#IReadsYou Review: ARCHIE CHRISTMAS SPECTACULAR #1

ARCHIE CHRISTMAS SPECTACULAR #1 (2023)

ARCHIE COMIC PUBLICATIONS, INC.

STORY: Tom DeFalco; Frances Bonnet; Dan Parent; Bill Golliher

PENCILS: Holly G!; Bill Galvan; Dan Parent; Bill Golliher

INKS: Jim Amash; Bob Smith

COLORS: Glenn Whitmore

LETTERS: Jack Morelli

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. (January 2024; on-sale December 6, 2023)

Rating: All-Ages

“Christmas Chaos!”

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 Comics frequently publishes holiday themed one-shot comic books featuring Archie's characters (sometimes referred to as “the Archie Gang”).  The latest is the Archie Christmas Spectacular.  It features one new story and four reprint stories.  Entitled “Christmas Chaos,” the new story introduces Archie Comics' newest characters: Jangles, Sourplum, and Grumpus.  The story is written by Tom DeFalco; drawn by Holly G! (pencils) and Jim Amash (inks); colored by Glenn Whitmore; and lettered by the great Jack Morelli.

Archie and the Gang in “Christmas Chaos”:

The story opens at Riverdale High where Archie, Betty, Veronica and the rest of the gang are decorating the gym for the annual big Christmas party, “the Riverdale Holiday Happening.”  They are waiting for the arrival of their friends, Jingle the Christmas Elf and Sugar Plum the Christmas Fairy.

However, the two have mistakenly teleported inside the “Eyegor Estate,” and now, they are the prisoners of Grumpus.  In their stead, Grumpus sends Naughty Christmas Elf Jangles and Sour Plum to Riverdale High.  Will the mischievous pair keep the Holiday Happening from happening, or can right magic make everything right again?

THE LOWDOWN:  I have been reading comic books, on and off, for decades.  I have sporadically read Archie Comics titles over that time.  For many years now, Archie's marketing department has been sending PDF copies of some of their titles for review.  Archie Christmas Spectacular is the latest.

I like Archie Christmas Spectacular, especially because there is a bit of pop Gothic in this story, especially that one panel that features the Eyegor Estate.  The story has a sweet Christmas slash Happy Holidays ending.  I can like a comic book that makes me jealous because I can't attend its admittedly fictional party, but damn, the Riverdale Holiday Happening looks like a blast.

The rest of this issue features reprints of classic-style Archie Christmas and holiday stories.  Dear readers, I will always recommend classic-style Archie, especially when it comes in Christmas packaging – anytime of the year.

I READS YOU RECOMMENDS:  Fans of classic-style Archie Comics will want to find a copy of Archie Christmas Spectacular.

B+

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

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Review: SWEET REIN Volume 1

SWEET REIN, VOL. 1
VIZ MEDIA – @VIZMedia

CARTOONIST: Sakura Tsukuba
TRANSLATION: Tetsuichiro Miyaki
EDITOR/ENGLISH ADAPTATION: Nancy Thislethwaite
LETTERS: Inori Fukuda Trant
ISBN: 978-1-4215-5931-5; paperback (November 2013); Rated “T” for “Teen”
200pp, B&W, $9.99 US, $12.99 CAN

Have a holly, jolly manga!  It’s the most wonderful manga of the yeeeeaaarrrr!

I don’t hate all Christmas songs.  I actually do like many Christmas movies, even the wonky made-for-TV movies that show up on the Hallmark Channel.  Many American comic books have had Christmas issues (like the “Christmas Spirit,” episodes of Will Eisner’s The Spirit).  Now, enter the yuletide manga.

Sweet Rein is a shojo manga (comics for teen girls) from creator Sakura Tsukuba.  In the world of Sweet Rein, numerous people take on the role of Santa Claus, dispersing gifts to a particular area.  Each Santa has a magical reindeer that does whatever his Santa commands, and that reindeer can also transform into a human.

Sweet Rein, Vol. 1 (Chapters 1 to 3) introduces 17-year-old Kurumi Sagara.  Since her mother died, she lives mostly alone, as her father is practically always at work.  Now, Kurumi is about to experience another lonely Christmas.

One day, Kurumi is crossing the street when a boy bumps into her.  A rein suddenly appears and binds Kurumi to the boy.  Overjoyed, the boy tells her that his name is Kaito and that she is his master.  Why?  Apparently, Kurumi is a Santa Claus and Kaito is her magical reindeer.

Can she dismiss this boy as crazy, even after he transforms into a reindeer?  Plus, see them help a sick boy named Mamoru Tajima.

[This volume contains a bonus short story, “Sweet Bite Mark.”]

The Sweet Rein manga seems as if it would be just too sweet.  At least, that is how it came across to me after one chapter.  It is a typical shojo teen magical romance, except for the fact that it is essentially a Christmas and Christmas-themed manga.  I make the distinction between Christmas and Christmas-theme because some of the chapters in Sweet Rein Volume 1 take place at Christmas time, and other parts of the narrative are about Christmas, to one extent or another and directly or indirectly.

Sweet Rein is poignant, cutesy, and even a bit weird.  It is entertaining, but not great, and it remains to be seen how much potential this series has.  I can’t say that I would read a second volume.  Obviously I am not in the target audience for this, but fans of magical romance will want to try the Shojo Beat title, Sweet Rein.

B-

Reviewed by Leroy Douresseaux


The text is copyright © 2013 Leroy Douresseaux. All Rights Reserved. Contact this site for syndication rights and fees.

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