Archie Halloween Spectacular 2020 #1

A couple of days ago, I reviewed this year's annual Archie Halloween special. I had mentioned that there was a story inside that seemed to continue a continuing plotline from the past couple of spectaculars and it made me feel like I had missed something. Afterwards, I did some digging and discovered that I had somehow missed last year's edition! Not sure how I did that. But it lit a fire under me to search around for it as I still have a couple of gigantic piles of books to bag, inventory and add to my collection.

I thought I hit pay dirt when I found this book. Satisfied, I began reading it without checking the publication year. After reading the first story that was devoid of neither Sabrina the Teenage Witch or those Halloween sprites Trick and Treat, I discovered that this was the Halloween special from 2020!

Now October, 2020 was right in the middle of the pandemic. The entire comic book industry shut down and most of the holiday specials announced for release in October and December were postponed. So I likely didn't get to buy this book until early in the new year of 2021. That would explain how I missed this one. But where in the heck is last year's book?

The 2020 special was in my opinion kinda dull. Although I suspect that if I would have had this during the doldrums of COVID-19, it would have been a highlight of my home bound Halloween season. (It's amazing what seasonality and your current circumstances will make a ho-hum book feel like a masterpiece.) (And compared to how good this year's Archie's Halloween Spectacular was, this book just couldn't compete!)

The all-new opening story finds Archie determined to scare Reggie after being humiliated for the last time. It's a story that I know that I have read before, only by different writers and artists. And probably not set during Halloween.

The immediate follow up story was much better, even though it wasn't set at Halloween. Inspired by the movie Night at the Museum, Jughead and Archie spend the night at the local history museum. As a prank, a couple of employees dress up as cavemen and scare the boys silly. 

The next tale funds Archie in his eternal predicament: committed to taking Betty and Veronica to the Riverdale High Halloween Dance at the same time. But in a twist, there's a third player who's impersonating both the the girls. If you're familiar with the legend of the Betty-Archie-Veronica love triangle, you'll know immediately who the fourth wheel is and it's NOT Sabrina! 

And yes! I knew who it was!

Archie specials typically have 4 stories. But the 2nd and 3rd yarns are pretty long. So the 4th entry is a one-pagers that I've read previously somewhere before. It's a parody of the famous demon on the airplane wing episode of The Twilight Zone. I love it and I wonder if they ever made more of those...

I enjoyed this read. I would have really loved it if at least all 3 large tales were all about pranks instead of just the first 2. Plus I wish there was more creativity behind the new opener. It felt more like a mid-90s stagnant era Archie Comic instead of a more dynamic 2020s offering. I guess I have been spoiled by the superior quality of the past several years of holiday specials...

As for the cover by Jeff Shultz and Rosario 'Tito' Pena, this is why I would choose Betty over Veronica any day of the week?

Rating: 6 out of 10 stars.