The price of quality is time.
Creative Staff:
Story: Greg and Megan Smallwood
Art: Greg Smallwood
Letterer: Jack Morelli
What They Say:
You can’t go home again… or can you? Veronica’s search for answers leads to a deadly confrontation at Lodge Mansion.
Content: (please note that content portions of a review may contain spoilers):
If there’s one thing I’ve learned when it comes to Archie books is that you have to expect gaps between issues. This can be a real downer for most and I imagine a lot of readers simply don’t invest in the properties long because of it. The second issue of this series was out back in May and three months later we get a third installment. It is, however, a strong installment overall and the quality is very much on the page with what Greg and Megan Smallwood produce. Like the Afterlife with Archie series or Sabrina, there’s so much good here that you’re mostly willing to deal with the wait. This one definitely delivers another fun installment but I’m also left with that feeling of it could be the end of the year before I see more, which does dampen it.
Veronica has taken to her new role as good as she can all things considered and watching as she operates with Dilton at this point is a whole lot of fun. Securing of gear and proper fashion for her definitely has her ready to deal with what’s coming but at the same time when she returns to the Lodge Mansion, well, there are simply too many in the basement for her to deal with. She is just one person and is limited in what she can do. Watching as the two of them work a system to investigate is fun because you get to see a pairing that works far better than you’d expect. It’s got its own friction within it as well but that just adds to the enjoyment overall of what it’s doing. And, well, lots of pages of Greg Smallwood illustrating Veronica in her vampire hunter form.
What really becomes problematic here is that as Veronica is realizing how bad things are is exactly when Archie arrives to try and smooth things over with her. That has her parents happily greeting him with Ivan as well and their plan laid bare about how they’re going to convert the town. It’s actually a simple but effective plan by going after the young and healthy to infect others and grow their numbers and they tempt Veronica just enough in that she’d have Archie to herself since they’d kill Betty outright. It turns into a fun romp with Archie helping out and everyone getting away but it’s just staying things for the moment. Veronica actually does fill him in on it and there’s some comical teenage angst here and all of it really continues to make me wish that we get some sort of dream version of this on Riverdale at some point as it’s just such a fun thing to work with.
In Summary:
There’s a lot to like with Vampironica and reading the first three issues together definitely pulls it all together well. Greg and Megan Smallwood are definitely capturing the right tone with what they’re doing here as I love all the detail in the backgrounds while also simply loving the character designs aspects of it. Simply put, everything’s coming together beautifully and it’s just a whole heck of a lot of fun. I just wish it was actually coming out monthly. That’s the only downside to this book and it seems baked into too many Archie properties for my taste.
Grade: B+
Age Rating: 15+
Released By: Archie Comics
Release Date: September 5th, 2018
MSRP: $3.99
