#IReadsYou Review: ARCHIE: The Decision #1

ARCHIE: THE DECISION, NO. 1

ARCHIE COMIC PUBLICATIONS, INC.

STORY: Tom King

PENCILS: Dan Parent

INKS: Bob Smith

COLORS: Rosario “Tito” Peña

LETTERS: Jack Morelli

EDITORS: Jamie Lee Rotante; Vincent Lovallo; Stephen Oswald

EiC: Mike Pellerito

COVER: Dan Parent with Rosario “Tito” Peña

VARIANT COVER ARTIST: Stephen Byrne

32pp, Color, $3.99 U.S. (October 2024); on sale in comic book shops August 28, 2024

Rating: All-Ages

“Everyone Flips Out!”

Eternal high school student and teenage boy, Archie Andrews, and his friends made their debut in M.L.J. Magazines' Pep Comics #22 (cover dated: December 1941), and before long, Archie was the publisher's headliner character.  In 1946, the company changed its named to Archie Comic Publications, also known as “Archie Comics.”

For decades, Archie's affections have been split between two girls:  nice girl, Betty Cooper, who debuted with Archie in Pep Comics #22, and spoiled rich girl, Veronica Lodge, who first appeared in Pep Comics #26 (cover dated: April 1942).  Now, in a new comic book, Archie finally chooses between the two.  It all happens in Archie: The Decision, No. 1.  The story is written by Tom King; drawn by Dan Parent (pencils) and Bob Smith (inks); colored by Rosario “Tito” Peña; and lettered by the great Jack Morelli.

As Archie: The Decision, No. 1 (“Everyone Flips Out!”) opens with the declaration, “I, Archie Andrews, am finally going to decide between Betty and Veronica!!”  How is Archie going to make this momentous decision?  He's going to flip a coin, but when the coin flip goes awry, Archie and best pal, Jughead, go on a mad chase.

And what of Betty and Veronica?  Well, each has mixed feelings, but neither is going to give up the chance of finally being “the one.”  Will Archie really be able to make “the Decision?”  This issue also features appearances by classic Archie Comics characters, including Reggie, Moose, Dilton, Midge, Ethel, Nancy, Chuck, Mr. Weatherbee, Miss Grundy, Josie and the Pussycats, Sabrina the Teenage Witch, and “Hot Dog” the dog, to name a few.

THE LOWDOWN:   For several years, Archie's marketing department has been sending me PDF copies of some of their titles for review.  One of the most recent is Archie: The Decision, No. 1.

Apparently, acclaimed comic book writer, Tom King, is a big Archie Comics fan, so he proposed writing a kind of ultimate story about Archie finally choosing between Betty and Veronica.  Archie Comics obviously jumped at the chance to have a big name like King's write a comic book for them.

The resulting book, Archie: The Decision, No. 1, is not on the level of other Tom King first issues, such as The Omega Men #1 (2015), The Sheriff of Babylon #1 (2016), and Mister Miracle #1 (2018), which were all published by DC Comics.  King offers a thin plot and executes it into a 21-page chase story that is filled with cameo appearances by a host of Archie Comics characters.  In fact, two of my childhood faves, Josie and the Pussycats and Sabrina the Teenage Witch, each get one page to themselves.  But this special one-shot comic book isn't among Tom King's best work.  It's his love letter to Archie Comics, seemingly mostly written to himself.

Even artist Dan Parent doesn't really offer a “Wow!” factor.  If there is such a thing as a modern superstar Archie Comics artist, it's Parent.  Archie: The Decision, No. 1 isn't his best work; it isn't even his best recent work.  It's pleasingly pleasant, which is probably the best thing I can say about King's script.  Colorist Rosario “Tito” Peña and letterer Jack Morelli do really good work.

So Archie: The Decision, No. 1 is a big deal in one way, and not so much in many other ways.  Still, it is a classic-style Archie Comics title, so I'll take it rather than leave it.

I READS YOU RECOMMENDS:  Fans of classic-style Archie Comics will want to find a copy of Archie: The Decision, No. 1.

[In a bonus feature, Tom King and Dan Parent pick their favorite Archie Comics stories.]

B

Reviewed by Leroy Douresseaux a.k.a. "I Reads You"

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