Archie Vol.1: The New Riverdale by Mark Waid

Archie Vol. 1: The New Riverdale
by: Mark Waid

America’s Favorite Teenager, Archie Andrews, is reborn in the pages of this must-have graphic novel collecting the first six issues of the comic book series that everyone is talking about. Meet Riverdale High teen Archie, his oddball, food-loving best friend Jughead, girl-next-door Betty and well-to-do snob Veronica Lodge as they embark on a modern reimagining of the beloved Archie world. It’s all here: the love triangle, friendship, humor, charm and lots of fun – but with a decidedly modern twist. – Goodreads

I love Archie, you know the old comics in those little books. I remember Archie being one of the first comics I ever read along with Garfield and Peanuts along with For Better or For Worse and of course, Calvin and Hobbes. Man, the memories of all these comics are just great. I loved the simple art and the colorful characters particularly in these books. I probably read Archie before I should be however, they were on sale at some second hand book sale that we went to for a quarter or something and my mom let me have it. If I look hard enough, I’m sure I still have them in one of my boxes when I moved. While I am skeptical of renewing the Archie series, the new series Riverdale which is really just inspired by the Archie characters gave me slightly more confidence to finally pick up the first volume to give it a go.

The New Riverdale is the title of the first volume of the new Archie. Let’s just start with the art. The art style is beautiful and a little more graphic novel-esque, which I do enjoy. On top of that, the characters are a little more developed than from what I’ve read when I was younger however still holding their personality and individual charm. All the familiar faces are still there and it does stay true to the old comics while giving it a little more flair. Perhaps I’m a little skewed in my mind because I have been introduced to a darker Riverdale because of the new TV series so I like the fact that this one seems a little more mature and somehow seems like it grew up as I did (kind of…).

It is nice to see these characters in a more modern setting to give it a renewed audience. For one, the story now has Archie and Betty in a fresh break-up as Veronica Lodge moves into town with her rich family. Jughead is still the burger-loving chill guy who helps Archie out in his own way. You have Reggie who is the bad guy here who wants the rich girl or if not, the pretty girl and tries to stir up drama. Its a nice way to give an introduction to the characters in the series and let us see how they are created now. To be honest, I haven’t read a ton of Archie despite liking it a lot however, there are a lot of issues out so its a huge game of catch-up to even remember more of them.

Overall, Archie: The New Riverdale  Volume 1 is a nice start to modernizing the characters in the Archie-verse. Everyone get a first look and stays true to their characters and the art style of this new one is really nice as well.

As a side note, I’m waiting on Volume 2 to get here now, except the postal service is being stupid so my package is stuck in the Undeliverable Mail Office somehow. My guess is probably the packaging fell apart but I’m waiting for them to get back to me on either what happened or when it’ll be ready to be on its way to me. Anyways, that is coming up.