Book-Thirsty Thursday: Jughead: The Hunger, Frank Tieri
Archie Comics’ latest supernatural ongoing series, Jughead: The Hunger, dropped its first issue this week, but it’s not a howling good time yet.
At this point, it’s probably obvious that this reviewer enjoys her Archie Horror comics. Should you follow Archie Comics itself on Twitter, you’ve probably seen ads for the latest spooky comic, Jughead: The Hunger. It is not, however, not from Archie Horror itself — it’s instead from Archie’s Madhouse.
However, the first issue has some promise, but we wouldn’t quite call it “mad” just yet. Perhaps things will ramp up a bit more in the second, but so far, werewolf Jughead isn’t the biggest draw there is.
It also doesn’t help that the first issue really seems to require you to have read the original special comic of the same name. That’s more than a little confusing and might turn off some readers who are just expecting a new series. It does, however, appear that this problem is mostly limited to the digital edition, where the credits and the “previously” section do not appear until after you’ve read the entire issue.
Credit where credit is due, though: Pat & Tim Kennedy’s art grows on you. It’s a bit more modern-feeling than the horror comics, though not directly like art from Mark Waid’s run on things like the regular Jughead, either. There are some particularly striking panels towards the end, which complement the cliffhanger nicely, but the first few pages themselves jump around a bit (again, they’re in need of the context that the digital issue doesn’t provide at the beginning).
Additionally, this comic just so happens to feature, and I’m drawing directly from Archie Comics’ description here, “Betty Cooper: Werewolf Hunter.” She appears briefly in this issue, mostly pointing out that her hunting partner, Archie, needs some serious seasoning, and just by virtue of deserving those capital letters, is ultimately a character that could use a little more page time going forward.
(As an aside, Archie Comics, if anyone there is listening: Betty Cooper: Werewolf Hunter just made a home for itself high on the list of comics that don’t exist that I’d read. I know that the upcoming Vixens is high on the priority list, but still, I’d read it.)
Even with these context issues, the first issue of Jughead: The Hunger still manages to work in some clever lines and twists that make for a fairly engaging story. The dialogue is mostly good, save for some mild problems with the hunter who arrives to help Archie out with said seasoning.
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It’s nearly impossible to judge an entire series just on its very first issue, appropriately released the week before Halloween (since Halloween’s on a Tuesday and new comics for Archie drop on Wednesdays…you get the point). For some, this first offering might be just the hook they’re looking for. For others, and this writer’s included in that category for sure, it’s more of a “wait and see” approach at this point, but there are some positives that make that waiting and seeing worth it.