I just finished reading Afterlife With Archie #1, and wow! This series obviously combines the world of Archie with the world of movie and comic book horror. But boy, does it ever do a good job! There are so many nods to classic horror icons in just the first issue that I was sitting here chuckling along through the whole thing. Let me tell you, I don’t usually laugh out loud when I’m reading comics, but this one got me!
They’ve got the perfect formula for this one: Take the Archie universe, give it a more mature artistic look with modern, believable dialogue, and then throw in some serious drama that you would never see on the streets of the canon Riverdale. It really manages to pull at your heartstrings too, and the creators were right in their interview at the end of the book when they said that they thought it would have a bigger impact when characters that you know and love are in these situations rather than just some new character who was introduced solely for the purpose of the story.
My only reservation with this book is that it’s been confirmed as an ongoing series, and it makes me wonder what they’ll do after all of the major characters have been zombified. Where do you go from there? Do you cure some of them? But then why don’t they just cure them all? These questions are what have me worried, but also what will keep me coming back for more. Let’s just say that I preordered the trade immediately after reading the first issue.
Want to check it out yourself? You can get the first issue here, or preorder the trade here, or pick them up at your local comic shop!
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