Archie Vs. Predator #1
Script by Alex de Campi
Pencils by Fernando Ruiz
Inks by Rich Koslowski
Colors by Jason Millet
Letters by John Workman
Standard Cover by Fernando Ruiz, Rich Koslowski, and Jason Millet
Variant Cover A by Eric Powell
Variant Cover B by Francesco Francavilla
Dark Horse Comics
Release Date: April 15, 2015
Cover Price: $3.99

Wow, those Predators really get around. We know from the films that they treat our world like their own personal hunting lease. We’ve seen them fight virtually everything under the sun from Batman to Aliens to Tarzan, but nothing could have prepared us for Archie Vs. Predator #1! I saw this one in the lists and just knew I had to read it. And I bet you’re curious, too!

The setting is Riverdale as our buddy Archie and his pals debate on what to do on their Spring Break. Thanks to a miraculous windfall of Jughead’s, the group gets a free trip to a beach resort. The odd ducks out here are Cheryl and Jason, who seem bent on making life difficult for the teens.

The story jumps quickly ahead to the kids arriving at the vacation hotspot and they are quickly warned to avoid the jungle at night. Through an odd entanglement of events, there is a bit of orchestrated tension between Archie’s gal pals Betty and Veronica. It is during this ruckus that antagonistic siblings Jason and Cheryl are nowhere to be found. Teasing the reader, we are given viewpoints of several scenes that encapsulate far more than the unsuspecting teens acknowledge.

Deciding that there’s no place like home, the group packs up and heads back to enjoy a few peaceful days in their quieter and more familiar environment. But all is not as it should be. You’ll notice I haven’t mentioned the Predators much, that’s because they are skulking about. A wayward side trek of Betty’s may hold the key to it all, if my guess is correct. But as this is just the first of four issues, we are left waiting and wondering. What is next for our favorite high schoolers? Where are the elusive Predators? Well, I guess we’ll see in the next issue!

Alex de Campi has done a fine job here, her writing is completely in keeping with what I would expect from a kid friendly comic…just grown up a bit. Fernando Ruiz is a long-time Archie writer and artist and really keeps that Archie Comics feel in this Dark Horse publication. His art is simple but clean, allowing the story to stand on its own merits.

Amazingly fun, though with a bit of maturity added for flavor, this comic made me chuckle and somehow even want to read the next issue. I must confess, I’m not a fan of the traditional Archie comics. But with all the Predator goodies thrown in here, I can’t resist. I’ve included a couple of the covers below, for your viewing pleasure. If you remember, we showed them to you back in January. The link is here if you somehow missed it. You really should pick this up if you are a fan of the Predator books. I think it’ll be a fun, whimsical change to the normal blood and guts Predator crossovers we are used to seeing. It’s less than four bucks and even has variant covers!

I just hope they somehow incorporate the iconic Arnold line of “You’re one ugly motherf@#ker!”