10 Crazy Comic Books Way Better Than They Had Any Right To Be
6. The Punisher Meets Archie
Today weird and wacky comic crossovers are pretty much to be expected, but The Punisher Meets Archie is perhaps the weirdest and wackiest.
Believe it or not it could have been weirder, the publishers at Archie Comics weren't ready yet to go with the original concept of having Archie's family be murdered by criminals, but the story they did tell was crazy in its own right.
A wanted criminal named "Red" - who happens to look just like Archie - picks Riverdale as his next hiding spot. With a gang of hitmen and The Punisher both after his doppelgänger , Archie gets mixed up in a deadly case of mistaken identity.
Writer, Batton Lash expertly straddles the starkly different tones of the two series and strikes a working balance between the violent and gritty world of The Punisher and the light and comedic world of classic Archie. The story works, maintaining humour and a genuine sense of danger.
The art is also expertly handled. Often with these kinds of crossovers the art is the weakest link, never quite capturing the spirit and visual style of both works.
However, in the case of this forty-eight page graphic novel, Punisher artist, John Buscema works incredibly well with the Archie artist, Stan Goldberg to create a seamless book which perfectly reflects both styles.