Comics Review: World of Betty and Veronica Jumbo Comics #21

“The Official Comic Book of Christmas,” is proudly proclaimed on the cover.  I agree.  I usually try to read my Archie Christmas comics with the season.  This year I mostly failed at doing any traditional rituals and nearly didn’t bother Christmas shopping.  Actually if it weren’t for a $500 bonus for my 20-th anniversary at work, I might not have done it.  The bonus was in the form of the use of a company credit card, so I had to spend it.  I purchased a new mattress which was overdue by . . . a very long time.  I spent the remainder on gifts for people at work, but I picked up this Archie digest for myself.

 

I’d seen this particular comic solicited online and was interested in it.  I’d gone to Barnes & Noble earlier in the week and didn’t find it on the rack, which put me in poor Christmas mood.  (I didn’t buy anything at the mall that day.)  It was there a couple of days later and Christmas was saved and I was filled with a generous spirit.  (Also, it was the day before Christmas Eve and I was kind of forced to start buying presents or start thinking up excuses.)

 

Cutting to the chase, unlike the last time I bought an Archie digest, I enjoyed this one and have no regrets over the purchase.  Christmas is right in Archie’s wheelhouse.  A while back I used the code on the inside of the cover of a digest for a free comic and I’ve been receiving them off-and-on for months.  In December, I not only got a monthly one, but a six-part Holiday Hijinks series every day leading up to Christmas.  The monthly one haven’t been great, but the Christmas series was a lot of fun.

There were three new stories to start the digest.  The first was a Betty and Veronica story by Dan Parent.  The next two were superhero stories.  Neither were Christmas-themed, so they were a little odd in the book.  Also, these were just played for laughs.

 

I looked up the characters, Captain Flag and Darkling, and they are old MLJ (Archie Comics original name) heroes from the 40’s.  This time, they are firmly in the Archie setting, interacting with Betty and Archie respectively.  In the solicitations, some more old heroes are being resurrected in other digests, so this is part of a concerted tryout effort.  They’re also putting out a Bob Phantom comic that’s more serious, but still in the Archie universe. 

 

I liked the stories here, but I also don’t quite know what to make of them.  Maybe they’ll produce more of these humorous superhero stories, though I don’t know where or how.  Archie publishes five digests regularly with very limited new material in four of them and a smattering of new floppies.  (My Barnes & Noble doesn’t carry the Showcase digest, the one I really like to get on a regular basis.)     

I thought the next story was also new, but I think it’s actually a recent reprint.  Would it be an Archie Christmas without a Jingles the Elf story?  Anyway, it’s cute.  Jingles was definitely a great addition to the Archie cast for the season (along with the Sugarplum Fairy).  He’s been around since the 60’s.

 

Next are a couple more Christmas stories featuring the girls (Betty and Veronica).  There’s a young (animated) Sabrina story.  It’s not set during Christmas, but is superhero-related in content.  It might be a winter story from the backgrounds.  It’s okay.  I wonder if they’ve lost the rights to all of the Sabrina stories featuring Melissa Joan Hart’s TV Sabrina, because I never see them reprinted.  However, the animated Sabrina was still produced by Hart’s company.   

A lot of the stories in the middle are not Christmas-themed or even set in winter.  There is a funny story at a ski lodge with some great physical humor as Veronica tries to upstage Betty.  Then there’s the pictured story above, where the girls try to seduce Dilton for a contest.  Let the ‘shipping begin.  (You know, he wouldn’t be a bad match for Veronica.  Dilton is surely going to be scientific mogul someday.)   

There is a long four-part Christmas story that is the centerpiece of the digest.  It’s sort of about Reggie and Jughead having a fight, but trying to be nice to each other in front of some kids.  I liked this oversized panel, though I’m not sure why there’s clowns at the kids’ Christmas party rather than Santa and some elves.    

Here’s a couple of other panels I liked.  It’s not my fault Betty was looking good in this digest.  Meanwhile, Veronica is in an odd story where Archie is working as a security guard, while his partner is chasing Veronica around a closed shopping mall.  In another story, Ronnie tries to keep Archie and Betty apart at Christmas, but ends up bringing them together.  It still works out for her.

 

Cheryl Blossom tries to join the Spice . . . err . . . Sugar Girls.  This was by Holly G!  I really like the stuff I’ve seen from her.  A couple other B&V Christmas stories finish off the volume. 

 

What can I say?  I don’t have many Christmas traditions and skipped nearly all of them this year, but I did take the time to read this digest and my favorite Archie comic (Betty & Veronica Spectacular #86).  They made me feel a little warmer towards the season.