Welcome to the Archie Comics Pubwatch for the month of May! I’m Lisa, reporting from a corner booth at Pop’s Chock ‘lit Shoppe, and here’s this month’s news! In this month’s Archie Comics Pubwatch, the Archie App shuts its doors, the title of the first Archie audio adaption has been announced, a Robot Chicken special looms, and much more!
The Archie App Has Shuttered Its Doors.
An announcement posted to the official Archie website on April 21st has informed users of the Archie App that the service would cease operations on April 28th.
Subscribers will be offered a free month of Comixology, and a large bundle of free comics. Those who need or want a download link are urged to email digital@archiecomics.com from or including the email you signed up for the Archie App with, by June 1st.
Adult Swim and Archie Comics Announce The Bleepin’ Robot Chicken Archie Comics Special
They’ve tackled Marvel and DC, and even The Walking Dead; now the stop-motion animation show for adults Robot Chicken will tackle Archie Comics!
The special – entitled The Bleepin’ Robot Chicken Archie Comics Special, will feature the voice talents of celebs such as Rachel Leigh Cook, who will voice Josie McCoy for the first time since the Josie and the Pussycats film, Seth Green, Breckin Meyer, Donald Faison, Fred Armisen, Amy Sedaris, Betty Gilpin, Jason Mantzoukas, Ryan Phillippe, Clare Grant, Cree Summer, Jane Lynch, Jared Harris, and Katee Sackhoff.
“We are so excited to dedicate an entire special featuring these beloved characters from Archie Comics,” said Robot Chicken co-creator and frequent voice guest Green to Variety. “As a fellow redhead, I’ve always loved and related to Archie. That love has culminated in this, ‘Robot Chicken’s’ purest expression of joy within the Archie universe.”
The special will air on the Cartoon Network’s Adult Swim block on May 23rd. Click through this Variety link to watch the special’s opening skit.
Title For the First Archie Graphic Audio Adaption Announced
Archie Comics announced their partnership with Graphic Audio last year, and fans have been eagerly awaiting the announcement of which of the comic giant’s series would see audiobook reworking first. Wonder no more, for it turns out the answer is The Archie Wedding: Archie Will You Marry Me!
This famous 2013 “what if” story sees Archie presented with two different futures as he stands on the brink of his senior year. In one future, he marries Veronica, stays in Riverdale, and becomes involved with her family’s high-class, high-gloss world. In another one, he marries Betty and they must live hand-to-mouth in New York City while trying to make their musical dreams come true.
The adaption, which will be directed by Scott McCormick and produced by Richard Rohan, Duane Beeman and Matt Webb, has no announced voice cast so far. It will be roughly three hours long and can currently be pre-ordered here. It will also be available at audio book retailers worldwide on the same date. The audiobook’s release date is slated to be May 12th, and will be followed later in the year by adaptions of the “Vampironica” Archie Horror series and Mark Waid’s “Archie” main line reboot series.
Even More Stadium Comics Variant Exclusives from Bill Walko and Nuno Pereira Announced; Dan Parent Exclusive Cover Announced For VA Comics
Your Stadium and VA Comics Variant Cover Exclusive collection is about to get much bigger!
First up are more variant covers for Archie and Friends: Superheroes #1 from VA Comics. Dan Parent has drawn three new covers to celebrate the release of the issue, all tributes to the cover of Amazing Spider-Man #300. They feature Valerie Brown, Betty Cooper and Veronica Lodge, each posed in the same manner as Peter Parker, leaping out of a golden circle toward the viewer. Each teen wears a catsuit, and is positioned against a fitting backdrop — music notes for Valerie, diamonds for Veronica and hearts for Betty.
The cover variants are limited to 300 copies each, with the presale limited 50 issue units signed by Parent, 100 unsigned. The comics will not be sold individually during the presale. As with their previous pre-order, VA comics cannot guarantee specific grades, but all issues will be case fresh when mailed.
Three signed edition will run you $74.95 plus $9.95 shipping in the US, with overseas customers paying $64.95 plus $15 shipping. Unsigned variants will cost $49.95 plus $9.95 shipping for US customers and run international customers $64.95 plus $15 shipping.
The issues will ship on May 29th. The VA Comics variants can be pre-ordered here.
Pereira’s cover is part of his Pop Art series of variant covers for Stadium Comics. This one shows Betty as Super Teen posing energetically against a plain pink background, and it covers Betty and Veronica: Friends Forever: Summer Fun #1.
Pereira also covers Everything’s Archie #1 for Stadium with a homage to the “Billy Ripkin F@$% Face” baseball card, to quote Stadium’s pre-order page. It features Archie posed in a baseball uniform in a stadium and is drawn to resemble a Riverdale Bulldogs baseball card. Instead of, well “f@$%face,” the heel of Archie’s bat reads “Freckle Face.” Wholesome!
Bill Walko, meanwhile, draws tons of Archieverse characters into the frame for his tribute to Marvel Comics’ 25th Anniversary comic.
As with previous Stadium variants, all three issues are limited to 250 copies each for each cover. All are guaranteed to be delivered in VF/NM condition or better.
Each edition retails for $14.99 apiece, with the additional option of buying both in a set with the standard Dan Parent cover. You can also buy a full set of Everything’s Archie variant covers from Stadium for $39.99
The Betty variant ships on June 30th, the Archie variants on June 23rd.
You can buy the Betty variant here, and pick between the Archie variants here!
Archie Comics to Reprint Viral Virtual Schooling Comic
As we covered in last month’s pubwatch, a page from from a mid-90’s Betty series comic went viral in April due to its seemingly eerie prediction of virtual home schooling.
Archie Comics has announced that the entire story will be reprinted in its upcoming June Release Everything’s Archie. The issue will street on June 9th.
Riverdale Return Date Announced
The town won't save itself. New episodes return Wednesday, August 11. Stream the latest episodes free only on The CW: https://t.co/LWIRBSp7Ue #Riverdale pic.twitter.com/SsrMHBd2yW
— Riverdale (@CW_Riverdale) April 29, 2021
The CW sudser will return on August 11th to finish off its 5th season. No word on how this will effect the debut of its sixth season.
Archie Comics Twitter Tweet of the Month
Keep your friends close and your cheeseburgers closer.
— Archie Comics (@ArchieComics) April 16, 2021
A trueism if there ever was one!
Also a shout-out to Fred Van Lente’s tweet about Everything’s Archie #1.
Big props to Archie Comics for letting me tell as many late-stage capitalism jokes as I wanted (which was several) https://t.co/A4ONPsyIZl
— Fred Van Exploding Brain Jar (@fredvanlente) April 27, 2021
Sugar Sugar of the Month
World of Archie Jumbo Comics Digest #109
Bill Golliher (Cover); Jack Morelli (Letters); Dan Parent (Writing, Art); Rosario “Tito” Peña (Cover); Bob Smith (Inks); Glenn Whitmore (Colors)
May 12th, 2021
Look, when you give me a good parody subject, I will absolutely go weak-kneed for it. Archie trying to take on Fox’s The Masked Singer, only with cooking being the central focus, will definitely do it for me. Thus, this issue of World of Archie already had me at hello as Archie creates a competition that combines the concept with Chopped, and creates a contest where people have to make meals in costumes.
Because this isn’t an Archie horror title, no one ends up maimed or burned, but we do get a lot of fast-paced laughs. A win, in the end!
Hotdogs and Hotshots
Archie Showcase Digest #3: Love Showdown
Dan DeCarlo (Cover); Vincent Lovallo (Cover); Henry Scarpelli (Cover); Various (Art And Writing)
May 19th, 2021
The eternal triangle that is Archie, Betty, and Veronica finally reaches its epoch in this series – when Archie indicates he’s ready to finally pick between the girls, they enter into an all-out battle to become his Chosen Squeeze. But they aren’t the only ones gunning for his affection – Cheryl Blossom factors into this romantic mess as well. If you like romantic stories of the Archie ‘verse, you will enjoy this!
Archie And Friends: Superheroes #1
Jim Amash (Art); Ian Flynn (Writing); Pat and Tim Kennedy (Art and Cover); Jack Morelli (art and cover); Rosario “Tito” Peña (Cover), Jeff Shultz (Art); Bob Smith (Art); Glenn Whitmore (art)
May 19th, 2021
For a lot of younger readers, the fact that Archie used to publish superhero comics is probably a shocking fact. Dedicating a whole series to both an AU featuring the gang’s superhero secret identities (Pureheart, Super Teen, etc.) and picking up old characters that have not seen the light of day in some time after Archie’s merging with Impact Comics, will teach some newbies to the universe some fun things in a fresh way!
Picks From The Timecops
Everything’s Archie #1
Ben Caldwell (Cover); Rian Gonzales (Cover); Fred Van Lente (Writing); Aaron Lopresti (Cover); Jack Morelli (Letters); Dan Parent (Art, Cover); Rosario “Tito” Peña (Cover); Bob Smith (Inks); Glenn Whitmore (Colors)
June 9th, 2021
In this special anniversary miniseries, band-new stories (this one about Archie trying to earn enough money to buy the guitar of his dreams) collide with a special reprint (the viral online schooling comic mentioned above), making this an essential buy for any Archie collector!
The Mighty Crusaders: The Shield #1
Francesco Francavilla (Cover); Rob Liefeld (Writer; Art; Colors; Covers); Aaron Lopresti (Cover); David Mack (Cover); Jack Morelli (Letters); Jerry Ordway (Cover)
June 30th, 2021
Archie’s The Mighty Crusaders line gets a revamp via the pen of Rob Liefeld. Those without any previous experience with Archie’s superhero comics or who just plain want to know what Liefeld adds to the Archie line will be interested in picking this one up!
Archie at Riverdale High #3 (GR)
Stan Goldberg (Cover); Various (Art And Writing)
June 23rd, 2021
If your familiarity with the Archie series mainly revolves around The Archie Show (which spawned that huge pop hit “Sugar, Sugar” for The Archies in 1969), you likely remember this 1970s-era comic that focused on the gang’s high school exploits. This is the third volume in a series covering the comic series, and will likely bring up some fond memories for readers.
Archie 80th Anniversary Jumbo Comics Digest #3
Jim Amash (Art); Craig Boldman (Writing); Bill Galvan and Ben Galvan (Cover); Bill Golliher (Art); Vincent Lovallo (Cover); Jack Morelli (Letters); Rosario “Tito” Peña (Cover), Glenn Whitmore (Colors)
June 23rd, 2021
When Betty decides to celebrate every single minor anniversary she shares with Archie, the twosome gets tuckered quickly, and Archie starts to wonder if maybe there’s such a thing as too much celebration.
Betty and Veronica Jumbo Comics Digest #294
Jim Amash (Art); Bill Golliher (Writing); Dan Parent (Art and Cover); Jack Morelli (Letters); Glenn Whitmore (colors)
June 9th, 2021
Betty, Veronica, and the rest of the gang dedicate themselves to having the ‘best summer ever,’ which requires them each to pick an activity. Together, they go through the list and complete each item, activity by activity. They devote themselves to eking every drop of enjoyment they can out of the summer sunshine, but will they make it through the list before school reconvenes?
World of Archie Jumbo Comics Digest #110
Terry Austin (Art); Francis Bonnet (Writing); Pat and Tim Kennedy (Art and Cover); Jack Morelli (Letters); Rosario “Tito” Peña (Cover), Jeff Shultz (Art); Bob Smith (Art); Glenn Whitmore (colors)
June 16th, 2021
The gang experiences that most relatable of teenage summer activities — going to the waterpark and experiencing the joys of long lines, hot cement, and pushy fellow patrons. Will they manage to have a fun afternoon?
Second Looks
- World of Betty and Veronica Jumbo Comics Digest #6
- Betty And Veronica Friends Forever: Summer Fun #1
- Archie Jumbo Comics Digest #320
