisma captures all the drama from the slightest smirk to full-blown histrionics. Eisma's versatility shows throughout but the montage of musicians trying out for the band is especially clever as it eschews layout conventions and the scenes just flow into each other. There's also a number of easter eggs for music fans if they keep a sharp eye.
This double-sized one-shot of The Archies is as good as any 'Behind The Music' special from VH-1. Albeit, without any of the drugs and sex we've grown accustomed to from other bands. This is a good time made for Archie fans that won't disappoint. Like a lot of bands that just start out, there's always a clash of egos and misunderstandings. Archie and the gang have endured in all their iterations because at their core they want to do the right thing and eventually find a way. It's this optimism that keeps Archie, Betty, Veronica, and Jughead as popular as ever.
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