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How Many Miles Is It To Riverdale? – The Road To Riverdale

Published Mon, 16 Jan 2017 09:00:29 -0600

The Road to Riverdale graphic novel from Archie Comics is a great way to introduce new readers to the characters they'll soon be seeing every week on the CW. It collects the first issue from the rebooted series: Archie, Jughead, Betty and Veronica, Josie and the Pussycats, and Reggie and Me. I won't get into each individual story, but I really enjoyed reading the first issues over again.

For the most part, the characters are fundamentally the same. The new creative teams have respected what previous creators have done, as the characters are written with love and care. Mark Waid is the strongest writer of the group, and gives Archie the clearest voice of them all. Adam Hughes's art steals the whole show though. His take on the iconic duo is fresh, exciting and beautiful. My only gripe is the lack of Cheryl and Jason Blossom. Granted they weren't introduced until later in the reboot, but seeing as both are going to be big players in Riverdale, I feel Archie should have included something on them. If you're going to use this book as a tie in to the TV show, you can't ignore them. Especially with Jason's death being a jumping off point for the whole series.

Out of all of them though, I am partial to Jughead. While Erica Henderson's art doesn't wow me, writer Chip Zdarsky takes my longtime favorite comic book character and develops him much further than he had been in the past. Jughead is still an aloof, wise teenager, but his humor really shines in this story. Even in Archie #1, Jughead stole any scene he was in. Heck, Jughead even makes an appearance in the Josie story.

If you missed the first issues of the new series reboot, this is a great way to jump right in. It's also a great book for new fans who may be unfamiliar with most of the gang. The Road to Riverdale is available now in local comic shops everywhere.

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