The New Archies #3

If I buy a comic book with a holiday themed cover, I expect the material within to be related to either Christmas, Hanukkah, Thanksgiving and nowadays Kwanzaa. If I get a book made up of several short stories, like something from Archie Comics, I expect all of the stories to be holiday themed. Though I've changed that a little bit to allow for a story set during the season in which the holidays occur. Thus, if it's not a Christmas caper, then the story had better be during a Winter wonderland. 

There are 4 stories in this issue. 3 are set during Christmas. The first story has Archie working as a grocery clerk during Riverdale Middle School's Winter break. During this time, Archie catches a shoplifter and learns an important lesson- while shoplifting is wrong, not everybody who steals is a bad person as the thief is a young boy taking food to feed him and his mom who just lost her job. 

Story #2 has Eugene (The New Archies version of Dilton) trying to find the right present for his girlfriend Amani. However, every time the lad thinks he's found the right gift, Eugene gets buyers remorse for not having anything left to donate for people in need. Girlfriend Amani is having the same dilemma. But a Gift of the Magi-like solution might make it a Merry Christmas for all parties involved. 

Story #3 is a classic Archie scenario. The annual Christmas dance is coming up. Who will Archie take to the party: Betty or Veronica? The solution was pretty sweet and a bit sentimental. 

The fourth story was not Christmas set. But it does occur during Winter time, so I was okay with it. Archie is challenged by Reggie to a snowmobile race. Typically, Reggie cheats as Archie overcomes. And the winner is... Just because this is a 30 year old comic book, you don't think I'm going to spoil it do you? Let's just say that if you read the story, you'll know who wins way before the official fires the starting gun!

There's a 2-page gag included in this issue. It's not festive at all. But when it comes to Archie material, I'm okay with that. Not every joke can have a Christmas-themed punchline. Plus, I understand that the inclusion of these gags are often as filler to meet the required minimum number of pages for print. 

Overall, the book got me in the holiday mood and it met a lot of my requirements. Also- this issue features a funny and extremely wordy cover by Henry Scarpelli. Very well crafted, even if there were a few Archie typical cliches running throughout the book.

Worth Consuming!

Rating: 8 out of 10 stars