Welcome to the Archie Comics Pubwatch for the month of January! 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 ring in a brand-new year with another title resurrected from the Red Circle Comics File!
The Fox: Family Values One-Shot Is Set to be published in May 2022
Archie Comics continues to dive into the Red Circle Comics vault, bringing back to life The Fox, a superhero comic centered around a crime-fighting family.
The Fox revolves around the Patton family — The Fox, She-Fox and Ghost Fox — who fight crime as a family unit. The revival is a one-shot that features a new story written by Dean Haspiel and Vito Delsante, with a retro The Fox story by Alex Toth. The issue features art by Haspiel and Richard Ortiz, colors by Matt Herms, and letters by Jack Morelli. Haspiel has also drawn the mainline issue’s cover, with a variant offered up by George Caltsoudas.
The issue is slated to street on May 18th.
New Exclusive Variant Covers Available from Jetpack Comics, Stadium Comics, VA ComicCon and Great Wall of Comics
There’s a new variant cover out for Archie’s Holiday Magic Special #1. An exclusive for Jetpack Comics, it’s drawn by Matt Talbot. You can buy it for $9.99 unsigned or $12.99 signed right here.
There are also two new variant covers up for pre-order at Stadium Comics, both visual parodies of the cover of Someone is Killing the Children for Archie: Love and Heartbreak Special #1. Both covers feature Betty Cooper, but the buyer may pick between a Bughead or Barchie pairing . Both covers were created by Nuno Pereira. 250 copies of each variant exist, with 50 copies of each cover printed on metal released exclusively to a 2-cover pack, both of which have sold out. Each variant costs $14.99 and may be pre-ordered here.
Further variants are offered by VA Comic Con, which offers this Dan Parent exclusive cover for Archie: Love and Heartbreak Special #1. This one offers up Kevin Keller and his boyfriend in a Gone with the Wind homage. The cover is limited to 250 each and is available for pre-order here at $29.95 per issue.
Finally, Great Wall of Comics offers two different Dan Parent virgin variant covers of Archie’s Valentine’s Spectacular #1. Each cover is limited to 214 copies. You can buy one issue for $19.99 or a two-cover set for $29.9 here.
Archie Comics Tweets of the Month
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— Archie Comics (@ArchieComics) December 15, 2021
Homestuck is serious business.
Sugar Sugar of the Month
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. Naturally, being ‘real’ sisters is a lot harder than being best friends — especially because both girls still have a major crush on Archie! This is an adorable story, and the best of the batch of fresh tales released in January.
Hotdogs and Hotshots
Archie Milestones #13: Best of the 1960s
Rex Lindsey (Cover); Various (Writing and Art)
January 26, 2022
I’ve been waiting for ages for the Archie Milestones series to return to print, and miraculously this month they have! The first collection out contains iconic stories printed in the 1960s, with one new story featuring the Archies trying their best to make it to a booking at a very important festival — Woodstock!
World of Archie Jumbo Comics #116
Jim Amash (Art); Francis Bonnet (Cover); Tania del Rio (Writing); Jack Morelli (Letters); Dan Parent (Cover); Jeff Shultz (Art); Glenn Whitmore (Colors)
January 19, 2021
Archie decides to save his money this Valentine’s Day, deciding to show Veronica and Betty his love without lavishing them with expensive gifts. This will thusly avoid kowtowing to the commercialism of the season. Unfortunately for him, Veronica and Betty have teamed up to buy him an expensive new present. This is an early Valentine’s Day story that delightfully captures what makes the Veronica/Betty/Archie triangle so much fun.
Picks From The Timecops
Archie: Love And Heartbreak Special One-Shot
Stephanie Cooke (Writing); Paulina Ganucheau (Cover); Sina Grace (Writing); Matt Herms (Colors); Jack Morelli (Letters); Thomas Pitilli (Cover, Writing and Art); Lisa Sterle (Art); Iolanda Zanfardino (Art)
February 9, 2022
Can Archie Comics threepeat the successes they’ve had with their Halloween-themed and holiday-themed anthology issues? This issue features three different (possible) romances, all of which take place at the Riverdale Carnival. Jughead describes his ideal date to Betty, Archie and Veronica have a tiff which Kevin Keller hopes to solve while dealing with a date of his own. I remain hopeful and my expectations are high.
Archie’s Valentine’s Spectacular #1
Dan Parent (Art and Cover); Jack Morelli (Letters); Jamie L. Rotante (Writing); Bob Smith (Art); Glen Whitmore (Colors)
February 2, 2022
Considering his romantic history, it was kind of inevitable that Archie Andrews was going to hook up with a gal like Taylor Swi — I mean Taylor Sweet someday, wasn’t it? Archie kept their romance a secret, but Taylor’s latest song is totally about him! Fortunately, no one knows – and he definitely wants to keep it a secret. But with Betty, Veronica, and everyone else grooving to the music, can he possibly keep their brief connection on the down low?
World of Archie Jumbo Comics #117
Jim Amash (Art); Francis Bonnet (Cover); Tom DeFalco (Writing); Dan Parent (Cover); Jack Morelli (Letters); Jeff Shultz (Art); Glen Whitmore (Colors)
February 23, 2022
Are you a sucker for stories about Archie’s connection with his best four-legged pal, Vegas? Do you enjoy the Pureheart the Powerful/Superteens alternate Archieverse? This issue combines those two pieces of lore when Vegas uncovers Archie’s secret identity and tries to become Puerheart’s sidekick. Hijinks will likely ensue.
World of Betty and Veronica Jumbo Comics #12
Jim Amash (Art); Bill Galvan (Art); Bill Golliher (Writing); Jack Morelli (Letters); Rosario “Tito” Peña (Cover); Jeff Shultz (Cover); Glen Whitmore (Colors)
February 2, 2022
Betty and Veronica compete for the attention of…a guy who’s not Archie?! Gasp!
When a new skating instructor comes to town, Veronica tries to attract his attention by acting like a total skating neophyte. Meanwhile, Betty decides to meet him on equal footing by using her prodigious skating skills. May the best teen win.
Second Looks
Betty and Veronica Jumbo Comics Digest #301
Archie 100 Page Comics Glory (TR)
Hi Lisa,
Is there a way to subscribe to your Archie comics Pubwatch?
Thanks bunches!
Not specifically, but they are typically scheduled for the third Thursday of the month, if you want to mark your calendar 🙂