A origin sory to The Archies two volumes detailing their life as a band on the road, Alex Segura and Matthew Rosenberg work together to bring this cute one-shot detailing how the band got together.

It’s a pretty typical narrative where Archie is desperate to start working on his dream of making music that people care about to come true. But he can’t do that solo, he needs a band. His best bud, Jughead is quick to come in as a drummer and after some lackluster auditions, Archie is desperate enough to accept Betty and Veronica despite the potential drama.

But as it happens to lead singers, his perfectionism annoys his band members to quitting and he realizes his dream of fame isn’t quite the dream he wants anymore. Not without his friends by his side.

So yeah, pretty typical and could probably done without this origins story as it is so by the numbers. It doesn’t offer any new insights or twists that would make it specific to the characters. The only real tidbit I enjoyed was the inclusion of Jughead’s cousin, Bingo Wilkin as the entertaintment organizer for the club that gives the Archies their debut. Plus a cameo by Bingo’s best girl, Samantha.

With so many cameos of Bingo in the Archie-verse, when is he getting his spin-off? Katy got a brief one in Archie meets Katy Keene, there’s Bennet’s Josie and the Pussycats, and Thompson’s Sabrina the Teenage Witch. Let’s give Bingo his chance to shine!

Anyway the art by Joe Eisma keeps it within the Mark Waid run as to make it seamlessly fit into the regular storyline.

Now the three stories making up a Big Moose one-shot are what I’m looking for when reading into the new grounded, coming of age stories of the new Archie universe.

Moose Vs The Vending Machine by Sean Ryan and The Big Difference by Gorf are more lighthearted stories that feature a humorous yet relatable battle with the always touchy vending machine just when Moose needs a delicious candy bar the most. The other story is a quick heartwarming spread where Moose learns to treat a freshman wreastler like a normal kid despite his disability.

It’s Ryan Cady’s Have It All that provides a new layer to Riverdale’s star football player during the busiest week of his life. Not only is the gae against Greendale on Friday but he has his anniversay with Midge and a big term paper that is the difference between a D student who must drop out of football and his C+ average.

Cady acknowledges that Moose is often seen as dumb. Moose knows that’s others perceive him with his implied dyslexia and that it takes him a bit longer to put things together. Except Midge, she thinks he’s smart in his own way which part of why he loves her. But during this week with everyone telling him that they don’t want him to strain himself or it’s okay if he can’t do it all, it makes him more determined. He wants to show that he is capable of doing it all.

Cady also highlights all the good qualities of Moose like his loyalty to his friends like Dilton and to his team and his simple wisdom which is why he is able to see that Reggie is one big jerk despite his crafty, smarmy ways. It also carries over the clear Betty and Reggie animosity from the main series. Plus the relationship between Midge and Moose here is just so so sweet. So well-worth it if you want a different perspective of the biggest man on Riverdale campus.

I prefered the art of Cory Smith in Vending Machine the most because of its detail and expressive facials compared to more simple lines of Thomas Pitilli in Have It All and the more traditional cartoon-like “house” style of Ryan Jampole in The Big Difference.

You can read these in The Archies and Other Stories volume which also has an origin to Jughead: The Hunger. I skimmed it but I’m not a big horror and gore fan so someone other than me will probably enjoy reading it.