Graduation comes and everything wraps up neatly.
Creative Staff:
Story: Jamie L. Rotante
Art: Sandra Lanz
Colors: Kelly Fitzpatrick
Letterer: Jack Morelli
What They Say:
“SUMMER,” pt. 5: Graduation day is here! Betty and Veronica have finally made peace with their decisions and vow to make this a summer to remember. What lies in the future for the BFFs? You may be surprised to find out!
Content: (please note that content portions of a review may contain spoilers):
The final installment o the series has landed and it pretty much sticks its landing as you’d expect. One of the things I enjoyed about this serie sfrom Rotante and Lanz was that it was playing more to the old school nature of the characters than the more realistic ones of the last few years in comics over the over the top stuff of Riverdale. Getting something that focused on their school lives and moving through to graduation is delightful and I liked how Rotante did have them dealing with problems that felt realistic. I also continue to really enjoy the way Lanz lean far more on the classic material than anything else since that has its own charms too.
Mostly bookended by their speeches at graduation, we see the paths that both Berry and Veronica have set for themselves along with where everyone else is over the course of it. There’s some good inspirational stuff out of Betty, though her reworking of what it means to be a girl next door doesn’t quite work for me, and there’s a lto to like in seeing people essentially reveal that they’ve managed to find their thing in life. Jughead’s journalistic interest is nicely piqued, we see Hiram setting things up that puts Betty’s father in a good place, and we even see how Reggie has found a good spot in life when it comes to his grandmother that has him wantingt to taking some nursing lesons so he can not feel quite so helpless in the future.
Where the book turns a little wonky, though it does work in a basic kind of way, is when as part of ecelbration Hiram blocks off part of the park for thekids. They’re having fun, old issues being swept away, and the realization of what’s coming as they split apart at long last sinks in. But we get a group of kids from a rival school causing trouble that has the cops being brought in and even laying some new humiliation on Moose because he needed that extra bit of awfulness in his life. While it is resolved it’s just one further point where things go badly and the parents come to the rescue one more time, so it works but it’s also just a bit frustrating as everyone is finding their place and making big plans and changes to their futures, some of them like Betty who is doing that right to the last minute.
In Summary:
I had a lot of fun overall with this series. It played to the classics in all the right ways while giving them a good touch of the modern as well without making it overly dramatic. I like the journey that both Betty and Veronica go on across it and how it has brought them closer together as friends in a way that makes it really feel like it’ll go on much further than that. Rotante put together some fun challenges to deal with while Lanz kept a solid and consistent look to it with some great expressions to make it engaging and enjoyable. Definitely worth seeking out in singles for fans or waiting for the collection.
Grade: B
Age Rating: 13+
Released By: Archie Comics
Release Date: May 8th, 2019
MSRP: $3.99
