Anthony Stokes reviews Afterlife with Archie #1…
“This is how the end of the world begins… Harvey Award-winning writer Roberto Aguirre-Sacasa (Carrie, Archie meets Glee) and Eisner-winning artist Francesco Francavilla (Batman, Black Beetle) take Archie and the gang where they’ve never been before-to the grave and back! A horrific accident sets off a series of grim events and Sabrina the Teenage Witch must try to repair the unspeakable evil her spell has unleashed. Gasp in horror as Riverdale faces an impending zombie Arch-pocalypse in this brand-new, spine-tingling ongoing series — but be warned, kiddies, this one’s not for the faint of heart!“
I’m sick and tired of zombies. They are seriously played out and unless there’s a genuinely new genre twist on zombie fiction I’m generally not interested. I appreciated World War Z and Warm Bodies for there unique approaches to the monsters, but other then that I’ve been seriously underwhelmed. I felt this way even a year ago when Afterlife with Archie was announced. I imagined it would be really corny, but after thinking about I shrugged and thought “why not?”. I’ve never been overly familiar with Archie Comics, but they’re as classic as Peanuts and have been reinvented hundreds of times, so this review comes from the perspective of somebody who’s not the biggest fan of either elements of this mash up.
Immediately what struck me about Afterlife with Archie is the color palette. Instead of the gorgeous bright and colorful world of Archie I’m used to everything was dark and murky. Very appropriate for a zombie comic. What this is really going for is exactly what it sounds like. Take Archie and add zombies. And it works pretty well. I wasn’t blown away, but this was a very solid start for what could be a very fun series. There is some horrifying imagery in the comics; make no mistake this is a horror book – the whimsical tone has disappeared.
My only complaint is that the issue isn’t as fun as it thinks it is. There are too many references to popular horror icons, such as Michael Myers and Freddy Krueger, and there is even a cameo by Sabrina the Teenage Witch. And when I say reference’s I mean characters having discussions about horror franchises and dressing up like them for a Halloween party. Now, to have them dress up like the characters is a cool little self-aware nod that I can appreciate. The kind of self-aware I hate is when it’s just characters talking about horror movies, but not in an insightful way. Even if you do have characters making self aware references the dialogue still has to be good. This might have been clever before Scream came out, but it’s 2013, and this style of writing is beyond stale.
I’d recommend that fans of the zombie genre or Archie Comics check this out. Granted, don’t swerve off an overpass trying to get to your local comic store, or maybe even wait a few issues to see if it gets better, but definitely give it a shot.
Anthony Stokes is a blogger and independent filmmaker.