This 2021 offering wasn't on my radar. But my favorite comic book shop ordered it for me. They're a small mom & pop and they make great recommendations. Plus, with times being tough for everyone, I just couldn't say no.
As with any Archie digest, the whole thing is full of classic reprints from the Riverdale gangs rich 80 year history. There's an old school L'il Archie fright in which the new mummy at the local history museum comes to life and kidnaps L'il Veronica. A late 80s-era romp has Jughead and Reggie swapping roles at the high school for some Halloween antics. From the 1950s, Archie and Jug run a foul of a real life vampire while in what appears to be the late 90s or 2000s,
Representing the most recent of eras, there's an Archie parody of 2011's THOR. First giveaway that it's modern is the fact that the story is taken directly from the MCU movie's plot. But this story is also the only one where there's no white paneling. The artwork spills over the page, literally. Plus, the inking has a sheen that really only comic artwork done on computer can only achieve.
There's even an all-new tale to start things off. Cover illustrator Bill Golliher crafts a Halloween story guest-starring Sabrina along with that pumpkin shaped Boo! Bus. Unfortunately, if you are hoping for more of the Teenage Witch, you're out of luck.
My biggest complaint with digests, especially the themed ones, is that there is very little of the subject matter at hand. In the past, if there was a Halloween issue, the first and last 30 pages would be Halloween themed. The middle would be a hodgepodge of everything else. The book-ending is the same in this issue. But some progress has been made with modest peppering of October set tales throughout. Still, it's not 100% Halloween.
Enjoyable. Affordable. Archie.
Worth Consuming!
Rating: 8 out of 10 stars.
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