You’d be forgiven for opening Archie vs Minor Threats #3 and being confused at seeing Frankie Follis, aka Playtime, drawn in the classic Archie style and talking about problems Archie Andrews would be dealing with. “Wait,” I can hear you saying. “Wasn’t this supposed to be a story about Archie crashing into the world of Minor Threats?” It still is, only this time the script is flipped thanks to the mystical Five Fingers of Merlin. While Frankie and the rest of the Minor Threats characters are acting out the typical Archie comic, Archie and his friends have become supervillains – or in one character’s case, a supervillain.
This allows the creative team of Jordan Blum, Patton Oswalt, Timmy Heague, and Scott Koblish to run wild with their imaginations, as they retrofit certain characters based on the world they’re in. Crab Louie from The Alternates is transformed from an anthropomorphic lobster to a buff kid in a lobster suit. Ditto Shiteater from Barfly, who’s now a pint-sized, sticky fingered kid with a taste for ’50s era fashion. On the other hand, Archie has become a pyrokinetic bearing the appropriately punny name of “Gingersnap.”
These switcheroos aren’t just a fun thought experiment. They also serve as a way to explore the hidden desires of our cast of characters. Frankie finally has a shot at an everyday life, while Archie has the kind of power to stand out among his peers. Blum, Oswalt, and Heague wring some intense emotions out of these moments in true Minor Threats fashion, making sure the decisions each character makes have actual weight.
It also doesn’t hurt that Scott Koblish has the chance to redesign each character to fit their new world. Take Shiteater, who’s now named “Bughead”; he still keeps his signature leather jacket, but now sports a pair of massive shades that resemble a bug’s eyes. Archie as Gingersnap has the overwrought flare of an early Image hero – quite literally, as his hair and hands are always on fire. My favorite moment has to be Jughead as “Black Hole”, who resembles Dr. Manhattan from Watchmen but with a massive black hole where his stomach used to be. It’s a clever way to homage a classic comic and Jughead’s seemingly empty stomach!
Dark Horse/Archie
Archie vs. Minor Threats #3 stumbles a bit with a subplot involving Monster Mary from The Alternates, whose ostracism from society leads to another major upheaval. This feels like it belongs in another Minor Threats comic, and there’s already enough on this series’ plate with Frankie and Archie having to deal with their words being flipped upside down. To the creative team’s credit, they do manage to slip in visual references to Archie’s beloved horror series, which should make for an intriguing finale.
Archie vs. Minor Threats #3 doesn’t just flip the worlds of its respective characters, but also uses those mashups to explore profound truths about said characters. It’s that kind of approach that makes it stand apart from the other crossovers released this year, and I hope the creative team brings that same energy to the final issue.
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