Archie has started writing a “Weird Mysteries” newspaper column and suddenly really weird things start happening to him! Archie and the gang, with the help of the mysterious Dr. Beaumont, are solving mysteries involving vampires, werewolves, Bigfoot, and more. This collection of comics, which continues from a short-lived television show, starts with “Shriek”, in which Betty is suddenly haunted by a ghost from one of her favorite scary movies. Then, Archie and his friends channel the Scooby-Doo gang and goes to Paranormal Investigation Camp in “A Familiar Old Haunt”. Things get hairy (pun intended) during “Bigfoot on Campus” and the gang make some new strange friends in “U.F.O. Uh-oh!”. This volume continues the story of “The Scarlet Chronicles”, which was originally one of the TV show’s story lines.
I have been an Archie fan for as long as I can remember, forcing my mom to buy me volumes of “Betty and Veronica” in the check out line at the grocery store. This may be partly due to nostalgia, but I loved reading Archie’s Weird Mysteries. This volume is silly, campy, and fun, in keeping with the Archie tradition. There are puns and goofy jokes, as well as the usual over-the-top characters. Archie can’t keep his tongue from lolling out when he sees a pretty girl and Jughead will eat anything, including “Gooby Snax”. I particularly liked “A Familiar Old Haunt”, which poked fun at “Scooby-Doo”, and “The Scarlet Chronicles”. I have never seen the TV show, but that story did an excellent job of catching me up on what I had missed before jumping into the new story. My favorite part of this graphic novel was the ending. Scarlet gives the readers a “guide to Fighting Vampires”, that is hilariously silly.
Archie’s Weird Mysteries is just plain fun. The art is similar to all the Archie comics, with Archie’s cross-hatched hair and the bright colors. The use of action lines is great and make the different panels come to life. There is a lot of action on every page, making them look very busy, but not in such a way that I got confused as to what was going on. Each story is, like I said, campy fun. This collection is guaranteed to make you giggle.
Archie’s Weird Mysteries
by Paul Castiglia
Art by Fernando Ruiz
ISBN: 978187979474
Archie Comics, 2011
Publisher Age Rating: 11+
