Man from R.I.V.E.R.D.A.L.E.

No, not the collection of Archie spy stories from the 60s, but it was certainly inspired by it. Updated for the present in a mishmash of James Bond homage, R.I.V.E.R.D.A.L.E. roots and Archie hijinks by Fernando Ruiz and Tom DeFalco. I enjoyed the throwbacks to Little Archie by having the villainous Mad Doctor Doom and Chester return to take over the world. As well as the new characters like Archie’s super spy cousin, Andy and his nemesis, Sherry from C.R.U.S.H. as they all resolve to stop the Doctor from his plan of enslaving the entire race. The antidote will surprise you. It’s great spy fun and one of my favorites.

Clash of the New Kids

Clash of the New Kids brings many new faces to Riverdale. . . well technically Riverdale High. After budget cuts shut down several schools, the falculty and students are shunted off to neighboring ones. About 50 are heading to Riverdale High with Archie as it’s student ambassador. As one can imagine there are clashes in fashion and friendship with enjoyable new flirtations and brought so many new dynamics to the fore. It even includes the intro to the popular Kevin Keller (Though he didn’t do much in this story) and a rival for Betty’s affections with Sayid and Reggie is getting outwitted and pranked by one more mischevious than he!

Veronica’s Passport

I love traveling so Veronica’s Passport is one of my ideal summer reads as everyone’s favorite heiress explores the sights, maxes out her credit cards and sometimes foil a thief or two in her travels around the globe. Unfortunately her Archie Superstars special only has 4 of these stories, but you can find more of her travels in digests and the same titled Veronica’s Passport Magazine Digests I’ve been schooping up on ebay.

Love Showdown

What more can I say on this grand event that had everyone’s attention in the 90s. It brought back Cheryl Blossom turning the love triangle to a square. Well rectangle if you include Jason’s pursuit of Betty. No matter the shape, it has the drama and hilarity we all live from Archie in one big super special.

Archie’s Camp Tales

This one is included for nostalgic reasons as it is one of the first Archie books I got and is as good a primer as any to get into what makes Archie so fun whether it being getting lost in the woods or setting up camp festivals. It’s easy and wholesome and oh so enjoyable.

Now I couldn’t quite put this in with the comic collections as they aren’t comics, but I enjoyed these Archie-adjacent books and wished they had continued with them. It’s just like the comics with plots like getting a summer job and starting a band and such. But since it’s a book you don’t breeze as quickly through it, so you can savor the adventures more I think.