"The Way to the Heart"

The school cafeteria has never had so much business thanks to Ms. Beazley's daughter Bella. The lovely young lady is filling in for her mother while the cantankerous cook is at a convention. Unfortunately, Bella's a lousy chef. What's Mr. Weatherbee to do--fire Bella? Or let everyone at Riverdale High come down with food poisoning?

"The Way to the Heart" is an odd little story. It's fun and entertaining, with a slight twist of an ending, but the story's emphasis on food on makes it apparent that Jughead is wildly out of character. Would he of all people fall for a pretty face and ignore Bella's cooking deficiencies? I think not. That bit of surprising mis-characterization is the only thing that kept this issue from getting a higher rating.

Fernando Ruiz's dialogue is sharp and amusing and captures the cast's personalities (except for Jughead's) perfectly. Veronica is jealous of the attention Bella's getting, Reggie is obnoxiously snarky, and Betty is curious about Jughead's behavior. Ruiz also does a terrific job with the faculty showing "administration think" in a way younger readers can relate to and understand even as they laugh at it. There's even a bit of Dickens-like satire in the way Ruiz portrays Weatherbee's thoughts on how to save money. In another highly enjoyable moment, Mr. Weatherbee and Mr. Flutesnoot attempt to smuggle edible food into the building without the students finding out.

Ruiz also pencils this issue, handling his own layouts so that the art is completely integrated with the script. The characters are dynamic and expressive, with Jim Amash's smooth inks adding both weight and flexibility. The opening panel shows Mr. Weatherbee charging down the hall toward the reader. There's a sense of his heft and urgency as his arms pump and his legs stretch. In another panel, Reggie stands off to the side. The tilt of his head and set of his shoulders telegraph his skepticism. Reading his dialogue is almost unnecessary. Ruiz endows even the minor characters, such as the school nurse, with very distinctive looks and postures.

There are also some fun background details. Readers should keep an eye on the various "Vote Reggie" posters and Reggie's reaction to one in particular. Then there's the panel showing an English teacher with some familiar extracurricular reading material and another one showing a hamster's escape plan. And just how many places can Fernando Ruiz find to hide his initials? These are jokes that don't intrude on the story, but are there for the careful reader to enjoy.

Colorist Glenn Whitmore does his usual fantastic job. The colors are bright, not flat, and his use of shadow gives the characters a more dimensioned look.

"The Way to the Heart" isn't the best Archie & Friends story ever written, but it is an entertaining one.

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