Archie vs. Predator #1: Will Anyone Survive?

A Review of Archie vs. Predator #1

Dark Horse Comics

As you can imagine, I was quite surprised to see “Archie vs. Predator” pop up from Dark Horse Comics. The fine folks at Archie Comics have pulled me back in after thirty or so years of not reading Archie Comics, because not much had really changed since I read them as a kid.

This all changed with the Afterlife with Archie series, and more recently the new Sabrina horror series. All of the old gang was still there, except grittier with a Walking Dead feel to it. I got hooked, and I’m reading those with verocity, but it hasn’t pulled me back into the standard Archie/teenage angst/humor/caroony artwork that they still publish over at Archie Comics.

Suddenly, Dark Horse publishes an Archie comic, in the same Archie style and humor, except they added the fact that Predator is coming to kill them all, if he can.

I laughed when I saw the issue, and then I read it because I couldn’t resist, and it was exellent! The artwork from Fernando Ruiz brings me back to the Archie of my youth, as does the humor of Alex de Campi. It’s the same of everything I remember, but the art is just a little bit sexier, and the humor is just a little bit more risqué than your standard Archie comic.

The gang wins a trip to some jungle/beach resort somewhere. It’s fun, but it’s too hot, and the jungle is full of dangers. Meanwhile, the Predator’s ship lands and it quickly begins stalking the gang. There’s a Best Dressed competition, snobby friends of the gang annoying everyone, Jughead food jokes, Betty and Veronica battles, and everything else you’d expect, with a healthy dose of blood splashed over all. It’s fun, it’s funny, it’s morbid, and it’s what you’d expect from a Dark Horse Archie Comic. I can’t wait for issue #2.