Tales from the Batcave

Never been a big Archie fan, in fact I think the only Archie book I own is the crazy Punisher crossover from a few years ago. The extent of my knowledge of Archie comics comes mostly from Kevin Smith's brilliant scene in Chasing Amy, in which Hooper X insists to Banky that Archie and Jughead were lovers. Still, my love for all things horror, and more importantly Francesco Francavilla's art, prompted me to give Afterlife With Archie a shot, and while there's only been one issue so far, I'm damn glad I did.

This book is just pure FUN. Jughead's dog gets hit by a car and dies, and in his distraught state, he visits Sabrina the Teenage Witch to ask her to get her Pet Sematary on and revive his beloved canine pal. She denies him in front of her Aunts, the older witches she lives with, but then secretly visits Jughead later and agrees. The spell works, but Hot Dog isn't exactly himself when he returns from the dead. He's a nasty, more aggressive version, and eventually takes a bit out of Jughead, which then begins to turn Jughead into a zombie! Just in time for the Halloween dance at school too...

I tell you, if Archie has always been this fun of a read, then I hang my head in shame as I have been missing out. Roberto Aguirre-Sacasa handles writing chores, and while I know I've read a few of his books, nothing stands out in my mind as being particularly great, aside from his adaptation of Stephen King's The Stand. He also recently wrote the script for the movie remake of Stephen King's Carrie. The real star of the book though is Francesco Francavilla's beautifully creepy art. I'm so in love with Francavilla's work, it's ridiculous. The guy is a machine too, as he is somehow capable of not only drawing mutliple books monthly (his own Black Beetle, Afterlife with Archie, along with random Marvel books), but he's constantly throwing up sketches online. To say I'm a fan of his would be a gross understatement.

Check this book out!