Even though Riverdale has taken the world by storm and made sure that the name Archie Andrews has become as familiar to the Netflix generation as the Jonas Brothers, there’s something about the more traditional comic book interpretation of Archie and his friends, and nemeses, that makes me smile and feel a little better about everything whenever I read one of their many adventures and escapades.

Maybe it’s because I was a fan before Archie hit the bigtime on television or maybe it’s because I’m a little longer in the tooth and inclined toward nostalgia, but my Archie will always be the stumbling, bumbling perpetual teenager at odds with the world, Reggie and Principal Weatherbee. And in this timely collection of Halloween tales, Archie finds himself caught in the midst of a not-so mysterious haunting while playing at being a paranormal investigator and gets unglued over a Werewolf mask while Sabrina helps a friend out with a cheating problem and loses her heart in a case of mistaken identity.

Stylisitcally and artistically it’s the Archie and Sabrina we came to know and love before they popped up on screens everywhere, and the narrative has that timeless, innocent quality that makes both characters so continually endearing. Light, fluffy and pure escapist fun, the Archie Halloween Spectacular is a wonderful reminder that sometimes the funny books are the best way to forget about all of your cares and worries for an hour or two and lose your imagination, and ultimately yourself, in a much better place than the everyday world. Happy Halloween…  Tim Cundle