ARCHIE HALLOWEEN SPECTACULAR (2024)
ARCHIE COMIC PUBLICATIONS, INC.
STORY: Ian Flynn; Dan Parent; Francis Bonnet
PENCILS: Steven Butler; Dan Parent; Rex Lindsey; Bill Galvan
INKS: Lily Butler; Bob Smith; Rex Lindsey; Bill Galvan
COLORS: Glenn Whitmore
LETTERS: Jack Morelli; Rex Lindsey
EDITORS: Jamie Lee Rotante; Vincent Lovallo; Stephen Oswald
EiC: Mike Pellerito
COVER: Steven Butler and Lily Butler with Rosario “Tito” Peña
32pp, Color, $3.99 U.S. (November 2024); In-store October 2, 2024
Rating: All-Ages
Archie and the Gang in “Party Hardly!”
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.”
Archie is releasing a trio of “annual spectaculars” that involve the machinations of a new character, “Mother Striga.” She made her debut in Sabrina Annual Spectacular, No. 1. Her story now continues in the Archie Halloween Spectacular. It will conclude in Josie and the Pussycats Annual Spectacular, No. 1 (November 6, 2024).
Archie Halloween Spectacular offers four reprint stories and opens with a new five-page story featuring Mother Striga, “Party Hardly!” It is written by Ian Flynn; drawn by Steven Butler (pencils) and Lily Butler (inks); colored by Glenn Whitmore; and lettered by the great Jack Morelli.
Archie and the Gang in “Party Hardly!”:
As the story opens, Sabrina warns Jughead that something strange is going on in the Fae Folk community. Meanwhile, over at Hodge Manor, the party to end all Halloween parties is happening. How did Veronica convince her father, Hiram Lodge, to let a wild party go on in his home? Does Mother Striga have something to do with that? And why is Archie on the arms of magical bad girl, Amber Nightstone?
THE LOWDOWN: Over the last few years, Archie's marketing department has been sending me PDF copies of some of their titles for review. One of the most recent is the new one-shot comic book, Archie Halloween Spectacular (2024 edition).
This Halloween special includes three reprint stories featuring classic Archie Comics superheroes such as “The Web” and “The Crusaders.” The highlight, of course, is the new story, which is the middle part of the Mother Striga story arc. A lot happens in this story with writer Ian Flynn filling every panel with action and dialogue that informs the readers and moves the narrative forward. Flynn makes “Party Hardly's!” manic weirdness work.
As was the case with the Sabrina Annual Spectacular, the stars here are the art team of penciller Steven Butler, inker Lily Butler, and colorist Glenn Whitmore. They create a playfully macabre and pop Gothic sensibility that really sells this story's setting, plot, and characters. Whitmore's other-worldly, almost psychedelic colors are the perfect accompaniment to the Butlers' monster-mash aesthetic for this story. Also, Jack Morelli's lettering puts the finishing touch to this delightful tale. They make me wish that “Party Hardly!” was a longer story.
Dear readers, I will always recommend classic and classic-style Archie Comics stories. So, of course, I think you should read this.
I READS YOU RECOMMENDS: Fans of classic-style Archie Comics will definitely want to get a copy of Archie Halloween Spectacular.
A
Reviewed by Leroy Douresseaux a.k.a. "I Reads You"
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