ARCHIE COMICS: JUDGMENT DAY #3 (OF 3)
ARCHIE COMIC PUBLICATIONS, INC.
STORY: Aubrey Sitterson
ART: Megan Hutchinson
COLORS: Matt Herms
LETTERS: Jack Morelli
EDITORS: Jamie Lee Rotante; Vincent Lovallo; Stephen Oswald
EiC: Mike Pellerito
COVER: Megan Hutchinson with Matt Herms
VARIANT COVER ARTISTS: Francesco Francavilla; Reiko Murakami; Luana Vecchio
32pp, Color, $4.99 U.S. (September 2024); on sale in comic book shops July 31, 2024
Rating: Teen+
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 also has a dark side, as seen via a number of horror and dark fantasy titles sometimes published under the “Archie Horror” imprint. Archie's latest horror offering is Archie Comics: Judgment Day. It is the first in Archie Comics' new line, “Archie Premium Event.” It is written by Aubrey Sitterson; drawn by Megan Hutchinson; colored by Matt Herms; and lettered by the great Jack Morelli. The series finds Archie on a mission to rid his hometown of Riverdale of all “wicked-kind.”
Archie Comics: Judgment Day opens in a Riverdale beset by all manner of shape-shifting demons. Archie is on a quest to cleanse his hometown, and thanks to Madam Satan, he has the power to do so. She possesses the power to summon, imprison, and enslave demons for her own purposes. Archie now has the “infernal power” in the form of Alistair, a demon that Madam Satan has bound to him.
Archie Comics: Judgment Day #3 opens as Archie is forced to confront the final battle. Can Jughead continue to be Archie's conscience... and be successful at it? What is going on with Reggie, and what has he done to Betty and Veronica? Will Archie give in to his lookalike, Alistair’s sweet words.
It’s finally time for Archie to decide—will he give himself over fully to Alistair, or retain the parts of himself that make him Archie? It's the last temptation of Archie.
THE LOWDOWN: For a long time, Archie's marketing department has been sending PDF copies of some of their titles for review. Archie Comics: Judgment Day #3 is one of them.
I was right all along. Judgment Day writer Aubrey Sitterson did concoct a delicious dark brew that quenched the dark thirsts of his readers' imaginations, and it was good to the last drop. The ending is unexpected – to an extent. The more this final issue goes, the more obvious what Archie's choices will be and what the consequences will be. To the end, Sitterson keeps the readers engaged.
Artist Megan Hutchinson has drawn some stellar art in Judgment Day. From beginning to end, her graphical storytelling is a flow of magical weaving with page after page of tapestries that recall the art of Heironymus Bosch. Hutchinson's storytelling is dazzling, and her cover art is purely a thing of illustrative beauty, making evil look sexy. Under the colors by Matt Herms, her art is eye-popping and gorgeous. The great Jack Morelli tops it off with his classic comics lettering.
Archie Comics: Judgment Day is really good. It is a delightful surprise, and I hope more readers get to experience it via a trade collection.
I READS YOU RECOMMENDS: Fans of Archie Comics' “Archie Horror” imprint will want Archie Comics: Judgment Day.
[This issue contains a look at how this series came to be and also an interview with colorist Matt Herms and letterer Jack Morelli.]
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Reviewed by Leroy Douresseaux a.k.a. "I Reads You"
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