By Hunter T. Patrick
Archie horror is an imprint that is known for some of the highest quality in comics… believe it or not. Jughead: The Hunger is a cool concept, and the execution leaves some to be desired. Does Vampironica live up to the other two Archie titles? Nearly impossible not. Does it deserve to be in Archie Horror? Absolutely. Vampironica has been such a strong title thus far in art, plotting, writing, and fun. The thing that most makes it belong to Archie horror is the delays, which will be minor compared to the other titles (Jughead: The Hunger wins in being on schedule). Archie Horror has some of, if not the best horror comics I have ever read, and Vampironica is on there.
The art is wonderful. It is not only dark but very stylistic. The darkness and the creativity come together, and the coloring is both somber and very alluring. It can go from simple to complex from one panel to the next. Archie Horror has top-notch art, and this is one of those cases where the art alone is fantastic. It deserves praise on art alone, and luckily it deserves praise for everything. The artwork is just a very great compliment to the rest of the book.
The plotting and writing too are strong. The writing is not too complicated, and if it were, it would not fit the universe. The character choices stick true to the characters and do not alter them in any way for the story. Afterlife with Archie is the only other book in the imprint who keeps the characters in their purest form with little to no change. With issue two, the plotting does not get too big making one wonder how they can pull everything off. There are just enough plot threads hinted and shown that gives confidence they can pull it off. That is not to say they are playing it safe, which they are not. If this plans to be a greater story, then they have a lot to explore, hinted at two issues on. This issue has much more explored than the very quick first and truly feels like the start of a series instead of a prologue. It is all the better for it.
Archie is a company built on fun, and this issue capitalizes on the fun. A few panels are just absolutely fun and hilarious, as an Archie comic should be. Chilling Adventures of Sabrina, as beautiful as that series is, is not fun. Afterlife with Archie has a few fun moments, but that too is not too fun (unless Archie fighting zombies is fun, which it is in an incredibly serious way). This issue of Vampironica is not afraid to let its premise be as fun as possible. This and JTH are the most fun of the four titles. This issue does not hide a vampire Veronica is meant to be a fun ride. This element mixed with the darker aspects is one of a kind, perfectly mixing all elements. It is a must.
Score: 4/5
Vampironica #2
Archie Comics