Blossoms: 666 #1 Review

Writer: Cullen Bunn
Artist: Laura Braga
Colorist: Matt Herms
Letterer: Jack Morelli
Publisher: Archie Comics

If you have read any of my reviews of anything from Archie Comics’ Archie Horror line, you know that I am unapologetically a huge fan of almost everything that has come out of it. While we await the return of Afterlife with Archie and Chilling Adventures of Sabrina, Archie Comics has given us Jughead: The Hunger and Vampironica. I consistently enjoy Jughead: The Hunger and think that it fits in well with the two Archie Horror series before it. Vampironica was a little bit of a disappointment in my opinion, but it was interesting nonetheless.

And now, Archie Horror has gifted us a new series which won me over before it’s release based on several things: the fact that Cullen Bunn is the writer, that they are focusing on two awesome characters, that the artwork in the previews looked incredible, and that it was colored by Matt Herms. Obviously my expectations were high so I was thrilled when I started reading Blossoms: 666 #1 and found myself immediately in love.

I have gone on and on in many reviews about how much I love Cullen Bunn’s writing and he never seems to disappoint me. My faith remained as I read this first issue because of its strong characters, captivating concept, and creepy tone.

Cheryl and Jason Blossom absolutely deserve an Archie Horror series. Their involvement in Afterlife with Archie was disturbing and amazing and I have missed seeing a lot of them in these horror storylines. Four pages in, I found myself both in love with and scared of Cheryl. Bunn has written her perfectly by capturing her smoothness, her sexiness, her manipulativeness, and her confidence. When we meet Jason, I found myself in love with him as well. His similar smoothness, sexiness, and manipulativeness but in a masculine sense works so well. And as always, the siblings’ chemistry is amazingly elegant and charming.

One of my first impressions of the issue is how well Cullen Bunn wrote this series to be a constant subtle tension builder. I longingly wanted more and more as I read and now I’m in desperate need of more issues as soon as possible.

Another one the first impressions I had was how amazing Laura Braga’s artwork is. I was unfamiliar with her work until this series was announced and I loved her artwork based on the preview images alone. My favorite thing about her artwork in this first issue is how effortlessly she illustrated things to seem normal in Riverdale while also adding a subtle layer of something evil behind all of it. Colorist Matt Herms helped with that by making the Blossoms’ hair and car being pretty much the only red things in the entire issue besides blood. 

Blossoms: 666 #1 is a sinister and captivating debut to what is sure to be another fantastic Archie Horror series. The issue’s story, characters, dialogue, and artwork are all exceptional. There isn’t a single weak thing about this first issue and that makes me very excited to get my hands on more of this series.