Review: Vampironica #1
Are you a big Archie fan? Does the Riverdale gang live in the perfect place of fast cars, boys with two girlfriends and a malt shop? That’s all well and good, but don’t you just want an Archie book to have more… well…bite? If so then you are in luck with the new book from Archie Horror due out in March.
Things start a little bit Buffy, before we get the obligatory flashback, to see what happened to our heroine. Due to the title of the book, to say that Veronica gets bitten by a vampire is not really that much of a spoiler. What ensures is also, pretty much standard, with the fun in the book seeing the usual vampire shenanigans happen to the normally cheerful-est universe in comics. Of course, this isn’t the first time horror has been added to the mix; Sabrina is probably the most well-known book; here we get an Archie-verse that feels a tad more adult due to the nefarious Nosferatu that have popped up.
Brother and sister writing duo, Greg and Meg Smallwood have continued to take steps started with B & V Vixens in showing the normally placid Riverdale community in a totally different light. To be honest, I kind of find this sort of thing refreshing as it opens up different avenues for storytelling, even if when it comes to vampires it pretty much goes, victim is bitten, goes through a change of sorts and then lives with the outcome. For the book to work, you have to care about the Archie gang, which to be honest I can’t say that I do. Still the Smallwood’s work hard to get the readers investment from the outset. Using Veronica as their muse means that for once the tables are turned a little, with bad girl turned badder maybe turning good. Put it another way, if Betty had been bitten she would of course use her powers for good. With Roni being the victim, the jury is still out.
Greg Smallwood also provides the art for the book with an adult style in both figure work, faces and the colors. Vampires have always been seen as sensual and they way that they seem to enjoy their food, albeit their food is humans, displays a level of vicariousness that is seldom seen. Smallwood captures this ungodly delight well in the violence on show that marks this as a Teen + book. The panel structure feels like a “normal” Archie book which helps to create the juxtaposition in a visual way. Smallwood also provides the color scheme, giving the book a red hue that practically shouts blood!
The Smallwoods’ have to be applauded for trying to bring new blood into a range of comics that have pretty much remained the same since its inception. Yet with the TV series and the other alternative storylines that have been seen recently, there is still life in the un-living and Rviverdale.
Writing – 4 Stars
Art – 4 Stars
Colors 4 Stars
[yasr_overall_rating size=”large”]
Written by: Greg and Meg Smallwood
Art by; Greg Smallwood
Published by; Archie Comics
Author Profile
- I am a long time comic book fan, being first introduced to Batman in the mid to late 70's. This led to a appreciation of classic artists like Neal Adams and Jim Aparo. Moving through the decades that followed, I have a working knowledge of a huge raft of characters with a fondness for old school characters like JSA and The Shadow
Currently reading a slew of Bat Books, enjoying a mini Marvel revival, and the host of The Definative Crusade and Outside the Panels whilst also appearing on No-Prize Podcast on the Undercover Capes Podcast Network
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