REGGIE AND ME #5 (of 5)

Script: Tom DeFalco

Art: Sandy Jarrell

Publisher: Archie Comics

I was on the edge of my seat for this book after the cliffhanger ending we readers got last month. Reggie’s been a jerk  and a creep, sure, but he was laid low by the very real prospect of losing his best friend in the world. And like I said about that last issue, it’s hard to completely hate a guy who inspires such love and loyalty from little dog like Vader. That said, I was impressed that DeFalco followed through on showing Vader to be blinded by that loyalty, and in real denial about what kind of person his human really is. 

I loved that Hot Dog was the one who showed up to drop some knowledge and truth on Vader about who Reggie is. If Vader is the narrator of this book, he’s certainly one of the unreliable kind, and it takes Hot Dog to speak for what (I hope) most readers have been thinking about Reggie through all 5 issues of this miniseries. 

The only thing that really bugged me about the story is DeFalco as a writer pulling his punches on Reggie. I know this is an Archie Comics book, and for the most part that means that things go back to status quo at the end of any given story so that everything can start all over at the beginning of the next one. However, the “Married Life” and “Afterlife” books showed that episodic storytelling can work incredibly well for these characters. That’s why the ending to this miniseries (“For now!”) seems particularly bloodless. I won’t spoil anything, but I found myself more disappointed than I anticipated. I wonder if/how much this has to do with the next 3 issues of the main Archie title, which has been teasing catastrophic events surrounding the Archie/Reggie rivalry, and making it clear that someone is going to actually die. After all, if Reggie were to die in another book, it could seem bit much to visit too much tragedy on the character in his own series.

One thing that has continued to be great and good in this book is Sandy Jarrell’s artwork. His people may not be as “tasty” and well-rounded as some of the classic Archie artists’ were, but I love his animals. Vader and Hot Dog both felt like real pups that you could reach through the page and give belly skritches. I also really dig what he does with Reggie’s expressions in particular. The sharpness of his features and the way Jarrell draws him still reminds me of a very young Negan, and that seems appropriate for his personality too. It seems pretty clear that the creative team here is intending to revisit this version of Reggie; I hope it’s sooner rather than later, and I hope they make him more sympathetic next time around.