Archie

The question most often asked of the ComicsAlliance staff is a variation of, “Which comic books should I be reading?” or, “I’m new to comics, what’s a good place to start?” The Wednesday deluge of new comic books, graphic novels and collected editions can be daunting even for the longtime reader, much less for those totally unfamiliar with creators, characters and publishers, and the dark mysteries of comic book shopping like variants, pre-ordering, and formats. It’s with these challenges in mind that we’ve created Best Comic Books Ever (This Week), an ongoing guide curated by the ComicsAlliance staff. This is where new comics readers and seasoned Wednesday shoppers alike can find our picks of the best books the medium has to offer.

I'm not sure that there's anyone out there who needs to be sold on picking up Josie and the Pussycats right now, but if you've been on the fence about continuing with it, consider these facts about next week's issue. First, there are hints --- multiple hints --- that the band is going to be going to space, and that it's going to happen sooner rather than later. Second, a scene in a previous issue is accurately referred to as "the emotionally revelatory jet ski chase." And third, well... Melody straight up becomes Sailor Moon in this issue. Okay, so maybe she doesn't become Sailor Moon, but it's close enough for me! Check out an exclusive preview of Josie and the Pussycats #4 from Marguerite Bennett, Cameron DeOrdio, and Audrey Mok, and see for yourself!

Welcome to Riverdale, the latest CW show based on a comic; but instead of DC superheroes, this one is all about Archie Andrews and his pals 'n' gals! Archie Comics aficionado Chris Sims and CW teen drama superfan Emma Lawson will be your recappers for our weekly breakdown of what's hot and happening at Pop's Chock'lit Shoppe. This week, we meet all the characters we know and love, including Archie, Betty, Veronica, Kevin, Cheryl, Reggie, and Jughead --- but none of them are quite what you might expect here in Twink Peaks, and one of them might be covering up a murder. "The River's Edge" was directed by Lee Toland Krieger and written by Archie Comics' own creative director Roberto Aguirre-Sacasa.

The big news for Archie this week is, of course, the launch of Riverdale as a prime-time TV drama that's already garnering interest by building its first storyline not around a botched double-date or a milkshake with too many straws, but the discovery of a dead body that may or may not have been murdered by one or more members of the cast. Really, though, dead bodies? That's small potatoes compared to the shocking and tragic events that are going to be playing out in the comics next month: There's just so much Reggie Mantle.

With almost 300 issues in the core series, Archie's Sonic The Hedgehog stands as the longest-running uninterrupted American monthly comic book that's currently being published. In Hedging Your Bets, I attempt to get up to speed on Sonic the Hedgehog, challenging the odds to hopefully make it all the way to the finish line. This week, Sonic goes for an underwater adventure, and the series almost, almost starts to feel like it's going somewhere again.

Archie Andrews has always been quite the musician, and there are several stories involving him pursuing his dreams of rock stardom --- but his friends and family (and Reggie) have been in the musical spotlight too. For this playlist based on the current incarnation of the monthly Archie series by Mark Waid, Thomas Pitilli, Ryan Jampole, Joe Eisma, Veronica Fish et al, I decided to look at all the most beloved characters (and Reggie) and choose one song that fits each of them.

With almost 300 issues in the core series, Archie's Sonic The Hedgehog stands as the longest-running uninterrupted American monthly comic book that's currently being published. In Hedging Your Bets, I attempt to get up to speed on Sonic the Hedgehog, challenging the odds to hopefully make it all the way to the finish line. This week, the spotlight falls on Shadow the Hedgehog for the ultimate in alien terror!

With all the characters that have been reintroduced to us over the past few years of Archie's newly rebooted universe, there are a few that we've yet to really see in the spotlight --- and chief among them is young Dilton Doiley. I mean, yes, we know from reading Jughead that he is canonically and incontrovertibly an amazing dancer, but does he still have the ability to, say, build a time machine? We just don't know. Or we didn't, until now. In this week's issue of Archie, Dilton finally reclaims the spotlight that he's been denied for so long. Or he will, anyway, if that downright satanic duo of Cheryl Blossom and Reggie Mantle don't get in the way. Check out a preview!

This week, hey, remember that part in the Mystery Science Theater 3000 episode Manos: The Hands of Fate where Tom Servo just loses it and shouts "do something!" at the screen? It's like that, but with a train robbery set piece.

You know those superhero stories like "Must There Be a Superman" where the main character is abducted by aliens and put on trial for crimes --- intentional or otherwise --- against humanity? Well, before it hit shelves, I was really hoping that's what the rebooted Reggie And Me was going to be about. I mean, honestly, there is no other character in comics who represents cosmic evil as much as that guy, and if Archie and the Gang won't hold him responsible for his terrible, terrible ways, then perhaps some Elder of the Universe should? Alas, that's not what we got. But we are creeping a little closer in the pages of Reggie and Me #2, which not only features a superheroic fantasy sequence, but delves into the long and hateful history between Reggie Mantle and his eternal rival, Archie Andrews. Check out an exclusive preview below!