Written by Jeff Parker, Michael Moreci
Illustrated by Dan Parent, J. Bone
Published by Archie Comics
This is a fun comic that immediately makes you smile. Archie is crossing universes with the Batman of the 1960s (even thought they don’t actually meet in his issue). And it’s a blast!
The story and art are both decidedly retro in this and it’s a great decision. The cover by Mike Allred sets the tone perfectly for the rest of the book for sure.
However, it’s a fun read that’s way too short and ends rather abruptly in a weird place story wise.
The issue starts off with Batman and Robin fighting Poison Ivy in a park. They are soon assisted by Batgirl and together they defeat Poison Ivy. Things seem to be going just fine!
But then, the Penguin meets with the Joker, the Riddler and Catwoman to tell them about his new idea. Gotham City has a protector for all of the various crimes they want to commit. So he figures, why not commit crime in Riverdale where there is no protector at all?
This simple idea gets the plot moving!
We then cut to Riverdale. Veronica notices that her father is acting weird. She decides to tell Archie and the gang. They laugh her off. Why was he acting weird? What’s his part in all of this?
Veronica then goes sleuthing trying to figure the weirdness suddenly appearing in the town. It leads her to Batman and Robin. And that’s pretty much it. The ending cuts off the story at an unnatural place and it bothered me. It just had a “to be continued.” And that was the moment I realized how short that issue is. It left me unfulfilled.
Still, there’s a lot to like. The story up to that point was fun and breezy. The art by Dan Parent(with inks by the legendary J. Bone) is good as well. It just left me unsatisfied. I don’t mind wanting more after a first issue. This first chapter however just wasn’t enough.
RATING: B-
