Someone’s gotta push back against the Serpents and our two leads are going to woman up and do it.
Creative Staff:
Story: Jamie Lee Rotante
Art: Eva Cabrera
Colors: Elaina Unger
Letterer: Rachel Deering
What They Say:
The toughest gang in Riverdale is one you’d least expect: the Vixens, led by Riverdale High’s own Betty and Veronica!
Content: (please note that content portions of a review may contain spoilers):
With the main book going strong, a number of offshoots out there and some re-imaginings, plus the (excellent) TV series, it’s a great time to be a fan of his property as we’re seeing so many creative approaches to it. This property, which feels like it stands alone from a much earlier period in Archie Comics publishing, hs Jamie Lee Rotante coming up with a fun way to get the characters onto motorcycles while Eva Cabrera delivers some fun looking visuals for it with something akin to a throwback but with a wink and a nod kind of approach that lets it be cute as well. And that’s definitely helped with Elaina Unger’s color work as it does feel like it’s from an earlier time but with a lot more pop and vibrancy to it.
The concept here is certainly fun enough as we discover that Reggie and Archie have set up their own little biker gang. It’s not a real gang in the darker sense like the Southside Serpents, which the kids believe to just be made up anyway, as the two of them are more intent on just having fun and feeling cool more than anything else. But even with that Archie’s keeping it a secret from Betty since he assumes she wouldn’t approach, hence going on about being grounded regularly. But when she discovers through Veronica, who is heading out for a weekend of fun with Reggie on his motorcycle, the truth about Archie has her rebelling so she can enjoy some of this as well. And it is fun to see the group paired up as they are and Archie trying to understand how she could be into it since she is basically a goodie-goodie type.
Of course, leave it to Archie to screw things up when they’re out and about as they come across the real Southside Serpents and he ends up knocking their bikes over in his haste to get away. The sets into motion where the series will focus for a bit as we get the Serpents rolling out for revenge which in turn sets the town against them. What makes me grin with it is that Betty and Veronica both know that Archie and Reggie won’t push back against them since neither can do what’s needed so they’ll have to do it. Betty’s past with the mechanical side gives them a bit to work with as she’s been repairing a motorcycle for a while and the idea of recruiting more girls to fight alongside them is definitely delightful.
In Summary:
Vixens has a kind of awkward setup as it gets underway but the charms of Betty and Veronica are what will carry it forward. The guys don’t come across too well here but it fits in with their nature in general as we’ve seen over the years and makes for some cute little moments as the girls realize how they have to step up. Cabrera’s art style works well enough but part of me wishes for something more stylized and mature rather than a nod toward its older days and approach. Especially since the cover design hints a bit more at sexiness and style than we get in the book itself. I like Cabrera’s stuff here and would dig it in a more mainline book for the characters but something about Vixens just has me wishing it had taken a different approach to the artwork.
Grade: B-
Age Rating: 13+
Released By: Archie Comics
Release Date: November 22nd, 2017
MSRP: $3.99
