The last time I probably read an Archie Comic was one of the last times that I attended a Free Comic Book Day. However, I never came across anything like what I found this year involving our friends from Riverdale. There seems to be a division at Archie Comics known as Archie Horror. The issue was "The Cursed Library: Prelude" #0. The distressed cover was strikingly conceptualized by Robert Hack. This was the highlight of the book.
Many artists and writers combined to introduce the reader to different stories in a fashion that left you not knowing which one you were reading, and this is with little titles written on the bottom of some of the pages. The only glue that held this work together was that the stories all came from books in the Cursed Library, which is overseen by Jinx Holliday. Don't worry, though, because your favorite characters such as Archie, Jughead, Betty and Veronica are still there but seen in a different light.
Don't get me wrong! I am sure the individual tales are told in a more cohesive fashion but this book is out of control. For example, out of nowhere Jinx picks up an electric guitar and starts shredding. This guitar work does seem to save Jughead Jones from his possession. Madame Satan might have found her own personal hell by being trapped in Riverdale and listening to Jinx Holliday recite these stories that aren't even fiction. If nothing else, this introductory comic may inspire me to try at least one of the titles.
