Riverdale #10

Writer: Greg Murray

Artist: Thomas Pitilli

Colors: Andre Szymanowicz

Published by: Archie Comics

What happens when Riverdale High is beset by an outbreak of mono and the main victim is Cheryl’s The Crucible play? A witch-hunt of course!

Reading Riverdale and being a fan of the show and all its drama-strewn goodness, the comic brings another aspect to this universe that is much needed: fun, high school hijinx a la classic Archie. What I mean by this is simple: the comic gets to have a lot more fun than the show does, while still utilising the same characters (and sometimes expanding the cast to suit its needs). The fact that the issues are being written by the show’s writers makes it that much more fun.

In this issue, as I mentioned at the top, Riverdale High is affected by a rash of positive cases of mono that seems to be affecting a very select group of students: the cast of the school’s production of The Crucible. Being the leading lady, this infuriates Cheryl Blossom and she is out for blood and tries to determine who patient zero is. From there, the hijinx commences as everyone starts accusing each other of being the culprit (with a pretty funny sequence explaining how “Dark” Betty committed the crime).

Riverdale as a whole is a fun, light read every month and it’s a fun way to keep up with the TV show in-between episodes. The art is always pretty good and keeps to the new Archie esthetic pretty closely - Pitilli’s style is similar but not exactly like a lot of other Archie artists these days. In all, a fun issue and great for any fan of the show.