Archie, Vol. 1: The New Riverdale by Mark Waid

Pages: [176]

Intended Audience: Teens

Genre: Graphic novel

Notes for Parents: Some mature content

The Back Cover

Welcome to the new Riverdale! America’s favorite teenager, Archie Andrews, is reborn in the pages of this must-have graphic novel collecting the first six issues of the comic book series that everyone is talking about.

Meet Riverdale High teen Archie, his oddball, food-loving best friend Jughead, girl-next-door Betty and well-to-do snob Veronica Lodge as they embark on a modern re-imaging of the beloved Archie world. It’s all here: the love triangle, friendship, humor, charm and lots of fun—but with a decidedly modern twist.

What the cover doesn’t tell you:

In December 2014, Archie Comics announced that its flagship series Archie would relaunch with a new first issue in July 2015. The new series would be a modern take on the Archie characters by writer Mark Waid and artist Fiona Staples, featuring serialized storylines. After the first three issues, Annie Wu drew an issue, followed by new regular artist Veronica Fish. The new title received IGN's "Best New Comic Series of 2015" award.

Volume One is a collection of issues #1-6. It includes bonus content including scripts, sketches, variant covers and the full first issue of the all new Jughead series by writer Chip Zdarksy and artist Erica Henderson.

What’s good?

1)    The artwork in the first three issues is awesome.

2)    The characters look and feel fresh, updated, and their backstory and relationships are dynamic.

3)    The dialogue was witty and the plot was simple and easy-to-follow.

Best Part: Jughead Jones.

What isn’t good?

1)    The artwork in the next three issues is disappointing when compared to the first three.

2)    Veronica and Archie very difficult to like.

3)    The story was juvenile, boring, and quite cheesy.

Worst part: Veronica Lodge.

Recommendation ☺☺☻☻☻ (2/5)

This gets a two out of five for two big reasons – the jarring change in the artwork after issue three, and the very bland plot. Why update the look and the characters if you’re not going to update the story? Now, don’t get me wrong, it was entertaining, but in the same way the original was entertaining when I was twelve. This is fluff. Fans of the original Archie will likely enjoy the modern update. Fans of the CW series will likely be disappointed with the lack of murder and mayhem. I’m only willing to recommend this to die-hard fans.

Waid, Mark. Archie, Vol.1: The New Riverdale. [New York]: Archie Comic Publications, 2016.