You wouldn’t know this from watching the CW’s Riverdale, but the Archie Comics universe actually supports a lot of different types of stories. While the main line of series is great, some of the best work at imprint happens in their horror line. The newest addition, Vampironica, is co-written by brother/sister team Megan and Greg Smallwood and brought to eternal life by the latter. At first blush, turning young Miss Lodge into a vampire seems like a tough feat to pull off, but the Smallwoods make it look easy and this first issue is a gore-y and promising start.
A lot of the appeal here is the art, drawn and colored by co-writer Greg Smallwood, who reader probably know best from his career-best work on Jeff Lemire’s Moon Knight run. He’s a master of shades and texture. He rarely draws a thin, defined line. Everything is varying degrees of thickness and density. It’s as if the shadows come together to give shape to everything.
The color is equally dynamic. The palette is slightly dulled overall except for when we see blood. Then, the red is almost iridescent it’s so bright and it’s a clever, subtle way of heightening the issue’s more supernatural moments.
It also emphasizes just how violent the book is. The Smallwoods do not pull back when it comes to their premise and some of what happens here is shocking and brutal for any comic, let alone one under the Archie imprint. The issue begins with Ronnie killing two other vampires at a high school party and it only gets nastier from there. Still, none of it feels gratuitous and the Smallwoods are efficient and clever storytellers throughout. One of the best sequences comes when Veronica gets turned by an unnamed vampire. The action scene that follows is exciting and elegantly told, with limited dialogue and a kinetic sense of movement. Even more impressive is the way the Smallwoods establish the rules of their version of vampirism thereafter, showing us instead of telling us how easily Veronica turns and how her body changes by letting us learn with her.
However, not everything about the Smallwoods’ storytelling works. Specifically, the way they treat the other female characters besides Veronica. The first wronged woman is Cheryl, who, on the first plage, offers herself up for body shots to a bunch of sadistic jocks. The second is Betty Cooper. Though Betty and Veronica’s competition for Riverdale’s favorite son is foundational to the Archie universe, it’s unfortunate that the Smallwoods couldn’t have chosen a less conventional storyline to create personal conflict for their hero. Granted, killing Ronnie’s parents will probably have some lasting effect, but that’s still too closely linked to the vampire plot to really be its own thing.
Vampironica #1 is an undeniably good read. The art is excellent, the Smallwoods aren’t afraid of leaning into violence and the storytelling flows beautifully. Unfortunately, its stronger attributes are also what make its small imperfections so frustrating. There is a lot of potential here and it’s just the first issue. If the Smallwoods can work out the kinks, Vampironica could be great.
Rating: 8/10
Vampironica is available at comic book retailers everywhere.
Woman speaking here, I have no problem with the way Cheryl or Betty was portrayed. Betty’s scene just shows that she likes Archie the same as Veronica does, and Cheryl’s sexual adventurousness is the main thing I love about her.
Thanks for mansplaining that to me. 🙄