Thou shalt not question thy King’s slang!
Creative Staff:
Story: Ryan North
Art and Color: Derek Charm
Letters: Jack Morelli
What They Say:
Reggie has won KING FOR A DAY! And it turns out his first act as King is to demand… that everyone else to form a band with him? Okay that’s actually not so bad; I was expecting way worse from Reggie. Wait, never mind, I’m getting word that DESPITE this very enjoyable and conflict-free premise, when Jughead plays around with the new music video for “The Reggies” and accidentally uploads an altered and embarrassing clip to the internet, everyone becomes enraged at our favorite crown-wearing hamburger-loving pal! Even Betty, and she’s the greatest! She doesn’t get mad unless it’s really important! ANYWAY: Jughead will face CONSEQUENCES, but at least they’ll be interesting AND HILARIOUS to read about!
Content: (please note that content portions of a review may contain spoilers):
So, funny story: back before I became an instructor, I worked in Hawaii. I’d just gotten out of the Navy and was hired to work security at the fabulous estate of Robin Masters—novelist, philanthropist, etc. etc. I won’t bore you with the details of all my sexy adventures with my impeccable mustache and sweet Ferrari (that was technically Robin’s, but I got to use it as a job perk), but suffice to say you can only live life in the fast lane for so long, so I decided to retire to the much more glamorous and lucrative career of college instructor. I thought I had left that life well and truly behind me, but a few weeks ago, my friend TC showed up in my backyard in his bumble-bee-colored helicopter and told me that a mutual friend—John Q. Higgins—was in trouble. I hopped aboard immediately.
And that’s why I’m late with this review.
Let’s dive right in: in the previous issue, Reggie won a bet and became “King for the Month” and the Archie gang had to do whatever he said. Naturally, everyone fears the worst, but other than a few minor jerk commands, all Reggie wants to do is form a band.
This issue begins with Archie and Jughead on their way to “Mom’s Instr’ment Detailing Shoppe” to pick up their newly-detailed instruments, all of which say “The Reggies.” They meet the others at the nearby recording studio and they jam. They also fail miserably at creating anything that sounds remotely like music. Luckily, Veronica has some audio “hunks” she sponsors (to which Betty responds: “We are overdue for a conversation about performative gender and commerce!”). The hunks promise to make them sound “wicked hot” but resident tech genius Dilton scoffs. He shows Jughead his own audio-video mixing system and impresses the Crowned One with all its capabilities, including replacing all the band member’s heads with Jughead’s and changing the detailing on the instruments to “The Jugheads.” Jughead asks Dilton to forward the video to him so he can share it on whatever the Riverdale equivalent of YouTube is.
Of course, if you’ve read any story ever in your life, you’ll realize that something will go wrong. And indeed, something goes very wrong. Instead of listing the video as “private,” Jughead lists it as “public,” and while he visits slumberland, his video goes viral. Like dramatic prairie dog-level viral (sue me, I’m old and so are my points of reference).
The stuff’s about to hit the fan in a big way, and the sad thing is it seemed like maybe Reggie was trying to turn a corner. Sure, he was still very Reggie, but there were a few moments when he slipped up and showed something genuine. If not for this, he might have become a decent fella to hang around.
Ryan North packs a whole lot of plot and character development in just one issue. The dialogue zips and sings and North’s trademark footnotes remain one of the highlights of the comic. This is just dang funny.
Equal credit goes to Derek Charm for his clean, lean lines and excellent facial expressions. Charm also does a great job with colors. The panels where Betty, Jughead, and Dilton walk home at twilight are very pretty.
In Summary:
I’d be perfectly happy if Ryan North and Derek Charm stayed on Jughead for the long haul. These comics are packed with humor and charm (no pun intended) and they’re a real treat to read. Dr. Josh gives this an…
Grade: A
Age Rating: Teen
Released By: Archie Comics
Release Date: February 22nd, 2017
MSRP: $3.99
