Archie Meets Batman ’66 #4
Michael Moreci (Writer), Jeff Parker (Writer), Dan Parent (Artist), J. Bone (Artist), Kelly Fitzpatrick (Colours), Jack Morelli (Letters)
Archie Comics and DC Entertainment
31 October, 2018
Jughead Jones has been captured by the Joker, who plans to brainwash the hapless youth. The Gotham villains had hoped to use the Siren’s song to control Riverdale, but the town’s teenagers proved to be immune. The Joker gives Jughead two options: enjoy Pop Tate’s delicious burgers in order to join the Clown Prince of Crime, or have his brain turned to mulch by the villain’s annoying, and loud, toy monkey. What ever will Jughead do?
Meanwhile, Dick Grayson and Barbara Gordon’s attempts to mingle with the Riverdale High crowd to glean more information about villainous affairs in the town meets an unexpected hurdle. The school’s teenage boys are all in the thrall of a new teacher, the mysterious Ms Kitka. But Dick and Barbara aren’t fooled by the false name. They realise that the teacher is none other than Catwoman! Can Robin and Batgirl foil Catwoman’s plan?
Not so far away, Bruce Wayne ditches his Batman garb to attend Hiram Lodge’s country club party. Bruce merely hopes to discover more about the weird goings-on in Riverdale, but what he finds is so much worse!
After two fairly dull issues where very little happened, this book is surprisingly exciting and action-packed. We get a good long fight scene between Batgirl, Robin, and a whole bunch of goons, accompanied by the fighting effects we so love from the Batman 1966 TV show. We even get the spinning-wheel Batgirl and Robin logos, which is such a recognisable throwback to the show.
I love the villains’ crazy antics to control the younger population. The page where Joker tries to brainwash Jughead is a psychedelic trip, complete with myriad colours and imagery. And Catwoman trying to seduce her students is just the kind of thing I would expect her to do. Of course, why are we surprised that the boys of Riverdale High fall for the attractive teacher? That is so typical of them!
I finally feel like most of the characters were given their due here. We get to see a number of Archie Comics characters, even Chuck Clayton, Kevin Keller, and Dilton Doiley, who have not appeared much in the series. It’s unfortunate the only female characters we have spent any time with in this series are Betty and Veronica. Archie Comics has a whole host of girls—Midge, Ethel, and Josie and the Pussycats—and it would have been great to have more female representation in the series.
I’m still frustrated by the fact that it’s taken four issues to get Batman to Riverdale. He has spent the past three books, out of six, chasing after Bookworm and Footnote, a plotline that seems to have no bearing on the Gotham villains taking over Riverdale. Why sideline Batman, of all characters, in this mini-series? I could have forgiven this move if Dick and Barbara had been given more to do at Riverdale High, but barring a handful of panels, the Gotham heroes have had barely any interaction with their new setting.
The Batman characters finally get their due in this book, though in unexpected ways. This series has hinged on Dick and Barbara integrating into Riverdale High, but they really come into their own when they don their superhero mantles. It’s the most characterisation we have seen for them in the entire series.
The opposite is true for Batman. He has almost exclusively been Batman for the past three issues, and we have learnt nothing about him. Batman has seemed almost two-dimensional, in fact. In this book, when he sheds the Bat-suit for Bruce Wayne, we see his detective skills and personality finally come to the fore. It is as welcome as it is unexpected.
The art is once again top-notch. Dan Parent and J. Bone more than do justice to the Archie characters, though the Batman ‘66 characters still look quite unlike their television counterparts. Fortunately, the characters’ distinctive colour-schemes help differentiate them. Kelly Fitzpatrick’s colours are vivid and bright. She really knows how to draw you into the universe with her colour palette. She has been consistently brilliant in the series and, once the series ends, it will be her colours I will miss most.
I am genuinely excited about the final issues, which is not something I expected to feel after the plodding plots of the past few issues. This book ends on a cliffhanger that should lead into an excellent denouement. To find out what happens next, tune in same Bat-time, same Bat-channel next month for another exciting chapter!
