Creative Staff:
Story: Chip Zdarsky
Art and Colors: Derek Charm
Letters: Jack Morelli
What They Say:
SUMMERTIME IS HERE! Jughead convinces Archie to join him at a cottage, away from all the madness of Riverdale, but the madness of Riverdale cannot be escaped. The madness of Riverdale is everywhere.
Content: (please note that content portions of a review may contain spoilers):
Ah, summer. I remember how those days seemed to stretch on until eternity. I would spend days just reading, emerging from my hole long enough to get some grub and let my parents know I was still alive (and probably wanting more books). Those were good days. That is, until my parents told me “Get a job!”
Then summer became much less fun.
What I’m saying is, I feel Jughead’s pain. After defeating the evil Principal Stanger, Jughead retires for a much-deserved summer vacation, beta-testing Dragoncide X: Questing the Questvalley. Unfortunately, the job only pays in free play time, and once Jughead’s father finds out, his kicks his son out to find a job or “at least go outside and do stuff!”
Getting a job is obviously out of the question, so Jughead goes off to find his bestest pal in the whole wide world, Archie. Currently, Archie’s been spending his days as a lifeguard at the community pool. Jughead manages to convince his ol’ pal that taking a trip to Dilton’s cabin for the week would be much more fun than watching people swim.
And so the buds go off to the forest for a little fun and relaxation. Only when they arrive, they discover they’re smack dab in the middle of a Mantle family reunion.
Let’s just say that Reggie doesn’t fall far from the tree.
Refusing to be defeated, Jughead and Archie march off to find Camp Lucy. Unfortunately, their sense of direction is about as good as mine and they promptly get lost. Jughead finds that, unlike in video games, food packets and weapons aren’t just lying around, so his skills are pretty much useless. And to make matters worse, there might be a bear nearby.
Chip Zdarsky has a great handle on Jughead’s voice. He’s funny, clever, full of fake hubris, and he definitely gets the best lines in the comic (although his dad gets in a good one). While the jokes have always been strong in his series, what makes this issue stand out is that there wasn’t a dream sequence. The closest we get is seeing Jughead play his game at the very beginning, but everything else takes place in reality, and I find that very refreshing. I enjoyed the dream sequences to a point, but they made the comic formulaic, and sometimes they just didn’t work too well. We may get more in the next issue, but this one was refreshing because of their absence.
Derek Charm takes over art duties from Erica Henderson. His style is interesting in that it’s probably the closest we’ve come to pre-reboot Archie in quite some time. It’s definitely modern and keeping with the general aesthetic of the Archie line, but it’s definitely different than Henderson’s.
Charm really shines when it comes to setting. The panels where Jughead and Archie hike through the woods are very pretty, suffused with golden light that turns red, ebbing to twilight purple. Typically, I’m of the same mind as Jughead when it comes to being outdoors, but Charm really draws an inviting forest.
In Summary:
As much as I enjoyed the first story arc, Jughead 7 may be my favorite Jughead comic so far. Zdarsky and this character were made for each other, I think, and Derek Charm’s inclusion creates a nice visual break from the previous six issues, cementing that the Stanger story is over and we’re moving on to something new. Dr. Josh gives this an….
Grade: A
Age Rating: N/A
Released By: Archie Comics
Release Date: 15 June 2016
MSRP: $3.99