Riverdale Season 3 #1 Review

Written by: Micol Ostow

Artist: Thomas Pitilli (Story One) & Joe Eisma (Story Two)

Colors: Andre Szymanowicz (Story One) & Matt Herms (Story Two)

Letters: John Workman (Story One) & Janice Chiang (Story Two)

Published by: Archie Comics

For fans of the show, this companion series is always a fun read as we get to explore more of the world of Riverdale. In this debut, we get to see a little more of what happened prior to Archie going to prison at the beginning of season 3 and how some of the plot points from the season were there before the viewer even knew it.

The issue is split into two stories, both helmed by Micol Ostow. The first sees the group of Archie, Jughead, Betty and Veronica staying at Ronnie’s place while her parents are away and devolves into a cool send-up to the classic Hitchcock movie Rear Window. For anyone who hasn’t seen the movie, the premise shared is this in the comic: Jughead observes from Veronica’s penthouse a potential crime committed in the adjacent building. He informs the rest of the group and they go to investigate. The story is nicely tied to a certain plot point in the new season which is nice to see in the comic. The art by Pitilli is stellar throughout and has just the right amount of “scratchiness” for my liking. Very well done.

The second story with art by Eisma, sees the gang rally around Veronica as she struggles to raise the money necessary to open her speakeasy La Bonne Nuit. The gang decides to do a carwash (how that raises enough money for a business, I don’t know, but hey, it’s Riverdale right?) and are accosted by the sheriff for not having a permit. This type of story is always one of my favorite types as it involves typical Archie-style hijinx, but with a nice Riverdale flair to it.

Eisma’s art is as always really good throughout. His style is becoming almost synonymous with the new Archie-style these days. My only real issue with his style is that he tends to pose the characters at weird angles, but that is his prerogative as an artist.

This was a fun debut issue and should continue to be a great way for Riverdale fans to have a little extra when the show isn’t on.