Life With Archie #118

I bought this issue in August at a used book store. I knew that this 1972 comic wasn't a Halloween themed book. But with it's creepy cover, I thought it would make a good read for the month of October.

There are only 2 stories in this issue. The first story is from which the cover image was taken. It shows a terrifying monster standing in front of a set of miniature coffins, each bearing the name of one of the Archie gang. The reason Archie and his friends are faced with such a situation is because the Archies have been summoned to the home of a promoter who wants the garage band to perform at a popular disco. The house the Archies arrive at is all dilapidated and the promoter is nowhere to be found. As the teens look for someone, anyone, they run into those coffins. If that's not scary enough, that menacing ghoul appears and threatens them with death!

Pretty tough stuff for an all-ages comic from the 70s. The ending was typical Archie, especially as the gang all seemed okay with what was behind all the scares. But then there's the eerie finale that made for this to be a great autumn tale that would be appropriate for a round of camp fire ghost stories. 

The back-up featured wasn't scary. Instead, it was a comedic yarn that proved that Archie Comics could successfully navigate the choppy waters of the generation gap. Mr. Andrews thinks the outfit Archie is wearing is straight up ridiculous. Archie just thinks his old man is being an old fuddy-duddy, where in reality, Grandpa Andrews probably thought Mr. Andrews dressed like a clown when he was Archie's age. Archie later meets up with Betty, ranting about how out of touch an old man his pop is, only to have a couple of kids to almost knock Betty on her butt. Archie stops the kids and berates them for being rude. In return, the kids call Archie old. The story ends with a gag about how Archie needed to get his foot out of his mouth. 

This was all-around classic Archie. There's a dramatic story that gets the heart racing. It's got a ludicrous ending that you'd only find in a family sitcom with a great twist ending. The second story was predictable, but such a fun read to experience getting to the closing gag. For less than $2 and spent using trade credit, I felt like it was money well spent.

Worth Consuming!

Rating: 9 out of 10 stars.