Title: Afterlife with Archie: Escape from Riverdale Volume 1
Author: Roberto Aguirre-Sacasa
Artist: Francesco Francavilla
Genre: Horror / Drama / Zombies / Alternative Universe / Friendship
Year Published: 2014
Year Read: 10/28/2017
Publisher: Archie Comics
Series: Afterlife with Archie #1
Source: Purchased
Content Rating: Ages 15+ (Gory Violence and Some Language)
Buy on: Amazon // Book Depository
Introduction:
Alright, so I will admit that
I have not read many Archie Comics where the gang is put into a darker
situation that is different from the “wholesale family entertainment”
adventures that they are usually in (and this was BEFORE the reboot came along, although the reboot was not as dark
as this comic). So, since Halloween is
around the corner, I just had to pick this graphic novel up called “Afterlife with Archie: Escape from
Riverdale Volume One” which is written by Roberto Aguirre-Sacasa along with artwork by Francesco Francavilla, where Archie and the Gang end up in a for
real zombie apocalypse!
What is this story
about?
The story starts out with Hot Dog, Jughead’s beloved dog,
being run over by a car and Jughead ends up going to Sabrina the Teenage Witch,
to see if she can help his dog.
Unfortunately, Sabrina’s aunts tell Jughead that there is nothing they
can do for Hot Dog and that he should let Hot Dog stay dead. But then, Sabrina decided to help out Jughead
anyway and she ends up resurrecting Hot Dog.
Unfortunately, it turns out that when Sabrina brought Hot Dog back to
life, Hot Dog became a zombie dog and he ended up biting Jughead, which turned
Jughead into a zombie! So, when Jughead went to the school dance, he ended up
affecting most of the school by biting most of the students, with the exception
of the main cast, which consisted of Archie, Dilton, Midge, Moose, Reggie,
Betty, Veronica and many others. The
remaining students ended up going to Mr. Lodge’s mansion in order to protect
themselves against the zombies, while also trying to see if there are any
survivors from the zombie apocalypse.
What I loved about
this story:
Roberto Aguirre-Sacasa’s writing:
Wow!
I never would have thought that I would live to see the day where there
would be a graphic novel series that has Archie and the gang getting involved
in a zombie apocalypse! Roberto Aguirre-Sacasa has done a
fantastic job at giving the usual sweet natured Archie Comics a darker and
scarier tone in this graphic novel and it never felt so out of place to me that
the Archie gang in this story are portrayed in a much more mature and cynical
way, since they are stuck in a zombie apocalypse and it is appropriate for this
type of story. I also loved the way that
Roberto Aguirre-Sacasa created a
different spin for each of the main characters, such as Betty and Veronica
being more antagonistic with each other rather than be good friends with a
small rivalry with each other, Sabrina and her family being more realistic and
intense versions of witches and Nancy and Chuck…well, I will let you find out
for yourselves what is going on with Nancy and Chuck in this comic! I really loved the fact that this comic is
much more serious and frightening in tone since the gang are facing a zombie
apocalypse and I found myself a bit creeped out by some of the moments in this
comic, such as the zombified citizens of Riverdale attacking the main
protagonists.
Francesco Francavilla’s artwork: Francesco
Francavilla’s artwork fits the scary and serious tone of this comic quite
perfectly as the zombies in this comic are quite terrifying to look at such as
the images of the zombified Hot Dog. I
loved the fact that the art style is much more realistic in this comic as it
really captures the mature and serious nature of this story. I also loved the
way that Francesco Francavilla did
the coloring of this book as the colors are mostly in red, black, orange and
grey that greatly convey the horror elements of this story.
What made me feel
uncomfortable about this story:
Anyone who does not like language or gory violence might be
a bit uncomfortable with some of the gory violence and language in this
comic. The language in this comic is not
as strong as some of the more mature comics as only the “h” word is uttered in
a couple of sentences and as for the gory violence, there are many images of
zombies biting into people which is pretty graphic.
Final Thoughts:
Overall, “Afterlife with Archie: Escape from Riverdale Volume One” is a fantastic graphic
novel that anyone who loves both the Archie Comics and zombies will easily
enjoy!
* 2014 Harvey Awards Nominee for Best New Series
* 2015 Will Eisner Comic Industry Awards Nominee for Best Lettering (for Jack Morelli), Best Cover Artist (for Francesco Francavilla)
You might also like:
No comments:
Post a Comment