Anne's Reviews > Afterlife with Archie, Vol. 1: Escape from Riverdale

I was honestly not interested in some sort of schlocky Zombies in Riverdale story. When I first heard of this one it just sounded like some corny cash grab that was trying to ride the coattails of The Walking Dead...and the other 10 bjillion zombie stories out there.



But surprisingly, Afterlife managed to make it worthwhile for me to read one more story about the living dead. The first thing they did right was to utilize Riverdale's paranormal neighbor, Sabrina, as the catalyst of the infestation.
Jughead's beloved pet Hot Dog gets hit by a car and dies. Overcome with grief, he turns to Sabrina and begs her to bring him back. Her aunts tell both of them no - some things are just not done.



But after thinking about how she would feel if it were her & Salem, Sabrina decides to sneak out of the house and help Jughead anyway. Of course, her aunts were right, and it does not end well. And this is how the zombie plague starts. <--very cool!



Sabrina ends up getting banished for her crime, so she isn't (as far as I know) aware of what happened...yet. I'm assuming we'll find out more of her story in volume 2.
Ok, and just so you don't think I'm spoiling the plot for you, all of the above happens in the first few pages!



The rest of the story is about the core group of Archie's friends and family realizing what happened, and then trying to survive.



Maybe even freakier than the horde of zombies, the Blossoms show up and make a cringy appearance as the perviest related residents in Riverdale.



There were several stand-out moments in Afterlife that really sucker punched me in the Feels. I don't want to ruin it for anyone who hasn't read this yet, so don't click the spoiler tag if you haven't!
(view spoiler)[Archie and his father? Brutal! But honestly, the scene with his dog was just heartbreaking! The way he sacrificed himself for Archie? Fuuuuck!
PS - upon re-reading this years later, I can't believe I cried in the same spot. I thought it was just because I was feeling hormonal until I looked back on this old review. But no.
Apparently, I'm just as sappy now as I was then.



(hide spoiler)] I swear to god, I'm tearing up right now.
Yes. Over an ARCHIE comic about ZOMBIES. <--I don't even... How did they pull that off?!



This was so much better than I thought it would be! Loved it!
But.
I have no idea if it would be that good for someone who wasn't an Archie fan. For me, part of the fun was that the Riverdale in my childhood memory was always this perfect place, and this comic takes that memory and tosses it into an apocalyptic/horror setting.
Now, I'm not sure if that will make everyone happy, but I enjoyed the hell out of it.
Recommended.