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GAME OF THRONES 6.10: THE WINDS OF WINTER

“The Winds of Winter” Written by David Benioff and D.B. Weiss Directed by Miguel Sapochnik HBO, you glorious bastards. On the tails of such an epic episode last week, we find ourselves in a very different Westeros this week. Ramsay Bolton is dead, Cersei is set to stand trial (not by combat), and Daenerys is united with Theon and Yara, currently amassing a fleet to sail to Westeros. I’m actually…

Artist: Veronica Fish

Publisher: Archie Comics

Cover price: $3.99

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  The first thing that completely blew me away about this issue of Archie was how many times I had to re-read the second two pages to realize that I was reading it wrong. I knew visually that it was a 2-page spread, it just took me longer than I like to admit to understand that the whole thing was meant to be taken in as one big page, with the top panels all going first. I’m pretty sure that was never part of the classic Archie “house” style, and I like how Veronica Fish is using the scope of those pages to metaphorically illustrate the extent of Mr. Lodge’s dislike of Archie.

Mark Waid’s writing is once again adorable and hilarious and just a little bit mean in all the best ways. For example, Archie’s dad drops the best Trump reference I’ve seen outside classic Bloom County strips in a conversation about Ronnie’s helicopter. I really like the way he’s gone out of his way to write Archie’s folks as believable people, instead of cardboard-cutout authority figures to mock or disobey. I may have laughed as hard as I did at Fred’s reaction to the gigundo TV because I recognize that impulse in my own husband.

But as funny as it is to watch Veronica move all of her fancy-schmancy creature comforts into the Andrews’ house, it also presents a couple of problems for the ongoing narrative. For one thing, it continues to present Ronnie as the newcomer/interloper/“exchange student from planet Rich” who’s basically keeping the Archie gang from actually getting together and being the gang. I’m not used to Archie and Ronnie moving in such separate circles from Jughead and Betty and Kevin and the rest of the kids; I’m pretty sure I’m not a huge fan. The other thing I worry about is how completely removed Ronnie is from basic reality because of how rich her family is. Waid’s painting her as someone with a big heart and no idea how to navigate a grocery store. Of all the things that Veronica Lodge should know how to do well, shopping is at the top of the list.

I said last month that Mr. Lodge has just about turned into a comic book super-villain; I stand by that assessment and add that he’s now the kind of guy who may have a literal princess for a daughter – one who can scarcely function in the real world and whose only agency is her daddy’s money. If Waid dials her back just a wee bit, she’ll be far more entertaining as a character. I don’t dislike her anymore, now I need a reason to actively root for her. Repeated exposure to Archie’s friends on a social basis would be just the thing to file down some of the edges on our poor little rich girl.

Criticism aside, I still laughed out loud multiple times at this issue. Ronnie’s complaint in the grocery store was adorable in a way I hadn’t expected, and I really enjoy what Fish is doing with the art to carry parts of the story. Blue music notes with sad faces, for instance, or yellow ones that smile, and two panels of Archie and Betty that just about burst into flames on the page from the way they looked at each other. I just really want to make sure that this book doesn’t ever jump the ridiculously large shark that Mr. Lodge put in the moat around his house. Based on the preview image for next month, things should be getting even more interesting real soon. Can’t wait!

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Artist: J. Bone

Publisher: Archie Comics

Cover price: $3.99

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  I’m a little embarrassed to admit that I may have the same problem now with Kevin Keller that Veronica did way back in his first appearance in Archie comics – my inner teenage girl is nursing a pretty ferocious crush on our titular character! He’s all grown up now; the only Archie character so far to go beyond perpetual high school except in alternate-universe stories. His new book is a digital-only release, and is the closest thing I’m aware of to a creator-owned book at Archie, since Dan Parent created the character and has all the major creative duties on this book.

The setup here is pretty simple – boy graduates from college, boy moves to New York for first job, boy hopes to meet other boys (and girls!) and have fun while he’s young. However, Kevin is an old soul in Prince Charming’s body, and it’s not hard to see him as a bit of a Mary Sue for Dan Parent as a writer. He has a journalism degree and is actually working for a local TV news channel, for one thing. For another, he complains out loud about having to edit copy about Kim Kardashian’s butt, whines about having to fetch coffee for an established news anchor, and wonders if he’s meant for the age of Twitter. Oh, and he jams out in his new-but-slightly-terrible apartment to Diana Ross’ “I’m Coming Out”. From someone less thoroughly charming than Mr. Keller, all these things might seem old-fashioned, and not in a good way. As it is, they’re all narrative shorthand to show new readers who Kevin is and how he’s not as jaded as some of the people around him.

I loved the slightly retro vibe of the art in this book. I’m a bit of a creature of habit, and Archies were my first comics as a kid, so I like that some of the updated material is in a style that I’m very familiar with. The story of Kevin’s first day at work is a throwback too, and wouldn’t have been out of place in any number of ‘70s sitcoms. But nowadays at least we’re allowed to see a boy crushing on another cute boy without any subterfuge, which is thoroughly modern and definitely refreshing. I’m still not sure how I feel about the mostly black-and-white (with shades of blue) coloring, and I wish they’d used the old style of lettering. That being said, Kevin is a cutie-patootie all grown up, and I like seeing some people of color in the book already. I hope there are more. I also giggled at the little house mouse curling up with him during his phone call with Veronica, and I really hope it becomes an actual pet.

All told, this is a solid first issue of Kevin Keller’s new title, and with Veronica suddenly being thrown prominently into the mix there should be no shortage of drama. Oh, and boys. Lots and lots of boys. Can it be next month already, please?

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GAME OF THRONES 6.9, BATTLE OF THE BASTARDS

“Battle of the Bastards” Written by David Benioff and D.B. Weiss Directed by Miguel Sapochnik Well well well. Episode nine. We meet again. You all know what’s in store by now, right? I don’t need to set it up for you, right? Good. Let’s get a move on. Dany surveys the situation from the ramparts mover Meereen, watching the chaos unfold as the slave masters attack the city. Unsurprisingly, Dany…

Artist: Derek Charm

Publisher: Archie Comics

Cover price: $3.99

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  Welcome to the new Jughead, same as the old Jughead! Well, not exactly the same – there’s a new artist in town! Newcomer Derek Charm is taking over art duties on this title from Erica Henderson, and I’m really glad of it. I actually enjoy Erica’s work on The Unbeatable Squirrel Girl, but it was just a little too much different than the classic Archie style for my tastes. Charm’s work (so far) is much more conventionally “cartoony”, and the girls look a little less like edgy fanzine art. It doesn’t seem to be trying so desperately hard to be goofy, and actually serves Zdarsky’s innate weirdness the better for it.

This issue also marks the start of a new story arc: summer vacation! It’s nice to see that some things will never change in any version of Riverdale; Juggie’s folks are still up his behind to quit being so lazy and either get a job or at least just go outside, and Archie is still a terminal horndog who runs on testosterone and good intentions. The phone montage with Juggie and Kevin was a hoot and a half, and I’m glad to see that Zdarsky remembers their friendship. Kevin is the only other person in the Riverdale gang who might logically be accused of licking old candy wrappers, which goes a long way to explaining why he and Jug are such good friends.

However, this issue relies on the well-trodden paths of best friends, in the form of Jughead and Archie. He goes to the city pool to try to rekindle their bro-mance, but Archie’s got his mind on his money and money (and girls in swimsuits!) on his mind. He’s lifeguarding, and he actually seems annoyed to see Jughead trying to cramp his style. That said, Jug’s cannonball into the pool is really the stuff of legend. It might have even given my inner Big Ethel a bit more of a crush on ol’ Needlenose, hee!

I just really can’t praise the art enough in this issue; it’s just doing amazing things for the book. It’s actually making it clearer that Archie is still Archie, but Jughead’s the star of the show. For one thing, he’s every bit as much of a cute teenage boy as his friend is, but he isn’t flaunting it like Archie does. In fact, I could just about smell the Axe body spray coming off the page when I got my first look at Archie’s shades at the pool.

The rest of the issue (including a road trip, wild Mantles, and a grizzly bear, oh my!) absolutely lived up to its start. As much as I giggled at the pool scene, I may have laughed loud enough to startle my cat at Dilton’s family cottage – drawn to look exactly like the murderous cabin in the woods from the “Evil Dead” franchise. It remains to be seen how our heroes are going to get out of their fix, but I’m really looking forward to whatever tricks Jug has up his sleeve.

GAME OF THRONES 6.8: NO ONE

“No One” Written by David Benioff and D.B. Weiss Directed by Mark Mylod Once again lots of pieces moving into place this week for what’s looking to be like a CRAZY episode nine, which is par for the course for Game of Thrones. So, this recap may delve into the “reporting” realm a bit more than I like, but such is Game of Thrones life. We open on Lady Crane this week, once again playing Cersei and…

ARTIST OF THE DAY: GHOSTBUSTERS 2016 BY JAMES STAYTE

“Ghostbusters 2016” by James Stayte  

GAME OF THRONES 6.7: THE BROKEN MAN

“The Broken Man” Written by Bryan Cogman Directed by Mark Mylord There’s part of me that thinks the writers are just reading the “A Song of Ice and Fire” subreddit at this point and going,”Yeah, we like that fan theory too. Let’s go with that.” Seriously, they’re granting just about every single fan hope at this point now that they’re free from the grasp of the books. The Internet will remind you…