AFTERLIFE WITH ARCHIE #3: The Apocalypse Continues!

I finished reading AFTERLIFE WITH ARCHIE #3 -- written by Roberto Aguirre-Sacasa and penciled by Francesco Francavilla -- last night. This series tells the story of the end of the world starting in Riverdale USA. Here's the background: Reggie secretly killed Hot Dog with his car. A distraught Jughead sought the misguided help of the teenage witch Sabrina. Hot Dog came back from the dead and bit Juggie. Jughead became sick, died, and came back from the dead. Not only that, but Juggie  attacked the Halloween dance, infecting tons of students and teachers who are now infecting their friends and families. Last issue ended with most of the Riverdale Gang hiding out at Lodge Mansion, while Nancy and Ginger discuss their relationship woes at Pop Tate's Diner under the shadow of Jughead's undead father!

We learned pretty early in this issue that Lodge Mansion might indeed be one of the most secure locations in Riverdale. Everywhere else seems to be overwhelmed by Jughead's zombie minions, but the Gang appear to be protected to Mr. Lodge's butler and security devises and have plenty of time to check out the library or take a break for a impromptu swim party! Of course, nothing lasts forever. We were warned last issue that one of the Gang got infected at the dance. Which one was it?? I predicted Moose or Betty. Turns out I was wrong. It was the girl who hadn't yet had the opportunity to say much more than two sentences: Midge! That transformation didn't work out for a certain jealous boyfriend!:


Meanwhile, Archie sneaks away from Lodge Mansion to make sure his parents are okay. He finds much of Riverdale in flames and the town in chaos. One thing that was cool was a reference to his newly introduced dog, Vegas! It was unclear from the next panel if Vegas became revealed as yet another zombie or if Archie finds himself in a confrontation with Zombie Hot Dog. I'm thinking it's the latter:


Lastly, Ginger Lopez and Nancy Woods have quickly become two of the coolest girls in Riverdale. It happened off-panel, but they managed to single-handedly take out undead versions of Pop Tate and Mr. Jones, burn down Pop Tate's Diner, and then ride off into the moonlight on a hotwired motorcycle! Pretty cool!:


I've been keeping an undead tally over the past few issues. AFTERLIFE WITH ARCHIE #3 revealed the deaths of Midge, Moose, Pop Tate, and Mayor Martinez (Frankie Martinez's mother). It also hinted at the possible death of Archie's dog, Vegas.

There were no cliffhanger teases at the end of this issue. We're left wondering if any of the other kids are infected or otherwise unsafe within Lodge Mansion. We're left wondering if Ginger and Nancy will protect their families from harm or if they'll choose to escape from Riverdale. And we're left wondering if Archie will survive his encounter with a canine ghoul. Should be interesting!