This is the first of the Archie horror books I’ve read. I’ve always had a spot for Archie in my library (mostly as a bathroom read), and I grew up on the show “Archie’s Weird Mysteries,” so it’s kind of surprising I haven’t gotten to these books sooner.
#spoilers
I didn’t read the one-shot that precedes this book, but they recap it quickly enough. Essentially Jughead found out that his family is a long line of werewolves and his transformation had finally come to term. He also found out that Betty and all the Coopers are werewolf hunters, and so went on the run after he pretty much killed most of the Riverdale regulars, his most recent kill being Reggie. Unfortunately, it turns out that Reggie isn’t dead and has become a werewolf himself.
In the meanwhile Jughead is working at a circus where he chains himself up every night to avoid hurting people. Betty on the other hand is in pursuit of Jughead with Archie in tow. They end up teaming with Betty’s cousin Bo who has come to essentially toughen Archie up for the trials ahead.
Jughead wakes up in the lion cage and finds out he butchered a girl named Abbey he had just met, furthermore deducing that someone had set him loose the night before. Seeing no other choice Jughead hits the road again.
Lastly, Veronica is visited by Reggie in the night in full wolf form for a chilling cliffhanger.
It’s fun. What can I say? Seeing the Riverdale crew tossed into the horror genre is awesome and is a nice spin on the mythos. I think killing off most of the characters so early is kind of unfortunate in the long run, but who knows. I really like Frank Tieri; he’s a great writer with a solid sense of humor and it’s always a treat to find a book he’s had a hand in. I’m definitely eager to see where this story goes from here.
TL;DR Score: WereJug? JugWolf? Either way, he makes a great monster.
TL;DR Comics 