Afterlife with Archie #4 Review

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Afterlife with Archie #4 Review
“Escape from Riverdale, Chapter 3: Archibald Rex”

Publisher: Archie Comics
Writer: Roberto Aguirre-Sacasa
Art: Francesco Francavilla
Letters: Jack Morelli
Cover: Francesco Francavilla

Review by Scott Keys

Archie has left the Lodge mansion to find out if his parents are ok, but he doesn’t know what is waiting for him when he gets there! You have been warned, there are SPOILERS ahead!

Let’s just say that Afterlife with Archie #4 was an intense, emotionally draining reading experience. Hold on, that sounds bad, but it’s not at ALL! In this issue the amazing team of Aguirre-Sacasa and Francavilla build up loving relationships between a boy and his dog, as well as a boy and his father, then viciously, methodically, and graphically destroy them. You get so emotionally invested that, I’m not gonna lie, I teared up when Vegas sacrificed himself to let his master escape, and again when Archie had to bash his zombified father’s skull in to save himself and his mother. You can’t beat the pacing and drama that this amazing team has put together on this title!

Aquirre-Sacasa has an incredible talent for making you feel not only like you know these characters, but that you’re actually taking the journey with them. The fact that he can make the most unrealistic situation seem like it is really happening is uncanny and even chilling.

And as for the art, Francavilla is in a class all of his own. From the panel layouts to the angles, from the expressions to the body language, and from the shadows to the color palette, this man is teaching the world why sequential art is one of the highest forms of art in modern culture.

I know that I’m beating a dead (or maybe undead?) horse, but you should undoubtedly be reading this book! Aguirre-Sacasa and Francavilla have created the most unexpectedly awesome book I’ve ever read, and the only complaint I EVER have is that I want MORE! NOW! Go check it out, seriously! You won’t believe how incredible it is until you see it with your own eyes.

Art: 5 / 5
Story: 5 / 5
Overall: 5 / 5

Scott Keys is a father, Butler University grad, pharmacist, and full-time comic nerd. You can follow his adventures around the spinner-rack and his Incoherent Comic Book Ramblings on:
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