Scan barcode
A review by maedo
Road to Riverdale by Adam Hughes, Mark Waid, Chip Zdarsky
3.0
As a kid, whenever I earned any money I insisted on going to the grocery store with my mom to pick up two things: a copy of Tiger Beat (got to get those JTT and Andrew Keegan posters) and the latest Betty & Veronica digest. That the show Riverdale exists takes me right back. I sort of love the idea of those cheeky, bubbly comics I remember being taken in a modern noir direction.
If the show plays its characters a little too straight, this collection previewing the first volume each of five modern Riverdale reboots (Archie, Jughead, Betty & Veronica, Josie & the Pussycats, Reggie) plays things a little too cheeky at times. Jughead's story by Chip Zdarsky had me actually smiling as I read because it was the right balance of play and story that the character deserves. But the Betty & Veronica volume, narrated by Jughead's dog, was way too verbose, focused as much on Archie and Jughead as on the girls, and the real conflict starts at the end. I know it's only a teaser for the rebooted series, but obviously they are the reason I picked this up and I don't want to continue and that is disappointing. Sigh.
The good news is that Archie's volume felt, indeed, like a modern version of the comics I used to read. Realistically, I knew reading this book would be to figure out which volumes of the new Riverdale-verse I'd want to check out. And now I know I can get my Betty and Veronica fix from Archie or Jughead. I'll be seeking out more of both of those series.
Also, I oddly liked Reggie & Me. This series is ALSO narrated by the MC's dog, but this time it actually works. (Still, who would have though 2/5 of the reboots would be narrated by dogs?)
If the show plays its characters a little too straight, this collection previewing the first volume each of five modern Riverdale reboots (Archie, Jughead, Betty & Veronica, Josie & the Pussycats, Reggie) plays things a little too cheeky at times. Jughead's story by Chip Zdarsky had me actually smiling as I read because it was the right balance of play and story that the character deserves. But the Betty & Veronica volume, narrated by Jughead's dog, was way too verbose, focused as much on Archie and Jughead as on the girls, and the real conflict starts at the end. I know it's only a teaser for the rebooted series, but obviously they are the reason I picked this up and I don't want to continue and that is disappointing. Sigh.
The good news is that Archie's volume felt, indeed, like a modern version of the comics I used to read. Realistically, I knew reading this book would be to figure out which volumes of the new Riverdale-verse I'd want to check out. And now I know I can get my Betty and Veronica fix from Archie or Jughead. I'll be seeking out more of both of those series.
Also, I oddly liked Reggie & Me. This series is ALSO narrated by the MC's dog, but this time it actually works. (Still, who would have though 2/5 of the reboots would be narrated by dogs?)