Old fashioned and familiar.
Creative Staff:
Story: Fernando Ruiz, George Gladir, Kathleen Webb, Mike Pellowski, Frank Doyle, Bob Bolling, Craig Boldman, Dexter Taylor
Art: Fernando Ruiz, George Gladir, Jeff Schultz, Dan Parent, Dan Decarlo, Bob White, Bob Bolling, Stan Goldberg, Tim Kennedy, Dexter Taylor
Ink: Bob Smith, John Lowe, Al Milgrom, Jon D’Agostino, Rudy Lapick, Henry Scarpelli, Mike Esposito, Jim Amash, Rich Koslowski, Ken Selig
Colors: Digikore Studios, Barry Grossman,
Letters: Jack Morelli, Bill Yoshida, Vicki Williams
What They Say:
The Lodge Mansion becomes the meeting spot for all of the clubs in Riverdale High while the school is being cleaned, thanks to a “bright” idea from Archie. It turns out that there are a lot more afterschool activities that go on at Riverdale High than everyone imagined—will there be enough space to house all of them? And how will Mr. Lodge react to this afterschool invasion? Find out in “The Club House!” the new, zany lead story to this comics digest.
Content: (please note that content portions of a review may contain spoilers):
I’m thirty-four years old and this may be the first Archie comic that I’ve read. It’s possible that I might have read some when I was younger, but if so then they’re long forgotten. It’s a company that I was always aware of, but mainly on the fringes of what I traditionally read. Back in the day I wrote it off as kids comics or girls comics, but in the past five years Archie has been doing some interesting stuff, and in some ways it’s turned into one of the more progressive and experimental companies out there, which is why I decided to jump on reviewing this digest.
Betty and Veronica Digest is largely a flash fiction anthology: short, done-in-one stories about a single incident in the lives of the titular characters. They’re funny and sweet, if a bit old fashioned and repetitive, but I’m glad to say that I enjoyed reading them.
Most of the stories revolve around Betty, Veronica, Betty and Veronica, or Sabrina the Teenage Witch. The conflict typically involves tension created by Betty and Veronica’s love of Archie, Veronica’s spending habits, or the standard sitcom missteps and miscommunications. Reading Archie is almost like dipping back into one’s childhood: there’s an innocence and sweetness to it that’s refreshing along with a certain amount of familiarity that makes it comforting. Even if you’ve never read an Archie comic before, you know the character types and situations and you slip into the stories like a pair of favorite old shoes.
Although the familiarity is nice, I did find myself fighting against it at times. The academic side of my brain couldn’t help but see that Archie espouses heteronormative behaviors and features a cast that is largely white and lower-to-upper middle class (aside from Veronica, of course). I debated on whether or not to even mention this, but it I think it bears discussing because Archie has come back on the radar in a big way with the introduction of Kevin Keller, an openly homosexual individual, along with the titular character dying in the series “Life with Archie.” Archie’s death provides the pivot point for a whole slew of stories about the Riverdale gang as adults, and spin-offs have been written, including “Afterlife with Archie” and even “Archie Vs. Predator.” The company has revitalized its brand in an interesting way, taking chances and making choices that bring about long term changes, and this was in the back of my mind while reading Betty and Veronica Digest.
It’s reasonable to assume that if I were thinking about it, then other new readers might as well, so it’s important to note that the Digest isn’t intended to break and remake the mold. If the stories were longer, then that might be an issue, but as it is, this is a fun collection of short scenes featuring the two loves of Archie’s life (along with other Riverdale inhabitants), and taken that way, it accomplishes what it sets out to do. Shoot, you get thirty-one stories for five bucks. If that isn’t a good deal, I don’t know what is.
In Summary:
Betty and Veronica Digest 229 isn’t going to set the world on fire or remake comics in its own image, but that’s not what it sets out to do. It’s a fun collection of thirty-one short scenes that’s comfortably familiar and fun. If you’re me and have become interested in Archie because of Kevin Keller, the death of Archie, Afterlife with Archie, and other new and interesting takes on the classic character, this might not be the place to start. However, if you’re looking for something fun and light, you definitely get a good return on your five dollars with this digest, even if it does get a bit repetitive at times.
Grade: B+
Age Rating: All Ages
Released By: Archie Comics
Release Date: December 24th, 2014
MSRP: $4.99
