There are many reasons to read and enjoy Archie comics. Simple, continuity-free tales told with exemplary skill by renowned craftsmen . The masterful composition of characters within an uncluttered environment. Salacious bondage and barely submerged homoerotic excitement. And the joyous mischief of teenage hijinks from days gone by, to name a few. Slave Trade contains all these virtues and so much more.
In this six-page story, Reggie hazes a freshman new to Riverdale High by offering directions to the school cafeteria, but only after the new kid promises to be his slave for a week. After standing idly by for days as the freshman is forced to endure numerous indignities, Archie and Jughead decide to intervene. Lesser minds would have attempted to contact Miss Grundy or Mr. Weatherbee, or simply inform the kid that he doesn’t have to take orders from anyone. Archie, however, devises a plan that involves humiliating the freshman to a level that Reggie hadn’t even dreamed of, one which will surely haunt the kid for his entire high school career, if not longer.
