Riverdale #7

Good Concept, Lacklustre Execution

I wanted to like this. I really, honestly did. I love the concept of giving Dilton a story and better exploring who he is as a character. Unfortunately, however, everything falls apart in practice. The dialogue is awkward, the art style rather unattractive, and the actual story completely??impossible as an element of Riverdale canon.

First off, this seems to take??place in season two, since Dilton mentions the Black Hood,??but??Jug doesn't appear to be a Southside Serpent yet nor are the schools merged (I presume,??due to lack of Serpent characters)??but??he's at Riverdale High. Secondly, Jug is portrayed as having a collection of rare vinyls and a “Pretendo” (Nintendo) Switch despite actually being poor and having barely enough belongings to stuff in one backpack in the show. Third, frequent and impossible astrological occurrences are mentioned - something which undoubtedly should have been mentioned in show canon. But most importantly? Dilton has a public mental break in school and takes Jughead (and Hot Dog) hostage in a doomsday bunker. Guess that just wasn't important enough to ever get noticed again or have any impact on the characters. (Ugh!) Also, Jug convinces Dilton to get therapy then has a hallucination himself which leads him to decide he should seek help too... I don't need to point out how non-canon that is, do I?

And did I mention the dialogue is awkward? Because nobody really sounds like they do on the show in terms of attitudes or speech patterns. Jug comes close at times, but still misses the mark more often than not.

I'm disappointed. I hoped for something I could appreciate as a canon backstory for Dilton. The idea of him having a paranoid, emotionally abusive dad is heartbreaking. The idea of him being the way he is because he's terrified of the end times and thinks life is a cruel series of tests fits him. I wish it had been done believably such as with Dilton making friends who learn these things in a more canon-friendly circumstance.??Instead, this is just yet another venture into stories which aren't canon-compliant??despite being marketed as occurring between episodes.??

Clearly, I got my hopes up too much after the previous issue.