As I have mentioned before I absolutely love Archie’s Weird Mysteries, the comic strip and the tv show so I had to get my hands on this one.

As promised, it amps up the creep factor with alien crash landings, time travel dreamscapes and a descent into obsession in these three stories with a twist.

The first story or case file as they dub them, Betty Cooper Alien Hunter by Frank Tieri features the blond-haired girl next door with a big dose of badassery most familiar to those Jughead: The Hunger fans. Instead of accusing people of vampirism and warlock magic, she is on the hunt for a fourth shapeshifting alien that has blended into Pop’s. Sabbatini’s art brings to mind Cameron’s Alien franchise wiith its shifting tentacles and blood splatters when Betty and Pop get their suitably action hero moment in the spotlight. Plus it still retains the Archie humor with some deadpan insults of Pop’s meatloaf.

I’ll admit the second case file by Ron Robbins-Bingo Wilkin Day– confused me a bit but then again time travel always confuses me. This features the surprising pairing of Trev, Ethel and Bingo as they use Ethel’s AI invention S.N.A.X. to vividly dream their way back to the 90s. Why? Because it was one fateful day where music star Bingo was signing autographs at Pop’s Record Store when a mysterious wizard offered him a potion to immortality. He accepted but now Bingo’s desperate to be his real age.

Bobillo’s art changes from muted pastel of the cynical present to the solid color schemes of the 90s provide an excellent distinction between the two eras. That combined with the excellent twist that puts the whole ending into doubt turns it from a blast to the past to making you question everything. Also Dr. Sam Masters is apparently a wizard?!? I can’t say much more than that but if you like trippy tales, this is for you.

The final case story, A Wrinkle in Time pays homage to the Twilight Zone and Josie and the Pussycats in Space. In the year 2050, Josie and the Pussycats are still world-superstars and Alexandra is still looking to scheme her way into the spotlight when horror of horrors, she gets a wrinkle. From there, Joanne Starer hilariously details Alexandra’s descent to madness and epic jealousy as she takes more drastic measures to get rid of the aging process while hearing all about Josie. As any fan of the Twilight Zone knows, this wish ends up backfiring at the worst moment. While it doesn’t feature much of the Pussycats, if you enjoyed the Space cartoons’ aesthetics, you’ll enjoy Jampole’s art here. It was also enjoyable in how it combined the humor and the horror all at once.

This was a great return to the Weird Mysteries that I so enjoy with a bit more gore and cursing that is sure to please any Archie Horror fan too. I loved this as the start to spooky season.