It all comes down to this! The Riverdale gang—held hostage by Cheryl Blossom’s father! Reggie—at last paying for his crimes! And when all is said and done, Riverdale is turned upside down once more! Collects issues #28-32 of the ongoing ARCHIE series!

We’ve come to the grand finale, and it’s so good. Not only do we get to see some wholesome Veronica and Betty friendship, and some of Archie’s hilarious dating mishaps (he’s a little less of a heartthrob now that several girls other than Betty/Ronnie having dating horror scars. Yes, I said scars!)

But I loved how Waid uses Archie’s infamous bad luck klutziness to take down the big bad. At once it’s a combination of realistic horror in having a gunman at school combined with Archie. Very gripping and has a satisfying wrap-up for almost all the characters, even Mr. Weatherbee. I was also pleasantly surprised that Waid introduced a very sweet meet-cute between Moose and Midge as well as imply romantic tension between (Josie and the Pussycats’) Valerie and Archie when they performed together. He did an excellent job combining classic Archie ship cameos and deepening core relationships.

My one gripe would be how quickly things wrap up in #32. I know they want to finish things quickly, but Cheryl and Jason realizing their criminal father was scamming them only after he revealed it to them seemed out of character. They’re smart. They know their dad is a criminal, shouldn’t they have realized he had ulterior motives and not cared for them? So that felt out-of-character and their turn-around just as quick.

Secondly, the summary implied that Reggie would finally redeem himself for his actions and it was a let-down. He utilized the situation (that he inadvertently caused btw) for his own gain. Which is very Reggie, but he’s never shown remorse for almost killing Betty, and certainly not for paralyzing her. Not even in a solo moment of reflection before holding up his facade of uncaring bully. He’s basically a sociopath in these volumes, and it’s hard to swallow that he got away with it scot-free.

Still, it was a fulfilling saga that emphasized the fun, and friendship that make up Archie comics, adding more depth to the characters without sacrificing the wholesomeness that makes it so beloved.

4 stars