Archie #641: Archie Meets Glee

Archie #641 variant cover

written by Roberto Aguirre-Sacasa; pencils by Dan Parent; inks by Rich Koslowski

I wasn’t sure what to expect when the Archie/Glee crossover was announced last summer, but I was pleasantly surprised to see how well this worked out.

Dilton, science guy, is the plot device character, of course — he’s invented a device to open portals to parallel universes. This lets him meet and talk with Brittany, who thinks he’s her “imaginary friend who lives in her locker”. This structure allows for introductions of all the various characters to someone who might know one of the properties but not another.

Archie #641 cover

In fact, much of this issue is less a story and more of an illustrated essay comparing the two casts to each other. Roberto Aguirre-Sacasa does a good job drawing parallels between Archie and Finn, Veronica and Rachel (both drama queens), Betty and Quinn (which leads to an incredibly geeky superhero reference from Dilton, who apparently reads DC comics), Reggie and Puck, and so on. Brittany, in return, thinks Dilton is another Artie.

The art fills the page attractively and gives a good sense of energy. The colors, by Digikore Studios, give the feel of a candy-coated amusement park that only temporarily resembles a high school.

Archie #641 variant cover

I did wonder when Dilton played with the Archies. Apparently he’s on rhythm guitar. Also, this story has backed up a couple of years in the Glee world — everyone’s still in high school together, allowing for the best-known show characters to better fit with the perpetual Archie teenagers. There are more parallels with the core Archie triangle if Finn is involved with both Quinn and Rachel. And I was glad to see Santana, although I would have paired her up with Veronica, because I think she could out-attitude the rich girl. Dilton compares her to Cheryl Blossom, but Santana’s got more smarts than the redhead, who’s primarily defined by her selfishness.

Those are the kinds of debates this issue provokes, so read it with another fan. This is only the setup for next issue, where the characters get intermixed and we see how they interact in the other universe. The storyline will run for a total of four parts.



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