Archie #402

A delightful splash of 1992 Riverdale chaos greets you on this cover by Stan Goldberg and Henry Scarpelli, where a giant octopus has crashed what appears to be a backyard birthday celebration — sending Archie, Betty (cake and all), Jughead, and the whole gang scrambling through fountains of water in every direction. A befuddled older gentleman in the foreground deadpans, "Believe it or not, Archie and his friends are fighting the recession… and I'm fighting depression!" — perfectly setting the tone for the aptly titled interior story, "Optimistic Octopus." It's warm, wonderfully silly Archie Comics energy at its most endearing.