Archie Comics Pubwatch: December 2021

Welcome to the Archie Comics Pubwatch for the month of December! 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, we have some exciting Free Comic Book day news and even more info about the special upcoming Valentine’s Day one-shot comic!

Archie Comics Announces Plans For Free Comic Book Day

Ever wanted to know what the world would be like if Archie Andrews were a spy? Or a superhero? Or even a caveman? This coming Free Comic Book Day, fans will get to find out when Archie Comics publishes The Best Archie Comic Ever #0. Written by Fred Van Lente with art by Tim Seeley, the issue shows Archie’s adventures in a whole multiverse of places. The issue serves as a peek into what Archie Comics has planned for its upcoming anthology titles, with a few reprints thrown in.

With a standard cover by Jamal Igle, the issue will be available on Free Comic Book Day 2022, which happens to fall on May 7.

Comic-Con Museum debuts 8 Decades of Archie Exhibit.

The official Archie Comics Website has announced that the Comic-Con Museum, which had a soft opening on November 26 in San Diego, California, will debut the exhibit “8 Decades of Archie.” Celebrating the 80th anniversary of everyone’s favorite typical teenager, it includes displays of vintage comic books and original art among other objects.

Fans may grab tickets at the official Comic-Con website, and the display should remain up as part of the museum’s collection beyond Sumer 2022 when the museum will officially open.

Archie previews new Valentine’s Day One-Shot

In the wake of the success of Archie’s Halloween and winter-themed one-shot issues, the comics giant will release a Valentine’s Day-themed one-shot in early February of 2022.

Set at the Riverdale Carnival, the issue features Veronica and Archie going through some romantic travails (with Dilton as a spoiler), while Betty and Jughead connect. Meanwhile, Kevin Keller’s out on a date and experiences his own calamities.

The issue, with art by Thomas Pitilli, Lisa Sterle and Iolanda Zanfardino, writing by Thomas Pitilli, Stephanie Cooke, and Sina Grace, colors by Matt Herms, letters by Jack Morelli, and covers by Thomas Pitilli and Paulina Ganucheau, Streets on February 9, 2022.

New Convention-Exclusive Variant Covers Available for Pre-Order

Archie Andrews, a redheaded white teenager, wears a victorian outfit - a grey top hat, white scarf and grey buttoned-down coat. Before him stands Veronica Lodge, a brunette teenager with a grey top hat with red holly on it, a red coat, black gloves, and a white scarf. She plays a horn. To her right is Betty cooper, a white blonde teenager wearing a green coat, red and green scarf and grey pencil skirt, as well as a grey and green hat. She holds a book and seems to be singing, as is Archie

Brunette white teenager veronica Lodge wears a red zip-up ski coat and a white scarf along with a red and white santa hat. She appears to be taking a selfie of herself and her friends in a purple and blue-colored outdoor scene. Just behind her is Betty cooper, a white blonde teenager wearing a long ponytail with purple and pink earmuffs and a blue turtleneck sweater. To her right is jughead jones, a brunet teenager wearing a grey fool's cap and a blue hoodie. He is giving Veronica bunny ears. To his right is Archie Andrews, a white, redheaded, freckle-faced teen in a blue jacket with a yellow scarf

Archie Andrews, a red-headed white teenager, sits on a red and gold santa's throne, wearing a green turtleneck, brown pants and a green and red striped scarf. His face is covered in lipstick kiss marks, and grey steam is billowing out of his ears. He appears to be quite dazed. To his left is Betty cooper, a white, blonde teenager wearing a red santa claus hat with white fur trim, a low-cut red top with white ermine trim, green tights and red and white booties. To archie's right is Veronica Lodge, a brunette teenager wearing a red and white santa dress with white trim and a black belt, as well as a santa claus hat. She also sports green tights. In Archie's hands is a

There are three new variant covers out for Archie’s Christmas Spectacular #1, each of them convention exclusives. The left cover is an Emerald City Comic Con Exclusive Variant Cover by Chrissie Zullo. The second cover is by Sorah Suhng and was a c2e2 exclusive. The last cover is by Kaare Andrews and is a FanExpo Exclusive.

Only the FanExpo cover is still available, and it has virgin and metal variants. The virgin and regular variants go for $15 each and the metal variant retails for $40.

More Christmas Designs Are Up in The Archie Threadless Shop

Even more new Archie Comic designs have been added to their Threadless shop, including a holiday-themed all-over print design. Click here to view and purchase them!

Archie Comics Tweets of the Month

That's right. https://t.co/hcZBYCKoQM

— Archie Comics (@ArchieComics) December 14, 2021

Anime is real. https://t.co/pZlU2NFfe0

— Archie Comics (@ArchieComics) November 18, 2021

Riverdale being Riverdale and another Archie comic goes viral.

Sugar Sugar of the Month

Archie’s Holiday Magic One-Shot
Gary Erskine (Cover); Matt Herms (Art); Arielle Jovellanos (Art); Gretel Lusky (Art and Cover); Jack Morelli (Letters); Michael Northrop (Writing); Micol Ostow (Writing); Dan Schoening (Art); J Torres (Writing)
December 8, 2021

What a gorgeous, trenchant one-shot. Archie finds himself on a guided tour through his past, present, and future via a spirit, who presents itself to Archie when he cannot decide whether to take Veronica or Betty to the Snow Ball. He travels to the past, a possible future and gets a glimpse at the present from a new angle. Multiple artists and writers have come together to craft this panoramic tale. Read it, you won’t regret it. Every single page is a gift.

Hotdogs and Hotshots

Betty and Veronica Jumbo Comics Digest #299
Jim Amash (Art); Bill Golliher (Writing and Cover); Jack Morelli (Letters); Jeff Shultz (Cover); Glenn Whitmore (Colors)
December 8, 2021

Veronica finally goes full Clark Griswold and makes over Lodge Estate as a Christmas paradise for a party. It goes about as well as can be expected when she and Betty are set to host but a power outage threatens to take a little shine off of the proceedings.

World of Archie Jumbo Comics #115
Jim Amash (Art); Bill Golliher (Cover); Pat and Tim Kennedy (Art); Jack Morelli (Letters); Dan Parent (Art and Writing); Rosario “Tito” Peña (Cover); Ron Robbins (Writing); Jeff Shultz (Cover); Glenn Whitmore (Colors)
December 15, 2021

Everyone dresses up as Santa Claus for SantaCon on Christmas Day, but when the gang encounters a burger-hungry stranger at Pop’s, they start wondering if they’ve encountered the real article.

Picks From The Timecops

Archie Milestones #13: Best of the 1960s
Rex Lindsey (Cover); Various (Writing and Art)
January 26, 2022

The Archie Milestone series has returned! Featuring series highlights and brand new-stories set in the 1960s.

Betty and Veronia Jumbo Comic Digest #300
Bill Golliher (Cover); Pat and Tim Kennedy (Cover); Jack Morelli (Letters); Dan Parent (Writing and Art); Rosario “Tito” Peña (Cover); Bob Smith (Art); Glenn Whitmore (Colors);
January 12, 2022

Betty and Veronica find themselves fantasizing about what it would be like if they were really sisters as they prepare a joint anniversary party for their parents. Sounds cute!