JOSIE AND THE PUSSYCATS #7

Script: Cameron DeOrdio, Marguerite Bennett

Art: Audrey Mok

Publisher: Archie Comics

This new Josie and the Pussycats book has gotten me all up in my feelings this month. I know it’s exploring a recurring theme for the band (is this Josie’s dream, or all the girls’ together?) and the story itself in this issue wouldn’t be out of place in the classic Archie books of decades past. An A-plot that pits our heroes against each other, fueled by miscommunication is pretty standard fare. So is a B-plot that sees them “band” together to defeat a common foe. And yet, writers Cameron DeOrdio and Marguerite Bennett have managed to make it all feel fresh, if not always completely wholesome or aimed at kids the way the old Archie/Josie books were. This book makes me sorry I never bothered much with Josie’s stories back in the day.

Both of the main plots are worth following, although I was slightly annoyed that it took me a second reading to see why the girls were engaging in merry fisticuffs with their musical rivals at the awards show. I do appreciate subtlety, but artist Audrey Mok could have made it a touch clearer why the Pussycats were throwing down with the members of the snarky EDM band. That said, her art in this issue was again some of my favorite stuff in the whole Archie-verse this month. She continues in a cartoony-but-realistic style that really suits these girls who are older than high school but still young enough to be trying to figure out their place in the world. Also, my favorite panel of any comic this week is the image of Valerie giving chin skritchies to Melody, just sayin’. (I may have actually made a noise only my own pet kitty could hear...)

And speaking of involuntary noises, I absolutely howled with laughter at the “Miranda” warning that the vanquished vote-cheating EDM band got from security guards as Josie and her girls were driving away; I never expected a legit Scientology joke to make its way into an Archie Comics title, but there it was! (I really do hope it doesn’t cause them any trouble.) I also adored the throwaway “Game of Thrones” reference that got snuck in, in the form of Lord Cute-ington’s full name. It was also really sweet to see poor, long-suffering Alan M. get to be onstage, articulating for the awards show audience just what we all love about Josie and the Pussycats. The only trick that Archie Comics has missed with this book is to snatch up the Twitter accounts shown in the closeup panel on Alan M.’s phone, and make them and the associated hashtags clickable/followable for folks who are reading digitally. Still, I’m really digging this book and looking very much forward to next month, especially the teaser art at the end of the issue is any indication.