The wait for the new issue of Roberto Aguirre-Sacasa and Francesco Francavilla's excellent Afterife with Archie has felt like a kid wating for Christmas to come. So, It's only fitting that the stellar creative duo drop issue number eight last week with a Yultide themed issue.
Part two of the series' latest arc, Betty: RIP, finds the survivors of the Riverdale zombie outbreak taking shelter from the elements in a hotel. Archie is still reeling from how the gang handled Cheryl's violent actions from last issue, making more of an enemy out of Mr. Lodge and we get a deeper supernatural look as to the possible source of the evil that has descended on the town via a flashback/legend.
Aguirre-Sacasa takes a break from the more intense plots of earlier issues, going light on the zombie action and spending time delivering character development and important expositional details. Through it all, he demonstrates his love for the horror genre by dropping in loving homages to mainstays like The Shining, The Others, The House on Haunted Hill, and The Lottery. He uses the wonderful Shining references to frame the larger ghost story the issue is based upon.
Every page drips with the ominious atmosphere that Francavilla with which infects this book. For a book like this, the mood and tone is extremely important and he has nailed it with every new issue.
If you're not reading this book, I cannot stress how much of a must read this one is...stop sleeping and head to your local comic shop! Before it's too late!!
Joe David Thompson has been doing media reviews for websites such as Red Carpet Crash and the 405 Music Blog. For any questions or comments for Joe David Thompson, you can email him at jovid52@me.com and follow him on twitter @jovid52