Archie - a lighthearted series about the antics of an American teenage boy and his constant love-triangles. Predator - a brutally violent franchise about intergalactic hunters from space who kill humans (or aliens) for sport.
These two things don't go together, or at least you wouldn't think they should. Sure, Archie is no stranger to crossovers. He met the Punisher once in a surprisingly death-free issue. But crossing paths with a sci-fi horror icon like the Predator is an entirely different ballgame.
It's part of what makes Archie vs. Predator #1 so much fun, though. This is a crossover comic so out of left field that it's hard not to be at least intrigued by the premise. "Just how the heck are they going to pull this off?" is a natural question to ask yourself after gazing upon the cover. How can the book creators combine a story about a teenage every-boy and his high school sweethearts into a bloody fight for survival from an alien stalker?
The answer is with style. This feels like Archie, first and foremost. It's spring break for Riverdale High School, and Archie and the gang have just won a vacation to the beautiful Los Perdidos beach resort. While there, Dilton stresses out about having to finish the yearbook in a rush when they return to school, which leads to the rest of the gang to help him out by performing polls for the yearbook.
That's the setup. What follows is an Archie tale through and through. All the drama between Betty and Veronica is here. As are all your usual cast of characters from Riverdale. There is just also something...else. An invisible hunter, lurking in the distance, watching the events unfold with his signature heat-vision.
It isn't called AvP for nothing, but Archie and Predator don't exactly come to blows in this issue. The hunter keeps his distance for the first part of this four-part mini-series, though he does deliver a gruesome (and somehow humorous) end to two of the island's visitors. It's mostly funny just how oblivious Archie, Betty and Veronica all are to the invisible hunter tracking their every move, but the whole issue is filled with the usual brand of Archie humor that makes the series so endearing.
It's a little surprising to see the series abandon the tropical island setting so quickly, as the gang quickly picks up shop and heads back home. After all, Predator is most at home in the dense jungles of South America, where he can hide in the trees and lash out from the underbrush. But don't think just because Archie has left the island the Predator has been left behind.
Issue #1 feels like a setup for bigger and even more ridiculous scenarios to come and that's okay. What is here is a satisfying Archie comic with a few twists, brought to life by longtime Archie artist Fernando Ruiz and filled with humor from Alex de Campi's script. It's a fun read for Predator and Archie fans alike. At the end of the day, you can't ask for much more than that.
Archie vs. Predator #1 hits stores on April 15.
Story
★★★★☆
Art
★★★★☆
Overall
★★★★☆
More Comic Book Reviews:
Mortal Kombat #11
Batman: Arkham Knight #3
Batman #39
Be sure to follow T-Lounge on Twitter and visit our Facebook page
