Has anyone else read Volume 7 of the fanzine 'Lurid Little Nightmare Makers'? I've only just come across it on Ebay, but it was published in December 2016 by Boardman books. It celebrates Archie at 75 and (amongst other, non-Archie things) includes:

• an article on Archie's creation by Shaun Clancy
• an interview with Dan Parent and a portfolio of his work
• 81 Archie covers over the years
• an article about whether Archie and Veronica had sex in the 1980s
• a portfolio of Archie artwork as collected by Clancy

The article about Archie's creation is likely to be contentious, but Clancy lays out all the evidence he could find and it's well worth a read

Caught up with this issue last night and enjoyed it a great deal. It captures some of the humour of the original She's Josie series as well as the fourth-wall breaking antics of the mid Sixties. Though there is a cliff-hanger ending which continues into the next issue, this is largely a self contained story about character. Melody is cute, Valerie is serious and Josie is learning. Audrey Mok's artwork reminds me of John Byrne's, but not in any bad way. I know this isn't selling very well, but that's a shame because there's a lot of love being put into this and it could appeal to a broad audience

My expectations were mixed when I ordered this. I expected it to look good, but I had no experience of Adam Hughes as a writer. I didn't really expect to find it satisfying, given Mark Waid's comments that Betty and Veronica wouldn't be friends in the 'new Archie'.

I was very pleasantly surprised therefore, to enjoy this a great deal.

The artwork is not as 'realistic' as you might expect - there's a Kyle Baker vibe to my eyes. It's clearly comedic, so while not the classic Archie style, it's not that far removed from it.

The writing style is also comedic, with drama there to provide the context for the humour rather than the humour being dropped occasionally into the drama. The plot about Pop's closing is one that's been used many times in the past, so this feels familiar and the characters are the ones we recognise - Veronica sunning herself while Betty works, Archie and Jughead larking about and joking, Midge and Moose drinking sodas at Pop's.

So I'm encouraged. Betty and Veronica are clearly friends at the start of the story and Archie, Betty, Jughead, Midge, Moose and Veronica are clearly all comfortable in each others company.

Betty's quickness to violence will be something to keep an eye on, but in theory it's all in keeping with the slapstick nature of classic Archie (if you go back far enough) and may be foreshadowing how the argument develops over the next couple of issues.

For me, this is best of the 'new' Archie so far. It retains the heart and humour of the characters and Riverdale while offering a different look and feel, a different approach to the storytelling. I'll be even happier if Betty and Veronica are friends again at the end of issue three.