Never, in the history of working for this site, which has been about 2 1/2 years now, have I ever been this excited to review a comic book for the site because I am a huge Kiss fan. That being said, let's get down to the review, and I swear to keep it as unbiased as possible... You know I'm working hard... I'm worth a deuce (sorry).
After a protection spell goes wrong, a group of monsters (a mummy, a vampire, a frankenstein, and a wolfman, pop into the Riverdale world and decide to suck the fun out of the town. Who will stop them? Well, obviously, Kiss will stop them.
The Good
This book has an amazing sense of humor, but the jokes just aren't for kids. Let me put it this way: Any book that can reference Teen Wolf, without directly stating "this is a Teen Wolf reference. Remember that movie?" and make fun of Twilight gets an A+ in my book. That being said, although this book may seem geared towards kids, it does a great job at being humorous to all ages. This is a book you can read to your kids or little brother or sister, depending on your situation, and both you and the child can get the same amount of enjoyment out of the book. It's one of the very few times I've read an all-ages book and actually said "this truly is an all-ages book."
Believe it or not, KISS fits well into the world of Riverdale both stylistically and story wise. I was a bit worried how these characters would look in the Archie art style. They translate very well. Story wise is a bit more of a stretch though. It's a tad harder to figure out a way to get these monsters of rock into this world, but we've seen many bizarre ARCHIE cross-overs before (Punisher), so KISS isn't too farfetched. The way they enter the world of Riverdale is simple and works fine for me.
I really enjoyed the story. It's simple and effective. The monsters want to drain Riverdale of personality and fun, and KISS is there to stop them. You can read it to the kids and not have to spend an hour and a
half explaining the plot. As an adult, it's just nice to have a simple and fun story right in front of you because at times, we can all feel a bit bogged down by 16-issue story arcs with hundreds of tie-ins.
The Bad
If you're looking for a complex story, you've got the wrong book. However, this is an ARCHIE book. You know what you are going to get when you pick this title up.
The Verdict
This is the first time I've reviewed an all-ages book or a book geared more towards children. As an adult, I can tell you I truly enjoyed everything about this issue. Yes, I'm a huge KISS fan, but all of that aside, the issue was a ton of fun and kept me smiling from the first to last page. It has a great sense of humor that kids and adults will enjoy. The band KISS seems to fit well in to the world of Riverdale both story wise and stylistically. The story was simple, but a lot of fun at the same time. The only real downside is that if you are looking for something a bit more complex, then this book is not for you. It's the most fun I've had with a comic in quite some time, and even if you're not a KISS fan, you'll still love this issue of ARCHIE. I highly recommend this issue.