Archie #6

With the departure of Fiona Staples and Annie Wu, artist Veronica Fish steps up to the plate to continue the adventures of the new and improved Archie Andrews and the Riverdale Gang. With Archie out of action, the spotlight falls on, well, basically everyone else this issue.

Read on below for our full, spoiler free review of “Archie” #6 to find out why you should be reading Riverdale’s hottest comic series.

Written by Mark Waid
Illustrated by Veronica Fish
The biggest comic series of the year continues into 2016! Archie and Jughead are on the outs with each other, and now Archie has no one to help him against the fury that is Hiram Lodge! Not even Veronica wants to go up against her own father!​ Rising star comics artist Veronica Fish (Howard the Duck, the RIVERDALE CW promo image) joins the legendary Mark Waid for another brand new issue of the hit series!

Being a Scottish millenial, I’m going to admit something: I didn’t grow up with Archie Comics. In fact, I was already a young adult before they ever entered my life and by that point I was never going to be interested in a slice of life series about teenagers in small town America unless they all secretly had superpowers. Funny how things change, then, isn’t it? With superhero comics almost so obsessed with the leadup to the next big summer event, it feels like we’re always on the road to Wrestlemania. Meanwhile, the revival of “Archie”, lead by writer Mark Waid and artists Fiona Staples, Annie Wu and now Veronica Fish, has brought the slice of life series back to the forefront of everyone’s minds by telling a story that actually speaks to the younger generation of today.

What’s perhaps most interesting about “Archie” #6 is that’s an issue if “Archie” that almost entirely devoid of Archie Andrews. Focusing more on the other characters in his life and their connections to each other through Archie, the reader is given a sense of the central role that Andrews plays in their lives and how some of those relationships are crumbling while others are being forged. Waid and Veronica finally give readers a look in the mind of the enigma that is Veronica Lodge and why she even keeps Archie around in the first place (spoiler alert: she has feelings for him) while showing Jughead and Betty picking up the pieces of their slowly imploding friendship with Archie. For a series that prides itself on being light, fresh and funny, this is an issue that explores that drama underlying that tone.

Mark Waid’s writing perfectly captures that special blend of emotional teenage realism and outrageous hijinks that kept Archie Andrews’ comics so popular for decades now. The focus on keeping Archie’s co-stars at the forefront of the issue really cuts to the core of that emotional realism while the way Archie is taken out of the book speaks to the slapstick comedy that keeps everything feeling light and funny.

While it shouldn’t be surprised that Mark Waid is fantastic at writing this book, it never feels like someone who’s over 50 trying to write teenagers. The writing feels effortlessly youthful and full of joy and life, especially in a lineup with so many other psuedo-indie comics on the shelf. “Archie” #6 stands shoulder to shoulder with titles like “Batgirl” and “Squirrel Girl” and doesn’t miss a step in being incredibly light and fun to read.

Following artists like Fiona Staples and Annie Wu, Veronica Fish had the deck stacked against in terms of impressing artistically and yet she managed to do so anyway. Keeping a light style in keeping with Staples and Wu’s, Fish effortlessly continues the artistic tone of the series and the indie, digital sketch feel while making the pages her own. Fish has an amazing sense of visual comedy which plays right into Waid’s writing and her character work feels just exaggerated enough to hit those visual comedy notes while not intruding on the more dramatic scenes of the issue. However, there’s a number of panels throughout the issue where the background felt unnecessarily sparse which gave a weird, almost empty feeling to some of the pages. It’s not a big deal, just something that cropped up here and there that felt off.

All in all, “Archie” continues to impress with each issue, feeling fresh and full of life. It should be no surprise that a series that kept readers reliving the eternal childhood of Archie and the gang still has some life in it, but it is surprising just how easy it is to connect with this new series. It’s fun, it’s light hearted, it brings out the best in the myriad of relationships between each character and, best of all, it feels fresh and new despite how archetypal these characters should feel.

Mark Waid’s writing continues to feel fresh and easily accessible, taking the best aspects of Archie comics of old – particularly the wacky slapstick and the chapters throughout the issue – while infusing the characters with a modern day style. Veronica Fish ably continues the series’ contemporary feeling art style with a great sense of visual comedy and storytelling and is a perfect fit to be the series’ main artist going forward.

Even if you’ve never read “Archie” or if you’re a lifelong fan, there’s still something here to you to have fun with.

Final Verdict: 7.9 – “Archie” continues to breath new life into an age old comic, keeping it fresh, fun and contemporary for new readers and established fans alike.