Archie #700 Review

Story by: Nick Spencer

Art by: Marguerite Sauvage

Lettering by: Jack Morelli

Published by: Archie Comics

After a three-year period under the helm of Mark Waid (and some with Ian Flynn), Archie comics now celebrates its 700th issue with the debut of the new creative team of Nick Spencer and Marguerite Sauvage. And what a debut!

The first thing that anyone who currently are fans of the CW show Riverdale will notice that Spencer has borrowed some elements of the show in this new iteration of the comic. However, what he borrows, namely the Jughead led narrative boxes and the “mysteries” found within Riverdale. However, borrowing these elements actually helps to give a nice framework to this issue and actually gives Jughead something to do other than being the “guy who eats hamburgers”.

As for the mysteries? Well, right now, don’t expect the murder mystery that surrounded the first season of Riverdale or anything of that level (at least right now), because this is still the comics. The first mystery that Spencer shows and then actually answers in the same issue (a pleasant surprise), is what has Archie rattled after all his friends went away for the summer. It’s a mystery and unveiling that is very Archie, but that’s okay.

One addition to the cast that should be fun is Sabrina (the maybe teenage witch?). She doesn’t appear for too many pages, but you know she’ll add greatly to the cast.

Spencer can sometimes be a polarizing writer, but I believe Archie fits right into his wheelhouse. I’ve been a fan of Spencer for many years (his best work for me is still his Jimmy Olsen back up from almost a decade ago), and with this, his first issue of Archie, I can see that the gang is in good hands. And as for the art, well.

One thing that the Archie comics have hit out of the park in the past three years is finding artists to fit the series’ new look. And wow, they found a great one in Marguerite Sauvage. I’ve read a few comics over the past few years that contained Sauvage’s art, but this singular issue is probably the best of hers yet! Since there is no colorist listed (or inker for that matter), I’m going to assume that Sauvage did everything herself and man is it ever pretty. Her use of colors, framing, everything really, makes this a really nice book to not only ready, but to look at. I really hope she’s able to keep up this level of quality for her entire run.