Comics Review: "ARCHIE Christmas Spectacular" 2025 Chills at the North Pole

ARCHIE CHRISTMAS SPECTACULAR (2025)

ARCHIE COMIC PUBLICATIONS, INC.

STORY: Dan Parent; Tom DeFalco

PENCILS: Dan Parent; Steven Butler

INKS: Bob Smith; Jim Amash

COLORS: Glenn Whitmore; Gillian Swearingen

LETTERS: Jack Morelli

EDITORS: Jamie Lee Rotante; Vincent Lovallo; Stephen Oswald

EiC: Mike Pellerito

COVER: Dan Parent

VARIANT COVER ART: Dan DeCarlo

32pp, Color, $4.99 U.S. (February 2026); on-sale December 3, 2025

Rating: All-Ages

Archie and the Gang in “Chill Out!”

Eternal high school student and teenage boy, Archie Andrews, and his friends made their debut in M.L.J. Magazines' Pep Comics #22 (cover dated: December 1941), and before long, Archie was the publisher's headliner character.  In 1946, the company changed its named to Archie Comic Publications, also known as “Archie Comics.”

Archie Comics frequently publishes holiday themed one-shot comic books featuring Archie's characters (sometimes referred to as “Archie and the Gang”).  The latest is Archie Christmas Spectacular, 2025 edition.  It features one new story and five reprint stories.  The new story is entitled, “Chill Out!”  This five-page tale is written by Dan Parent; drawn by (pencils) and Bob Smith (inks); colored by Glenn Whitmore; and lettered by the great Jack Morelli.

Archie and the Gang in “Chill Out!”:

Archie and the Gang are headed to the North Pole.  It all starts when Santa Claus' daughter, Noelle Claus, invites Archie to the North Pole High Christmas Dance.  This time, however, Betty and Veronica are not the two females fighting for that first dance with Archie.  They are Noelle and Sugarplum, a fairy who is one of Santa's holiday helpers.

Still, Betty, Veronica, Reggie, and Jughead won't be left behind, especially because Veronica has been invited by a new-look Jingles the Elf.  So what will happen when the gang from Riverdale learns that high school is the same everywhere – even the North Pole?

THE LOWDOWN:  I have been reading comic books, on and off, for decades.  I have sporadically read Archie Comics titles over that time.  For many years now, Archie's marketing department has been sending PDF copies of some of their titles for review.  Archie Christmas Spectacular – 2025 edition – is the latest.

I have missed some emails sent to me by Archie Comics' marketing department.  One of those emails included the review PDF for Archie Comics Spectacular.  I am glad that I found it because I enjoyed this issue's new story, “Chill Out!”  I usually like the Archie Comics short stories created by writer-artist Dan Parent, and this one is quite nice.  It captures the quintessential Archie-Betty-Veronica love triangle with a delightful new twist.

The rest of the Christmas stories in this issue star a number of lesser known Archie Comics characters.  There is a story starring “Kardak the Mystic,” who received a superhero reboot in 2024's Kardak the Mystic #1.  Golden Age Archie Andrews' contemporary, “Wilbur Wilkin,” appears in three stories.  “Sabrina the Teenage Witch” also leads a tale featuring Archie and the Gang.

Dear readers, I will always recommend classic-style Archie Comics, especially when it comes in Christmas packaging – anytime of the year.  So, yes:  I am suggesting you read Archie Christmas Spectacular – 2025 edition.

I READS YOU RECOMMENDS:  Fans of classic-style Archie Comics will want to find a copy of Archie Christmas Spectacular – 2025 edition.

B+

Reviewed by Leroy Douresseaux a.k.a. "I Reads You"

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