The cool villain, The Ice Cube freezes Pureheart in a block of ice. While whisking the hero away, Pureheart's "inner goodness" melts the ice! Free, Pureheart grabs a nearby flagpole, while the street floods with the water from the block of ice! Before he can carry The Cube away, The Witch Doctor turns Pureheart into a white rabbit! Hopping away to find help from The Head, who uses syrup and a lighter to change him back. It's a game of cat and mouse as Pureheart endeavors to prevent The Ice Cube from stealing Mr. Lodge's fortune!
The pacing is somewhat uneven and jerky, jumping from one thing to the next pretty quickly. That's due to the nature of the story and The Reveal. The reveal is a bit of a letdown. Pureheart is a very cool character. He deserves a genuine, unique origin.
Of course, Archie is pretty similar to Jimmy Olsen and Chris King. So maybe a Walter Mitty approach is not so bad a thing.
The back-up story features Archie stepping in at the Choklit Shoppe when Pop Tate gets a crick in his neck. Reggie pulls a prank that drives everyone away and causes Pop to throw Archie out when he comes back.
Hilarity courtesy of Archie scribe Frank Doyle, with art by Bob White and Mario Acquaviva.
The highlights of the reprint are original ads featuring Rocky and Bullwinkle for Cheerios, the Trix Rabbit and Sunny, the Cuckoo Bird for Cocoa Puffs! Good times...
Life with Archie 42 earns five stars as a definite classic.
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