This is one of the comics I picked up during our visit home last summer. Not sure which comic shop I bought this from. I visited a bunch of them during that month or so.
Title: Afterlife With Archie
Date: July, 2015
Publisher: Archie Comics
Writer: Roberto Aguirre-Sacasa, Marv Channing, Phil Seuling
Artist: Francesco Francavilla, Gray Morrow
Letterer: Jack Morelli
The variant cover here is a tribute to The Shining, as is the abandoned hotel setting in which this issue takes place. In addition to the Shining, references to A Christmas Carol, plus a whole variety of horror stories an films are scattered through the story.
Archie (post-zombie-apocalypse version) is recounting the story of the death of one of his group of survivors to Jughead, while Jughead pours root beer floats from the supplies found in an abandoned Vermont Hotel.
Later, on the way to the survivors' impromptu Christmas celebration, Archie's mom tells him an old story about a bargain made with witches and a curse placed on the town of Riverdale.
This was all really fun. The classic horror stories were worked to their fullest extent. The familiarity of the characters meshes well with the intensity of the emotions and the seriousness of the horror scenario. There is a lot going on here, but I never felt lost.
Backup story reprints three one-page comic "Essays" on zombies, voodoo, and dragons from Chilling Adventures in Sorcery, published in the 1970s. Short on fact, as is typical of this sort of "nonfiction", but an amusing bit of nostalgia.
I can see why this series has been praised by so many readers. I'll definitely look for more issues of this during this summer's trip home.
Rating: 8/10
Title: Afterlife With ArchieDate: July, 2015
Publisher: Archie Comics
Writer: Roberto Aguirre-Sacasa, Marv Channing, Phil Seuling
Artist: Francesco Francavilla, Gray Morrow
Letterer: Jack Morelli
The variant cover here is a tribute to The Shining, as is the abandoned hotel setting in which this issue takes place. In addition to the Shining, references to A Christmas Carol, plus a whole variety of horror stories an films are scattered through the story.
Archie (post-zombie-apocalypse version) is recounting the story of the death of one of his group of survivors to Jughead, while Jughead pours root beer floats from the supplies found in an abandoned Vermont Hotel.
Later, on the way to the survivors' impromptu Christmas celebration, Archie's mom tells him an old story about a bargain made with witches and a curse placed on the town of Riverdale.
This was all really fun. The classic horror stories were worked to their fullest extent. The familiarity of the characters meshes well with the intensity of the emotions and the seriousness of the horror scenario. There is a lot going on here, but I never felt lost.
Backup story reprints three one-page comic "Essays" on zombies, voodoo, and dragons from Chilling Adventures in Sorcery, published in the 1970s. Short on fact, as is typical of this sort of "nonfiction", but an amusing bit of nostalgia.
I can see why this series has been praised by so many readers. I'll definitely look for more issues of this during this summer's trip home.
Rating: 8/10
