From writer Alex de Campi and artist Fernando Ruiz comes the insane mash-up mini series from Darkhorse comics – Archie vs Predator. Check out our review of issue #2.
Archie and the gang head back to Riverdale, but the vicious extraterrestrial Predator is in hot pursuit! When the kids determine that Betty and Veronica are the targets, they devise a secret weapon—Jughead in drag!
Inspired by the success from the critically acclaimed Afterlife With Archie series which sees the Riverdale teens do battle with the undead comes an even more jarring experience from de Campi and Ruiz with Archie vs Predator. With the art done in the classic signature and seemingly harmless style of the original Archie series, the moments of violence come across as even more jarring and quite disturbing at times.
Issue 2 sees the group back home, after a vacation gone wrong in issue 1, in which the Predator is now in hot pursuit and out for blood. The fun starts on page 2 with the shocking and horrific death of a classic Archie character and it doesn’t stop there as not one but multiple fan favorites are killed in some of the goriest ways imaginable. You want to see that classic Predator kill where he removes your head to take as a trophy? You’ll get that and you’ll like it. There’s an interesting subplot that has the Predator seemingly fascinated with Betty and Veronica in a non-violent manner and I’m curious as to where that is eventually headed.
It’s odd how de Campi manages to work in that brand of Archie humor into such a violent issue but he pulls it off as the mini-series becomes a full fledged dark comedy. If you thought issue 1 was a little slow for your liking — issue 2 may actually come across as too much too fast. This one is action-packed and loaded with enough death that I couldn’t help but laugh at the stack of bodies that are piling up at the half-way point. Archie vs Predator is a must-buy.