The wholesomeness of Archie Comics’ Riverdale and the (hilarious) crudity of the View Askewniverse come together and are a match made in Heaven in Archie Meets Jay & Silent Bob. Set after the event of Clerks III, Kevin Smith, Fernando Ruiz, Rich Koslowski, and Matt Herms make Archie Andrews the newest Quick Stop clerk after Dante’s passing. Archie immediately brings the drama and love triangles of Riverdale to Red Bank, New Jersey while Jay and Silent Bob bring the (legal) weed and good times with everything crossing over in a massive Josie and the Pussycats concert. Full of callbacks to both properties, stoner comedy hijinks, unexpected pairings, and pop culture references, Archie Meets Jay & Silent Bob is laugh out loud funny and a successful intercompany crossover. (You actually get to kind of sort of see what would happen if Jay and Silent Bob sold weed to the kids in Shermer, Illinois.)
Archie Meets Jay & Silent Bob works as a comic because both universes are similar: slice of life mundanity, but with the occasional heightened moment that takes it into genre territory. Archie Comics are mostly about a teenager deciding what girl to date, but there’s also magic and superpowers going on while the View Askewniverse has angels, God that looks a lot like Alanis Morrisette, and all the weird stuff that goes down in the Jay and Silent Bob duology. But the films set in that universe also tackle mortality, bisexuality, and the shittiness of working a retail job. Both universes are colorful and memorable in their own ways, which makes them both a perfect fit for comics where characters can pull facial expression that would destroy the career of both actor on this side of Jim Carrey.
I love how Smith slowly introduces the more PG-13/R-rated elements of the View Askewniverse world into the comic before setting off Jay like a foul mouthed fire cracker and running for cover while Archie Andrews tries to process the comedic stylings of Jason Mewes’ pencil and ink avatar. He and Ruiz also make fun, little connections between both universes like connecting Jughead to Alyssa Jones from Chasing Amy, which is even funnier if you remember Ewell in that movie talking about Jughead and Archie being gay lovers. Some of the plot points and moments seem self-indulgent and like Kevin Smith recycling his greatest hits, but adding the Archie elements makes them feel fresh and new like a Veronica Lodge-infused take on another Veronica bringing a Quick Stop clerk lasagna. The View Askew characters might be quirky, but there is an earthiness compared to the walking superlatives that are the Archie characters. But Josie and the Pussycats brings them all together, and gives Smith and Fernando Ruiz a chance to riff on big, expensive contemporary concert tours.
One underrated thing about Archie Meets Jay & Silent Bob is how much of a fit the classic Archie house style works for the View Askewniverse characters courtesy of Fernando Ruiz, Koslowski, and Herms whose flat colors make everything pop up from weed smoke clouds to stage lights and Blockchain and Elias’ makeup. (I love that Randal compares Elias to Chappell Roan and wonder what his favorite track is.) Cartoony not realistic is the best approach to these characters, and that’s what Jim Mahfood and Phil Hester did in their View Askew comics. The transition from the “alternative” stylings of Mahfood and Hester to the power pop of Ruiz also mirrors Kevin Smith the artist’s transition from indie filmmaker to nerd-friendly promoter, who still makes indie films. Also, the freckles, cross hatching, and wholesome color palette of Archie softens some of the dirtier jokes while making them even funnier because that’s Archie from the supermarket shelf digests wandering in a haze of smoke at the store formerly known as RST Video, or Jay is getting outsmoked by Riverdale’s own drug dealer and freaking out at the Josie and the Pussycats concert. The Archie house style is versatile for big gestures and slapstick moments, and there’s plenty of that in the book. There’s also a denseness to the humor in Ruiz and Rich Koslowski’s line art in Archie Meets Jay & Silent Bob , and I definitely want to go back and check out all the background references I missed the first time.
Archie Meets Jay & Silent Bob brings big laughs and utter chaos that are much needed in these bleak times. Reading this book is like having a milkshake and/or a blunt with your strangest friends that you have the most amazing times with, and there’s a lot of heart beneath the clever jokes and f-bombs.
Story: Kevin Smith Art: Fernando Ruiz
Inks: Rich Koslowski Colors: Matt Herms Letters: Jack Morelli
Story: 9.3 Art: 9.1 Overall: 9.2 Recommendation: Buy
Archie Comics provided Graphic Policy with a FREE copy for review
Purchase: Zeus Comics – Kindle
