Just Read: Afterlife with Archie: Escape from Riverdale (2014)

The art inside is fantastic too

Although Archie and the gang are American icons, staying relevant in an ever changing society can become difficult. Less people seem to be interested in the wholesome fun of the 50's and 60's that the comics often portray so as popularity waned some changes had to be made. In 2007 Archie Comics decided to start using a new art style and even used it in the popular Double Digest's found at store check outs. The art was featured on the covers as well as the first multi-part story in each issue while the remainder of it was the comics that many had grown up reading and loving.

The art style didn't seem to be very popular, and it's humorless soap opera stories didn't seem to be either, so this style isn't used anymore. In 2010 Kevin Keller, Riverdale's first gay character, was introduced, and that seemed to be the beginning of Archie's rise back towards the popularity it once had. In 2012 Life With Archie #23 was released with a variant cover titled "Afterlife with Archie" with the title character being attacked by some zombified versions of Riverdale's residents on it. Inside was zombie-free and many seemed disappointed. Eventually it all lead to this graphic novel, written by Roberto Aguirre-Sacasa and illustrated by the fantastic Francesco Francavilla.

The cover that started it all

Afterlife with Archie: Escape from Riverdale collects the first five issues in one very nice graphic novel that's similar to the popular Walking Dead ones. Unlike the Walking Dead though, Archie isn't in black and white, but it also isn't really full colour. There are a lot of dark colours mixed in with some orange and purple and does a great job of setting the mood and atmosphere.

This collection of issues is about the outbreak. Jughead's beloved pet Hot Dog has died so he goes to Sabrina the Teenage Witch to see if she can help him out. While declined at first she finally agrees to bring Hot Dog back to life. Unfortunately when he comes back, he's just like the animals from Stephen King's Pet Semetary, bites Jughead and spreads the infection from there. The story is very well written and includes several flashbacks to flesh out the story and characters instead of a basic straight forward storytelling approach.

Escape does a great job at taking the classic characters of Riverdale and putting them in a modern setting. Archie is still the hero, Betty and Veronica still fight over him, Jughead's his best pal, Reggie's their friend but sometimes a jerk, and so forth. One great scene involves Dilton and Chuck discussing the finer points of horror classics at a Halloween party. So while the characters are basically the same, there are some new tweaks to them to make them more interesting.

If there are any complaints about this graphic novel it's some of the elements forced in to modernize it and the length of the book itself. In an attempt to bring things to current times there are references to social media such as Twitter that seem a little out of place. There's also a story line about one of the C-listers who may be hiding from one of the guys that she's lesbian. It's really unnecessary and takes a little bit out of the zombie fun in the book. In regards to length, although the book is fairly thick, due to much of the art taking up huge chunks of the pages it doesn't take very long to read through it. Also included are full page replicas of every cover variant of every issue.

Availability: You can either pick up each issue as they release, or pick up the graphic novel such as this one. It is also available digitally. Lastly you can also subscribe and get it delivered to your home by clicking here.

Whether you are an Archie fan or not, if you love horror, comics, and/or zombies then this is a must have for your collection. It may not be the longest graphic novel available but it is very well written, well illustrated and very entertaining for it's short time span. 

Please feel free to comment on the book and/or blog. Any constructive criticism or positive feedback is always welcome.