Archie's Holiday Magic Special

Archie’s Holiday Magic Special

Archie Comics 2021

Written by Micol Ostow, J Torres & Michael Northrop

Illustrated by Gretel Lusky, Arielle Jovellanos & Dan Schoening

Coloured by Matt Herms

Lettered by Jack Morelli

It's Christmas Eve in Riverdale, and it's almost time for the annual Snow Ball, but Archie still can't choose who should be his date: Betty or Veronica? Has he always been this indecisive? Will he always be? Will his flaws leave him all alone? Everything changes when a spirit guide appears to help him navigate these questions, and explore his past, present, and future in three distinct tales. This heartfelt and humorous holiday tale harkens back to classic holiday stories like It's a Wonderful Life, mixed with the over-the-top sentimentality of a Hallmark Christmas film.

I stand by my statement that an Archie story can brighten up your day or simply take a good day and make it great. Also this one has a Channukah story in it and that makes me thrilled beyond all belief. It really is a lot like A Christmas Carol or It's a Wonderful Life as Archie is reminded of what his life is like through how he and his friends see the holidays over the years. Also I love that Archie is full of self-doubt and worried about how he sees himself with his infamous indecision; it just takes him one step further into being more relatable to.

I am in love with the way that this is being told. The story & plot development that we see through how the sequence of events unfold as well as how the reader learns information are presented exceptionally well. While there are different vignettes in this book each one leads into the other so it comes across as one issue instead of the usual anthology type book we normally see. The character development that we see through the dialogue, the character interaction as well as how we see them act and react to the situations and circumstances does wonders with how we see their personalities.

The pacing is excellent and as it takes us through the pages revealing the story only makes us want to see more. How we see everything working together to create the story’s ebb & flow as well as how it moves the story forward is impeccably handled. The layers and avenues we see being explored are marvellously rendered.

The interiors here are fantastic! The linework is superb and how we see the varying weights creating the detail work is great to see. With this great blend of the classic versions and the newest look they’ve been given this is like a dream come true. The way we see backgrounds expand and enhance the moments as well as work within the composition of the panels to bring out the depth perception, sense of scale and the overall sense of size and scope to the story. The utilisation of the page layouts and how we see the angles and perspective in the panels show some extremely talented sets of eyes. The various hues and tones within the colours being utilised to create the shading, highlights and shadow work shows a stellar eye for how colour works.

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I am a huge fan and supporter of Archie Comics and it is one-shot specials like this that really make me love them all the more. It is cheesy and yet endearing and the stories are told in such a way that makes you relate to them, your own insecurities and how you see the world around you versus how you could be seeing the world around you. This is a perfect book to pass around the family and then talk about over a device free meal. It’s a great reminder that in life, for all the hustle and bustle, there are times you can slow down and realise there’s more to life like family and friends or friends who are like family.