Josie And The Pussycats Anniversary Special

My Rating

“Rock Cats”

T minus 3…2…1… Blastoff! It’s a historical day as Josie and the Pussycats are the first rock band to play a concert in Earth’s orbit. Ground control to Major Melody, we have an issue! There seems to be some pesky Blips waging war on the rocket’s wiring…literally.

Will the Pussycats get to Rock N Roll all night and party every space day? Who can stop the Blips from turning this mission critical? Is that a Martian?

“A Gym Dandy”

It’s gym day at Riverdale High School but the boys don’t want to break a sweat. They will once they realize the girls don’t like the flab. Come on Albert, Josie is serious about getting in shape. Maybe she can use Alexander to get her point across. Jealous much, Albert? Cue the Jaguar E-Type roadster!

“Only The Strong Survive”

Pepper Smith had one goal. It was so simple, why can’t Melody not see she needs to be an independent woman. Let’s go camping! Wait, why are the boys always wanting to help? No, no, no Melody you need to learn to take care of yourself! Time to set up camp! Pepper just hopes this is a boy-less State Park.

“The Ghostly Guardian”

The Cabots have gone and done it again. They bought an old hideaway manor house on the cliffs of Maine. Amazing ocean side view? Yeah, right… maybe for the ghosts of a dead pirate ship. Welcome Josie and the Pussycats. You have just arrived at creep central. Alexander and Alexandra hope you brought your swimming trunks, because it’s a deadman’s party!

Reviewer Notes

It took me a while but I finally cracked open Josie and the Pussycats Anniversary Special. Damn, they still look good even if they’re all sixty years old. Hint, hint, this is their 60th one-shot.

To be honest, I’m not a fan of the digital coloring of most of the main Archie covers. I personally think it cheapens the line art. They got Dan Parent to draw the Anniversary Special but hand it over to some grade schooler with what looks like Microsoft Paint to finish things off. I really wish Archie Comics would return to the classic cover art.

With that said, the inside pages are what fans come to expect in the main Archie universe. We get two new stories with the girls, and two classics. All four are really entertaining, but my favorite was the haunted house one at the end of the book. Talk about Goonies before there was Goonies. Too bad the editor didn’t reference the vintage stories. Usually they add those to each title page.

If you’re a fan of the Pussycats you definitely want this one in your collection. Melody will make sure the boys get it no matter what. For me she charmed me into a four out of five star review. I hope the Pussycats make a return sooner than later.