Friday, August 7, 2015

ARCHIE VS. SHARKNADO

I couldn’t resist buying Archie Vs. Sharknado [$4.99]. Though I am less than fond of most of Archie’s gimmick comics - as in Afterlife with Archie makes me nauseous with its loathsome sensationalism - the first Sharknado remains a “B” movie favorite of mine. I would have bought any Sharknado comic book.

Written by Anthony C. Ferrante, the director of all three Sharknado films, “Archie Vs. Sharknado” is a 40-page battle between America’s favorite teenagers and America’s favorite swirling man-eaters. As with Sharknado 3, it starts in Washington D.C. and makes its way to Riverdale. The lively, nigh-bubbly art by Dan Parent (pencils) and Rich Koslowski (inks) appears to have been as much fun to draw as it is to look at. Some of the scenes of violence are gory by usual Archie standards, but fit right in with this madness.

Here comes the usual warning...  

SPOILERS AHEAD
SPOILERS AHEAD
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SPOILERS AHEAD


Betty and Veronica are pretty darn kick-ass as they escape from our nation’s capital to warn their Riverdale friends of the sharknado. Alas, Mr. Lodge doesn’t make it out of D.C.

Archie and Cheryl Blossom seem to be boyfriend/girlfriend in this story. This was probably done so Archie would have someone he could protect. Betty and Veronica did just fine without him and, indeed, did more than their fair share of rescuing.

Josie and the Pussycats appear with Melody getting her hand bitten off by s shark in an obvious nod to Tara Reid, who played Melody in the Josie and the Pussycats movie and plays April Wexler-Shepherd in the Sharknado films. Melody remains in ditzy character, singing when she finds her detached hand.

The body count among the Archie regulars is surprisingly low. One character appears dead in a battle within Riverdale High, but shows up alive on the final page of the story. The most necessary death is a character that had to be taken out of the fight because said character could have ended the crisis quickly. A few of the eaten will be familiar to even casual Archie readers, some are virtually unknown to the general public.

Heads of victims are seen in the mouths of sharks so often in the story that the bit becomes tiresome. If I had to guess, I would bet those particular victims were based on people who work for either Archie Comics or The Asylum, the studio that makes the Sharknado movies.

The kids destroy the Riverdale sharknado by repeating what worked in Los Angeles in the first Sharknado movie. They toss a bomb into it and blow up the sharknado and its sharks. It’s an anti-climatic, disappointing ending. I was expecting/hoping that resident genius Dilton would have come up with something more original.

SPOILERS OVER
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Archie Vs. Sharknado is a decent little novelty item. It’s not an outstanding comic book, but it was entertaining enough that I don’t regret buying a copy.

I’ll be back tomorrow with my review of Lavalantula. See you then.
  
© 2015 Tony Isabella

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