Archie Comics is keeping their storytelling game up with Jughead #202 and Archie #611, and I’m glad.
In #202, Jughead, being obsessed with Film Noir movies, starts wearing a trenchcoat and talking like Humphrey Bogart. However, his obsession gets him involved in solving minor crimes around Riverdale, starting with Dilton asking Jughead to help his lady friend find out who stole her father’s secret invention. In #611, Archie’s involvement with P.O.P deepens as Veronica, Pop Tate, Betty, and now the entire organization of P.O.P, including Archie’s cousin Andy, have been turned into the Walking Dazed. It’s now up to Archie, Chuck, and Jughead to defeat evil organization C.R.U.S.H. and save the town.
I’m so glad to become a broken record saying this, but Archie Comics has really stepped up their game now that they’ve switched to the glossy paper and more intricate coloring (and can we talk about the covers?! Talk about detailed shading and action poses!). And now that the stories have been upgraded, the comics have become just as entertaining as the old Archie comics. Both issues are both ridiculous, but entertainingly so. The madcap nature of the stories goes back to the days when the scriptwriters were more concerned with telling a fun story than making sure they were employing every pop-culture reference known to man. The stories also have the playfulness of Saturday morning cartoons, the kind that made you feel warm and fuzzy inside. That’s how I felt when reading these; all I needed was a big bowl of cereal and my pajamas.
I can’t wait to read the next installments of these issues, and speaking of issues, I’ll hopefully have the Life With Archie series reviews up soon; I didn’t realize how much craziness was in these issues. In the meantime, pick up #202 and #611.
