Archie Meets Batman ‘66 #1 – Jeff Parker, Michael Moreci, Writers; Dan Parent, Penciller; J. Bone, Inker; Kelly Fitzpatrick, Colorist
Ray – 8/10
Ray: The latest in a crazy array of inter-company crossovers that DC has been doing lately, this is a co-production with Archie Comics released by that company. Calling back to the classic era of Archie and crossing Riverdale over with the most lighthearted version of Batman, this is a far cry from the tone of many recent crossovers – although I could see a grim-and-gritty crossover when Batman goes to Riverdale to investigate a crime in the CW Riverdale! Veteran Batman ‘66 writer Jeff Parker teams with Michael Moreci on writing, and legendary Archie artist Dan Parent keeps the tone light with his classic style. This is much more of a Batman issue than an Archie one, at least in the early going – the story kicks off with Batman and Robin showing up to take on Poison Ivy (one of Batman’s younger villains, who made her ‘66 verse debut in the comics). She’s got a plant-dragon and an army of plant-zombies, and she’s terrorizing a science fair. Batman catches her, but her attack turns out to only be a feint for Bookworm to steal another invention and put his own plan into effect.
That’s where Riverdale comes into play. Tired of being arrested by Batman, the villains of Gotham decide to pick up stakes and go to a city with a lot less competition. Riverdale, naturally, isn’t used to any of this. When we head into the peaceful town, Archie is trying to get his jalopy in shape for a town festival, while Jughead needs to pass an important test but can’t think of anything but food. Veronica, though, has bigger issues – her father seems to have been taken over by a sinister force, and is acting deeply out of character. When she seeks out help from the police, Sheriff Keller acts the same way. She tries to get her friends’ help, but they’re too occupied with their own little dramas. With the help of Dilton, she’s able to get help from out of town – namely Gotham City. Letting Veronica be the main character from the Archieverse right now is a nice twist, as she rarely gets to play the hero. This first issue is a little slight and kind of underuses the Archie characters, but it’s a fun start and I’m hopeful that this six-issue miniseries will have as many fun twists and turns as the previous DC/Archie crossover.
To find reviews of all the DC issues, visit DC This Week.
GeekDad received this comic for review purposes.
I don’t know where else to post the question, so:
Why aren’t these review GeekDad and GeekMom reviews anymore? I miss seeing the compare/contrast perspectives.
Corrina is on vacation currently, so Ray is flying solo for now—but don’t worry, she’ll pick it back up when she returns!