Even when you have superhuman strength, you can’t carry the weight of the world all by yourself. Your Major Spoilers review of Archie Is Mr. Justice #3 from Archie Comics awaits!

ARCHIE IS MR. JUSTICE #3

Writer: Kenny Porter
Artist: Maria Sanapo
Colorist: Glenn Whitmore
Letterer: Jack Morelli
Editor: Jamie Lee Rotante
Publisher: Archie Comics
Cover Price: $4.99
Release Date: March 19, 2025

Previously, in Archie Is Mr. Justice: With great powers comes great sacrifices, but when Archie is faced with having to choose between his responsibilities and his first love, Betty Cooper, will his duties to Riverdale win out over his heart?

THE COOPER PERSPECTIVE

After the first issue showed us Jughead’s take on the origins of Mr. Justice, then the second showed us Veronica’s take on his early adventures, this issue shares the Betty’s-eye-view of when things started to go sour. As the battles between Mr. Justice and Kid Wicked escalate property damage all across Riverdale, Hiram Lodge shifts the editorial perspective of the local paper to blame Mr. Justice, and public opinion turns with it. Larger and larger portions of the population consider him more menace than hero, and the police start actively campaigning against him, but Betty stays true to the hero. (The fact that, unbeknownst to the interviewer driving this issue’s narrative, he’s actually her boyfriend… at least at the beginning.) Still, his heroic example helps Betty to find her own inner hero, saving a group of innocents at the cost of her own arm. Of course, Dilton’s robotics expertise has helped with that matter as well.

IT’S GETTING DARK IN RIVERDALE

The thought process behind why this book isn’t about Archie’s existing superhero identity, Captain Pureheart, becomes even clearer in this issue. The adventure of Mr. Justice isn’t meant to be about Archie as a superhero but a bigger perspective on what superheroes represent in the context of America’s most famous small town. Sanapo’s art doesn’t quite capture the traditional cape-and-tights feel, which helps to support that tone, which is a very difficult row to hoe. Add the fact that it’s all taking place in Riverdale, which has long had its own specific Archie Comics style, and it’s doubly difficult. As the issue ends, Betty explains who Mr. Justice is: He’s Riverdale itself, given form to not only keep the city safe, but to help them be fearless. It’s a nice touch, and one that shows us the idealistic perspective on the hero, after Veronica’s capitalistic take and Jughead’s attempt at journalistic objectivity.

BOTTOM LINE: AN UNUSUAL LOOK AT SUPERHEROICS

All in all, Archie Is Mr. Justice #3 makes a strong case for realistic superhero adventures, where for a change, “realistic” doesn’t mean “edgy, dark, and nihilistic,” with well-balanced art rounding things out to 3.5 out of 5 stars overall. It’s fascinating to me that Archie Comics’ experiments into different forms and genres have taken this long to get to “superhero comics,” but I’m looking forward to seeing how it all wraps up in the next issue.

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