I was already excited when it was announced that everyone’s favorite Boy Next Door was getting a makeover, thanks to the likes of Mark Waid and Fiona Staples. Like many of you, I grew up with Archie and the gang: Betty Cooper was my role model before I even knew what the term meant. You could probably build a tiny Riverdale out of the stacks of well-worn Double and Triple Digests sitting in my closet and on my bookshelves. I loved Archie, and it seemed like the books would just never stop coming. They wouldn’t be accurate, of course: the slice of life adventures and wacky shenanigans shared by Archie and his Pals ‘n Gals didn’t really seem like they meshed with the current world. You know? They weren’t like real teenagers anymore.
If I’m telling the truth, I was pretty afraid the comics would actually go under. No longer relevant, Archie and friends would just quietly slip away, back to the Chocklit Shoppe and the incongruous beaches of Riverdale’s unlikely shores. No one was more surprised than me when it seemed like the company was starting to bounce back.
After the introduction of Kevin Keller, Archie Comics started doing something I’d never expected: they took risks. They twisted the safe and wholesome world of Riverdale into a zombie-infested wasteland in Afterlife with Archie, and took Sabrina from teen-witch-next-door to a world of black magic and manipulation. Archie Comics was doing some thing new, and it was working.
And now, they’re turning it over to you.
Riverdale Reborn, the Kickstarter campaign opened this morning, is a chance for us fans to take part in shaping the next steps in Archie’s world. Funding the reboots of three new series, Archie Comics is reshaping the entirety of Riverdale as we know it: and giving us a chance to help.
“…we decided it was time to reach out to the people who’ve supported us since day one and ask them to help us not only launch a few books, but start a movement—build a new Riverdale, for today’s reader.”
That’s Archie Comics publisher and CEO Jon Goldwater, on the idea of “New Riverdale” and the fans’ involvement in its development.
Just that would be enough for me to give them all my money, forever, but then they went for the kill and broke down the new series:
1. Jughead, from writer Chip Zdarsky and an artist to be announced
2. Life with Kevin from writer and penciler Dan Parent, as well as inker J. Bone
3. Betty and Veronica, which comes from writer/artist Adam Hughes
Zdarsky on Jughead? More Dan Parent on Kevin Keller? Adam Hughes on Betty and Veronica? A NEW BETTY AND VERONICA SERIES?
Zdarsky has this to say about his new gig:
https://twitter.com/zdarsky/status/597760531148185602
https://twitter.com/zdarsky/status/597761964425773056
And, of course, Adam Hughes is responsible for this, my new favorite image of Betty and Veronica ever:
My new cover to BETTY AND VERONICA #275 (pending approval): #fromtheAHvault pic.twitter.com/bGfkhVk2h5
— Adam Hughes (@AH_AdamHughes) December 1, 2014
Adam, if you feel like making it a print and selling it…please give me a call.
It seems like Riverdale’s in good hands, as it starts the next phase in its evolution. And…if I have to be shaken down for my lunch money, well, I’m glad Moose Mason is the one doing the job.
Any word on why the Kickstarter was taken down?