This reminded me more of the movie than the cartoon show, which I think is a good thing. I liked the cartoon for what it was, but it's a little dated. Even the movie can be a little dated now too. I still liked both, so I decided to get this comic book and was't disappointed. I would say this book is more for teenagers than kids though. Just be warned, there are a lot of puns and pop cultural references. You don't get too much character development, some, but not enough.

NOTE: This has a preview for Jughead's comic which, to me, looks like something I'd like to read too. ( )

I am not a big reader or fan of the Archie universe, but I picked up this book because the storyline was written by Marguerite Bennett, who worked on the DC Comics alt-history series DC Bombshells. I love DC Bombshells series, so naturally I thought I would like this one too.

Er, no. This was a bit of a slog to get through due to the Josie character. What a vapid dumbass! According to the comics history, Melody is supposed to play up the part of a vapid dumbass, but Melody was much smarter and hilarious. Josie however is the type of character that is perpetually 12 years old brat - impulsive, careless, and easily distracted by shiny objects. Val is always having to parent Josie and teach her the value of the lesson Josie is currently learning but will forget in the next issue. It got old real quick. Josie wants fame and money, but is the least talented of the trio - the desperation is dripping off her character and kept me from rooting for her or the band. I wanted more band time - in the studio, on tour, writing songs, etc. Instead we get this sad sack of a romance between Josie and their manager - a storyline ripped from old VH1's Behind the Music. Val and Melody are better off dropping the "adds zero to this friendship" Josie and this band. There was a short comic at the back of the book featuring Jughead and introducing Sabrina the Teenage Witch - this comic was better than the main comic.

The art was typical of the Archie universe but the girls weren't oversexualized or glamour girls - they were drawn as true grass roots garage band rockers. Too bad the storyline and characterizations were bland. ( )

A revisiting of how Josie, Valerie, and Melody formed their band and began their rise to international superstardom.

It was cute and occasionally funny (I enjoyed the use of "comic book science") but the characters failed to make me love them in the way I hoped to so I don't feel compelled to continue following the adventures of the band. ( )

Josie and her best friend Melody start a band with Melody’s veterinarian, Valerie. Josie is an ambitious dreamer, Valerie is practical and brings Josie back to reality, and Melody loves animals. They get picked up by an agent and tour the world. Adventures ensue.

This series is *extremely* funny and entertaining, but has no plot whatsoever. Josie does something stupid out of ambition and Valerie reminds her of the value of friendship. Melody loses it over a kitten. Villains include music venue staff wielding contracts with exploitative fine print, animal traffickers, and Josie’s rich ex-bestie. A fun diversion but nothing deep. The artwork is fantastic.

This volume also includes Jughead #9. I’m no Jughead fan, but this issue was written by Ryan North, and boy is it charming. There’s footnotes galore and it involves Jughead meeting Sabrina! My fave. I just might read more of this version of Jughead. ( )

Josie and the Pussycats as 20-somethings and the contrived freedom of "maturity" that it brings to the comic. Waaayy too reference-y. Like, every other line was a reference to something. The plots were over-the-top silly, which you would expect from the original comics, but now is perceived as trying too hard to be ironic. One extra star for Melody's encounter with "meth."