I hope everyone is having a good week and hopefully enjoyed a free book or two this past Saturday. We’re back this week with a fairly slow release day but some great picks nonetheless. Last week I put two highly regarded books from Archie Comics new imprint, Archie Horror, against one another. Find out which book will be immortalized in the ComiCombs below. But first some great picks for this week!
Grimm Tales of Terror Volume 2 #8 (Zenescope Entertainment)
“After struggling under student loans and start-up costs, two graduates try a hail mary: they journey to Central America to find a mysterious tribe that grants wishes. Once they arrive, they discover that getting their wish may not be as easy as they hoped.”
Penny Dreadful #1 (Titan Comics)
Showtime’s hit series makes its way to comic shops with this prequel to the show.
“This prequel reveals the terrifying events that led Vanessa to attempt to find her missing childhood friend, Mina Harker, and exposes the true nature of the vampiric monsters infesting Victorian London. Beautifully realized by Louie De Martinis, and written by the scriptwriters of the series!”
Eerie #1 (Canton Street Press)
This is a great pick up for those of you into classic horror. Canton Street Press brings us a replica of the original Eerie and this one won't set you back thousands of dollars!
“Eerie eventually ushered in an entire genre as well as a regular series of the same name. Overstreet lists this as the most valuable horror comic. Joe Kubert and Fred Kida are among the contributors. This replica is authentically restored and includes all ads and editorial content. Full color.”
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With the announcement of new issues starting this month, I decided to put the two Archie Horror series up against one another. Both are written by Roberto Aguirre-Sacasa and both a fresh take on the world in the long running Archie series. This was a tough choice as I really enjoyed both titles but after a lot of thought one book came out on top.
Chilling Adventures of Sabrina (Archie Horror)
This series came as a big surprise to me. I’m not too familiar with Sabrina; aside from a bit of Melissa Joan Hart and a talking cat from the 90's, Sabrina was a character that my mom read about in Archie. This is definitely not my mom’s Sabrina and neither are Riverdale and its cast of characters in Afterlife with Archie.
Afterlife with Archie is a very good book. Roberto Aguirre-Sacasa does an excellent job writing both of these. Afterlife with Archie is a pretty dark take on Riverdale that still brings us a little light hearted humor that only Archie Comics can. Francesco Francavilla, a personal favorite, does a great job bringing zombies to Riverdale. His color palette is perfect for this title and adds so much to the already solid writing. I really don’t have much in the way of black marks for Afterlife, so why did I choose Chilling Adventures of Sabrina? Although Afterlife is a very solid book and a different take on Archie, the zombie makeover isn’t a new thing, it’s something that has been done so many times.
Chilling Adventures of Sabrina was a very nice surprise, even though I have sort of a love/hate relationship when it comes to witches. I was thrown off by the pacing of this book from the start especially since it followed Afterlife in reading order. I quickly came to realize that this is a slow burn. The writing is so good here and the pacing is consistent throughout the book. I never felt like the tension was built up and then allowed to fall flat, it just keeps building and building, then explodes into a rewarding payoff. This book is very cinematic and as I was reading I could see the panels flow so beautifully together. Robert Hack does an amazing job with the art in this book; his style is so raw and just breathtaking when it comes to gore. Witch stories have a long history in horror, but you don't see too many anymore. There are some good ones out there if you dig enough and you will find that this one is up there as one of the best. If you aren’t familiar with Sabrina, this is definitely the Sabrina you should start with. Everything in this book hits its mark.
With a bit of a surprise pick for me at the end, that’s it for this week. Although I chose Chilling Adventures of Sabrina, you shouldn’t sleep on Afterlife With Archie. Make sure to stop by your local comic shop and pick one of these up. Happy new comic book day, see you all next week!
- The Creature of the ComiCombs
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