Story Synopsis: Archie: 1941
Archie and the Riverdale gang live through the day which will live in infamy in this week’s Comic Rewind, Archie: 1941.
Archie and his friends graduated in spring of 1941. The world was their oyster and the sky was the limit for these young go-getters. However, the teens didn’t quite know what they wanted to do with their lives. This was especially true for Archie. He wandered around Riverdale aimless and hated himself for not being productive.
However, this all changed and the entire United States changed one day in early December. On December 7, 1941, Japanese forces bombed Pearl Harbor and brought the US into World War II.
The gang tried to enlist and some were medically denied, some were forbidden and some were sent to the frontlines. See how Archie and Reggie fared being sent to the frontlines in North Africa and what life was like for those left in Riverdale.
Archie: 1941 was written by Brian Augustyn and Mark Waid with art by Kelly Fitzpatrick, Peter Krause and Jack Morelli. The volume was published in 2019 by Archie Comics.
Archie Enters The Fight
It has been a very long time since I’ve read an Archie comic so I decided to dip back in. This particular comic sparked my interest because I am a big history buff and World War II is a very interesting time.
However, I found this comic a little boring. It was lacking the heart of Archie comics. There wasn’t much humor or fun to the comic. We didn’t get to see true friendship being displayed or camaraderie. Archie and Reggie became friends, but we didn’t see that friendship develop. However, we did see a touching moment with Betty and Veronica which was probably the highlight of the volume.
Lacks The Fun Of Archie But Has The Historical Facts
The volume went for a more realistic approach. I don’t have a problem with “what if Archie went into World War II” which I think was the plan. However, they failed to tap into the drama of the war and failed to have the heart of Archie comics.
I think a big part of why this volume failed was because it wasn’t long enough. A three volume series which really explored the war and what America was going through at the time could have been really good. Sharing a bit of history to comic fans could have been a beneficial thing. Everything was really rushed and glossed over.
However, one thing I did like was historically accurate things which the comic did show. Everyone thinks of the war being in Europe and Japan, but early on North Africa was a battlefield and the comic also showed gas and food rationing.
They did a good job with the comic, but everything was so rushed that it failed to hit their goal. If the story was broken up into multiple volumes it would have been much better.
Rating:
2.5/5
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