Jughead & Friends Digest #13

BatWolverine · 10-06-2006, 10:39 AM

Jughead & his Friends Digest #13

Script & Pencils: Fernando Ruiz
Inker: Jon S'Agostino
Colorist & Production: Carlos Antunes
Letterer: Jack Morelli
Additional Production: Adam Walmsley
Editor: Nelson Ribierdo & Victor Gorelick
Editor-in-Chief: Richard Goldwater
Published by: Archie Comics

Reviewer: Batman_Wolverine

Jughead is easily, by far my all time favorite character from the Archie mythos. Not only does he manage to tread (with finesse) than fine line between loner and loser, he does it with a full belly, and say what you will about Reggie’s self-important blowdardiness or Archie’s aw-shucks attitude, there is no beating a good meal. This was the first time that I would be reading a ‘Jughead’ title, and naturally, I was looking forward to something…uh, Juggy…

…And (seemingly), there in lies the problem, for this isn’t an independent Jughead title per say, but a ‘Jughead & Friends’ one, and given its thickness/length (and even more when compared with its. ‘Archie’s Pals ‘n’ Gals’ Double Digest), I came out with not even a handful of *pure* Jughead stories, as also the lesson that the Pals/Friends add-ons signify a team-title and not one independently dedicated to the main character. What I mean to say is anyone looking for more Jughead in their Jughead title, should try the two other Jughead books out there (Jughead and Jughead’s Double Digest).

Even though this is a team title, my focus here is on the Jughead stories and by that, I mean Jugs and (at most) only one other Archie-verse character. This is even more so because trying to cover every story (especially from a ‘Digest’), in a one-page review, is just not…sane.

First in line is the one with Ethel. It starts with Jughead on the job (i.e. Ice-Cream vendor) and fretting about how the newly opened ‘big shop’ (Samm’s Super Snack Shack) has taken away all his business. Thanks to a kindly old lady and her forgetfulness, Jughead (and the reader) get/gets taken on a wilderness-adventure, one that leads him to finding a completely new, here to undiscovered niche. I could try and elucidate the moral here…I could, but seeing that it’s very early in the day and I haven’t even had my breakfast yet, my mind is just not ready to comply with that wish of mine. This is even more with me writing about an eating story without actually haven’t done myself.

Moving on and once again squashing down the rumble rising from my stomach, the second story is also one that has eatables in it. This time around, it is the fan-favorite ‘Burger’ with Reggie (and to an extent, Pops and for the last few panels, Archie) making up the guest appearances here. It is a straightforward story with…and here I go with the moral, about self-control (sort of). It is not as ‘cute’ as the Ice-Cream one, but seeing Reggie blow out fire (to go with the hot air he usually blows), makes up the difference.

The last detailing falls to the last story of the digest. More than the others, it is this one that is a good ol’ fashioned take about/with best friends, namely Jughead and Archie, and the ups and down they face with yet another of the business schemes that Archie comes up with. Suffice to say, they end up thankful that their ‘customers’ cannot climb up trees.

Along with the other Jughead, Archie, Veronica and others stories, there is also a lengthy one (four parts) about ‘That Wilkin Boy’. Bingo Wilkin is Jughead Jones’s cousin and this storyline is a about a surprise birthday party. This was my first read of Bingo, and other than the ‘just lose him’ character of Sampson Smythe; I liked this set up too.

Conclusion: Good enough, but left me with a hankering for more Jughead…and a serious food craving.

RATING: Three and a half burgers outta five.