Afterlife with Archie #7

Francesco Francavilla's cover for this 2015 issue sets an unsettling tone immediately: Archie, still wearing his familiar Riverdale letterman jacket, crouches warily among what appear to be enormous skeletal remains, a massive dark looming presence rising behind him against a burnt-orange sky. The image strips away every ounce of small-town comfort and replaces it with creeping dread — Archie looks like someone who has wandered far beyond anything Riverdale ever prepared him for. With Roberto Aguirre-Sacasa continuing "Betty: R.I.P." and Francavilla handling every visual element inside as well, this is horror comics craftsmanship firing on all cylinders.