Betty and Veronica

It's all downhill once you open the book

Normally, I'm not moved to the point where I would write a post about how bad a comic book is. Then the first issue of the long awaited Adam Hughes written/penned Betty and Veronica series came out a few weeks ago and I just had to say something. This is what drew me out of my hidey-hole.

In this blog, I've stated on the record how I truly love Archie comics. So the fact that I'm writing something negative about this issue shows you how egregious it really is.

First of all, the new modern takes on the characters have been nothing short of fantastic. Gone is the fifties feeling of the Archie comic books. They now truly reflect current times. They have been smartly written and genuinely funny.

This book is neither of those. This book is not written well at all. I am always weary of artists who also fancy themselves as writers. That usually comes with disastrous results. There are many examples, but I'll start with Brian Hitch, Tony Daniel, Carlos Pacheco and even Jim Lee. You can now add Adam Hughes to that list.

Right off the bat, this first issue is ridiculously exposition heavy. There is such a thing as over writing on a comic book. Then there is the dialogue. Never has there been such a glaring example of old man writing teenage dialogue than the first few pages of this book and the rest of the issue. Archie and Jughead argue about . Then there are moments when the characters say "WTF". You may be thinking, "Well that's not so bad. What's your problem?". I should mention that it is spelled out as "Double-yoo tee eff". Who DOES that!?

Speaking of exposition heavy, the story is narrated by Jughead's dog, Hot Dog. This is such a weird stylistic choice as well. Specifically because he speaks as if he ate a thesaurus. Even MORE annoying is that they make that very joke before the issue's end.

Finally, none of the characterizations ring true. There is a discussion between Archie and Jughead that feels weird. Betty is doing yardwork for her "Mee-maw". Something I've NEVER heard Betty said in all the years of reading Archie comics. I'm no expert, but even I know that is not normal. Veronica is even more icy than she usually is. What really strikes me as odd is how different this comic is from all the other relaunches. It's like the editors just turned a blind eye and let this thing fall off the rails.

For their sake, I hope they either cancel this book or get a new creative team. I understand you want to bring in Adam Hughes to spike sales, but if this issue is indicative of what to expect, I'm ejecting  right now.