Welcome to the new Jughead, same as the old Jughead! Well, not exactly the same – there’s a new artist in town! Newcomer Derek Charm is taking over art duties on this title from Erica Henderson, and I’m really glad of it. I actually enjoy Erica’s work on The Unbeatable Squirrel Girl, but it was just a little too much different than the classic Archie style for my tastes. Charm’s work (so far) is much more conventionally “cartoony”, and the girls look a little less like edgy fanzine art. It doesn’t seem to be trying so desperately hard to be goofy, and actually serves Zdarsky’s innate weirdness the better for it.
This issue also marks the start of a new story arc: summer vacation! It’s nice to see that some things will never change in any version of Riverdale; Juggie’s folks are still up his behind to quit being so lazy and either get a job or at least just go outside, and Archie is still a terminal horndog who runs on testosterone and good intentions. The phone montage with Juggie and Kevin was a hoot and a half, and I’m glad to see that Zdarsky remembers their friendship. Kevin is the only other person in the Riverdale gang who might logically be accused of licking old candy wrappers, which goes a long way to explaining why he and Jug are such good friends.
However, this issue relies on the well-trodden paths of best friends, in the form of Jughead and Archie. He goes to the city pool to try to rekindle their bro-mance, but Archie’s got his mind on his money and money (and girls in swimsuits!) on his mind. He’s lifeguarding, and he actually seems annoyed to see Jughead trying to cramp his style. That said, Jug’s cannonball into the pool is really the stuff of legend. It might have even given my inner Big Ethel a bit more of a crush on ol’ Needlenose, hee!
I just really can’t praise the art enough in this issue; it’s just doing amazing things for the book. It’s actually making it clearer that Archie is still Archie, but Jughead’s the star of the show. For one thing, he’s every bit as much of a cute teenage boy as his friend is, but he isn’t flaunting it like Archie does. In fact, I could just about smell the Axe body spray coming off the page when I got my first look at Archie’s shades at the pool.
The rest of the issue (including a road trip, wild Mantles, and a grizzly bear, oh my!) absolutely lived up to its start. As much as I giggled at the pool scene, I may have laughed loud enough to startle my cat at Dilton’s family cottage – drawn to look exactly like the murderous cabin in the woods from the “Evil Dead” franchise. It remains to be seen how our heroes are going to get out of their fix, but I’m really looking forward to whatever tricks Jug has up his sleeve.
REVIEW: JUGHEAD #7 Writer: Chip Zdarsky Artist: Derek Charm Publisher: Archie Comics Cover price: $3.99 Buy on ComiXology Welcome to the new Jughead, same as the old Jughead!
gummygunk
stormborns
origamiaround
areudirty
gamechangershow
vaporwave
germansingergirl