Archie #24

Written by: Mark Waid
Art by: Audrey Mok
Colors by: Kelly Fitzpatrick
Published by: Archie Comics

Coming off one of the biggest events in Archie Comics history that has completely changed the life of one of the most iconic comic characters in history, that of Betty Cooper, we finally get to start seeing the repercussions of not only her new life, but also how everyone else was affected.

For one, everyone should have known that if there was going to be one character that would not let an accident of this magnitude effect, at least in public, is Betty Cooper. Waid was smart to build up Betty throughout this new series as someone who can be vulnerable but also tough as nails. For her, it appears that being in a wheelchair is simply a roadblock to be overcome. Several times in the issue she repeats: “I can do it on my own. But thank you.” These two short sentences have formed Betty’s mantra to overcome issues that were once easy that have become difficult for her.

However, Waid is also smart in the fact that Betty is not invincible and all-powerful. She is still human and this drastic of a change has had some effect. This is compounded by the fact that ever since coming home from the hospital, she has not seen Archie.

For Archie, this continues to be a tough time for him. You can still see from his interactions with his parents, to his fourth wall breaks with the reader, that what happened to Betty Cooper has deeply affected him. All he wants to do now is doing something good for Betty and her family, but he is always at a loss. He is still considered a massive klutz and this impedes his ability to help with certain things like the bake sale and the car wash that his classmates have put on to help Betty. He finally discovers something he can do, and it was all his idea, a nice touch.

We also get an update on Reggie’s situation in the issue - will it be as grave as the cover indicates - and we also get an update on a few others: Jughead being late to the bake sale which made for a nice bit of humour, and Cheryl’s continued quest to discover what has happened to her fortune. One character that was surprisingly absent that I only noticed on a second pass through was Veronica. I can only imagine that she will be back next month with a vengeance.

On art, Moke continues to amaze. She had done wonderful work in the past on Josie and the Pussycats and she continues to shine on the main title. It’s really hard to find anything bad when reading a comic drawn by Mok and I can’t wait to see more from her. She is fast becoming a favourite of mine.