(Interestingly, my own household Luddite Husband Mark somehow got hooked on the game, which would be comical if he didn't spend so much time stealing my iPad from me!)
It's with this in mind that I began reading the lead story in B&V FRIENDS COMICS DOUBLE DIGEST #242! It's a great little story that starts out with Betty and Veronica, but actually features one of the Riverdale "New Kids," a goth girl named Shrill.
Shrill runs across our title characters playing an online game called Candy Craze. Veronica is fuming because she's stuck on Level 362. She's just about to plunk some money into the game in order to move onto the next level (something my son would disparagingly call a "Pay to Play Move"), when Shrill shows some curiosity about their joint preoccupation.
It only took her moments to become addicted to this game. That's how true to life this story is!
What happens when one of Riverdale's darkest girls gets hooked on one of America's most colorful, saccharine-laced video games?? What will it take for Shrill to hit rock bottom??
I've been a big fan of these new lead stories in the digests. Not only does it give me motivation to pick up the digests, which are otherwise filled with reprint stories. But they have done a really good job of spotlighting various minor characters who've otherwise faded into the background in recent years, like Shrill and the other "New Kids." Now if we could only get slightly longer short stories!! *hint hint*
"Candy Craze" is written by Tana Del Rio, penciled by Dan Parent, inked by Jim Amash, lettered by Jack Morelli, and colored by Colortek, Inc.