Archie vs. Predator #3 and #4

Writer: Alex de Campi
Penciller: Fernando Ruiz
Inker: Rich Koslowski
Colorist: Jason Millet
Letters: John Workman

Archie et al. created by Bob Montana
Predator created by Jim Thomas, John Thomas, Stan Winston

The Predator kicked off his killing spree of Riverdale's populace by disposing off its most peripheral members, then made short work of the entire cast until only a quintet composed of Archie Comics' core characters remained. In the final two issues, the pace slows down as the remaining survivors hide, take stock, make plans, or start freaking out. It's as introspective as a traditional Archie Comics publication gets. Plot logic goes out the window as the zaniness ramps up. Take Riverdale's resident science nerd/inventor Dilton Doiley. How does he deal with the prospect of being murdered by an unstoppable alien big game hunter? Turns out he's been building a high-tech Archie-themed suit of armor on school grounds all this time. So now is probably as perfect an occasion to reveal his newest creation, save what's left of the town and hopefully impress the girls.

This is all sorts of crazy, yet it's probably what would happen to anyone else if they were the only nebbish trapped in a world which revolved around a freckle-faced teenage boy and offered no other role models as viable alternatives. Just like those dystopian stories Lord of the Flies, Battle Royale, The Hunger Games, etc. which are all the rage at present, all drama is reduced to the petty rivalries of adolescence, only carried out to its bloody extreme.

The difference here is that the students of Riverdale High are decidedly more wholesome even when they have no reason to be. No one becomes too mean-spirited. No one turns on each other. Not even the vain and self-centered Veronica Lodge, who would be the first to sell out her companions to the Predator if this story took place in any other universe. She gets to have her own heroic turn when the chips are down, and eventually gives mad props to her perpetual rival Betty Cooper. As for Jughead Jones, he's a true best friend who's just way too distracted by the constant need to fill his own stomach. And main man Archie Andrews is a genuinely nice, but largely ineffectual, protagonist. Heck, even the Predator of the series is basically another insecure teenager who wants to be like Archie, through his own sociopathic means off course.

Which is pretty much what happens in its most messed up version. The Predator is the wholly exotic bad boy who rides into an insular community and proceeds to upset the status quo in the worst way possible. He tries so hard to catch the attention of the prettiest girl in school while facing down the cliquish student body. He succeeds, after a fashion, but at a personal cost so high it wrecks himself and the object of his affections. That’s just the mundane horror of life in high school school.

Archie vs. Predator #2 and Red One #2

Archie vs. Predator #2
Writer: Alex de Campi
Artist: Fernando Ruiz, Robert Hack, Stephen Downer
Inker: Rich Koslowski
Colorist: Jason Millet
Letters: John Workman

Archie et al. created by Bob Montana
Sabrina created by George Gladir and Dan DeCarlo
Predator created by Jim Thomas, John Thomas, Stan Winston

This is the part where the comic actually delivers on its promise. The Predator follows the Archie gang back to Riverdale and quickly commences with his slaughter of the town. The hilarity of the resulting bloodbath reveals the stupid brilliance of conveying the tale within the confines of the Archie Comics house style. Both the action movie tropes of the Predator franchise and the comic stylings of the Riverdale cast offset each other nicely, lampshading the ludicrousness of their respective conventions. Once the guys realize what they're dealing with, they respond not by calling in the National Guard or any other agency equipped to handle the threat. Rather, the responsible adults pass out assault rifles to gung-ho teenagers so that they can finish off the unstoppable alien killing machine themselves. There's a lot of macho grandstanding that inevitably ends in disaster. But because of the humorous manner in which these deaths are portrayed, there's something deeply satisfying about how everyone meets their end. And the story is paced so effectively that the impact of each death is often quite startling when it actually takes place.

The only part where the narrative drags a bit is an exposition-heavy middle section that connects several plot threads, primarily the incidents within the Predator films with the events that took place last issue. This sets up Betty and Veronica as the comic's main protagonists rather than the titular Archie, who mostly stays in the background at least for now. As pointed out last time, these are slightly more abrasive versions of the cast who are more willing to engage in physical violence. If there's one glaring weakness, it's that some people are obviously beneficiaries of plot armour or heroic death exemption despite the dumb choices they make here. But that's not entirely unexpected given the nature of the crossover.

Red One #2
Writer: Xavier Dorison
Pencils and Colors: Terry Dodson
Inks: Rachel Dodson
Letters: Clayton Cowles

What happens in this oversized issue is that Vera Yelnikov beats up a lot of bad guys while trying to fit into her new environment as well as settling into her new secret identity. The former is entertaining as heck, the latter is a little less so. The Dodsons staging of action sequences is slick, dynamic, and sensually charged when Vera displays her uncanny parkour and kung fu skills while attired in a form-fitting crimson jumpsuit and wielding nothing more than a hammer and sickle. Red One isn't exactly subtle. The hero's basically a liberated Soviet superwoman exacting revenge on behalf of the would-be victims against a group composed of violent, religious extremist, socially conservative, male chauvinist hicks, even if said victims are treated mostly as an afterthought. But the gorgeous visuals, which manage to compress a lot of narrative into every page, are clearly the comic's main draw.

Even the dialogue sounds less grating than in the last issue, mainly because Vera now has a verbal sparring partner in her American boss Lew Gardner. Admittedly, he's the stereotypical curmudgeon who's actually a big softie. And assuming he sticks around, it's only a matter of time before he uncovers the truth about Vera and becomes her reluctant ally. But Vera's mixture of flirtatiousness and fish out of water naïveté continues to awkwardly straddle the line between camp and social commentary. One scene has Vera and Lew attend a party which is meant to develop her credentials as a free spirit. But it doesn't really say anything new about the character, so it just comes across as gratuitous. Vera visits her first supermarket, and her amazed reaction to its bounty is too much of a well-worn cliche. Such behaviour stretches credulity that the stuffed shirts at the Kremlin are so much more hip than their Yankee counterparts that they can afford to send their most capable agent to save America from itself.

However, the biggest obstacle for readers of American comics will be the European album publishing schedule which favors lavish production values at the expense of a quick turnaround. The next installment won't be out till next spring, an awfully long time for an ongoing action story.

Archie vs. Predator #1

Writer: Alex de Campi
Penciller: Fernando Ruiz
Inker: Rich Koslowski
Colorist: Jason Millet

Archie et al. created by Bob Montana
Predator created by Jim Thomas, John Thomas, Stan Winston

Archie Comics may have a history of venturing into some really odd territory, but even by its standards a crossover with the Predator seems quite unexpected. The simple appeal of that character arises from the idea of an alien hunter searching for big game by traveling to Earth and deciding to go after humans. In the original movie, this well-armed extraterrestrial easily takes down a Delta Force unit making their way through a South American jungle. Much of its entertainment value comes from watching this group of he-men played by the likes of Arnold Schwarzenegger, Carl Weathers, and Jesse Ventura reduced to screaming like little girls while trying to escape an invisible bogeyman who's more testosterone-addled than all of them put together. Since then Dark Horse has paired the Predator against everything from the xenomorphs of the Aliens franchise to the iconic Justice League America. With a track record of such formidable opponents, what exactly does the cast from Riverdale High offer as potential prey?

Apparently, they have a lot to offer our would-be killer. The comic is drawn in the traditional house style and presented in the publisher's classic humor format. Archie Andrews and what feels like the entire Riverdale student body are spending spring break at an exotic beach resort. But while the usual  teenage hijinks occur, they're being stalked unseen by the Predator. If it weren't for this disturbing presence and one rather gory scene, the story would look like a conventional Archie comic. The beach vacation-inspired plot elements are fairly unoriginal, the humor is rather forced, and the cast's behaviour is pretty over-the-top. The boys talk and act like horny twelve year olds. And the rivalry between Betty Cooper and Veronica Lodge spills over into physical violence, which is what actually draws the Predator to them.

What exactly is it that he sees and approves of? Does he admire their fighting style? Is he attracted to their taste in clothes or horrified by it? Is he some kind of peeping tom? Does he believe targeting the two is some form of public service? Is he fed up with the Archie-Betty-Veronica love triangle? Or is he seeking a change in pace? And what's up with the emojis? Whatever the reason, it looks like a lot more people are going to die, preferably in ways both funny and appropriate for each character.