Reggie has arrived in all his jerky jerkness. After finally finding out what the #LipstickIncident was all about, With Mark Waid still at the helm and Veronica Fish taking over for art duties, Archie #5 becomes a one shot that sets the tone for all our character to interact with each other now that the have all been reintroduced. Betty and Jughead and full steam ahead to try and break the spell Veronica has over Archie, but there’s one problem; they have absolutely no idea how to go about it. Enter Reggie, former Richest kid in Riverdale and Bond Villain in the making. Betty and a reluctant Jughead will resort to him in order to hatch up a plan evil and effective enough to separate Veronica from her new redheaded lapdog. But it’ll come at a price.
Archie as maintained consistent in how fresh it feels from issue to issue, transitioning out of juggernaut Saga artist Fiona Staples seemed like it could have been a difficult task, yet they’ve proven to be shoes the follow-up artists are more than capable to fill. Veronica Fish shows off her skills by giving Reggie his most evil (and greatest) smiles yet. The dynamic with all three artist so far has been great, Archie comics have done a good job of keeping a similar style in the book but also one that shows off each one of the artists as puts their own take on each character, and they’ve all been taken under the experienced Mantle (pun definitely intended) of Mark Waid.
Waid has done a great thing with this book, he’s read many of the old comics and studied each one of them, he’s looked for the motivations of each one of the characters and what was the forces that drove those stories forward. He’s taken all of that, processed it, and delivered a fresh, updated Archie that feels appropriate for this day and age. Waid is preparing to deliver in 2016 what John Hughes delivered to the youth in the 80s. Characters that are realistic and relatable to today’s youth, and maintaining that silliness and fun qualities that make Archie comics unique.
Archie #5 is yet another great jumping-on point in a story that tells the reader it’s ok if you missed earlier issue, Archie, Betty, Veronica, Jughead… and Reggie will catch you up.
Score: 4/5
Archie #5 Writer: Mark Waid Artist: Veronica Fish Colorist: Andre Szymanowicz Publisher: Archie Comics Price: $3.99 Release Date: 1/6/16 Format: Ongoing; Print/Digital