INTERVIEW: A Little Talk with Vincent Lovallo and Ron Cacace of Bite Sized Archie

Preview Image for Bite Size Archie

The delightfully peppy world of Archie has been shrunk down into bite-sized bits! Keep reading to see our interview with the writer and artist for the webcomic Bite Sized Archie,  Ron Cacace and Vincent Lovallo!

Archie Andrews, a white, redheaded teenager with thick black eyebrows, poses with his arms spread wide open and a big smile on his face. He wears a black sweater vest with a large yellow Rin the center of it, a blue and white polka-dot bowtie, a white shirt and yellow and black checked slacks. He's drawn chibi style, as arehis friends - white redheaded teenager cheryl blossom, holding a lit match and wearing a blue sheath dress; Vampiric Veronica lodge in a purple outfit with a blue headband in her long black hair; Betty Cooper, a white blonde teenager with white, dark-haired jughead jones floating mid-air surrounded by floating fast food chicken nuggets, he wears a blue sweatshirt with a hamburger design and wears a grey fool's cap on his head, and black slacks. They stand upon a globe against a dark purple background

Ever since 2020, Archie Comics has been bringing its Bite Sized Archie universe of four-paneled webcomics to the world, courtesy of both its official website and its official Twitter page. The funny, knowing and never-dull Bite Sized Archie universe gives fans of the comic series a funny, sometimes self-knowing but never dull

In celebration of the series’ first softback collection of strips, which was released in May of 2022, please enjoy an interview with artist Vincent Lovallo and writer Ron Cacace!

What’s it like moving from telling longer-form stories within the Archieverse to writing and drawing shorter, bite-sized stories about the characters?

Ron Cacace: Short-form storytelling through four-panel comics is a natural continuation for me since my first writing job for Archie Comics was in the form of . . . tweets. Vincent and I collaborated on a couple of one-page and three-panel back-up strips for some Archie Action titles a few years ago, so moving that format over to a weekly webcomic was a natural next step. I’ll admit though, it took me a while to get used to the limits of telling jokes in such a short amount of space, but it’s been so much fun collaborating with Vin and I feel like we’ve truly hit our stride recently. The Archie Comics characters are also a natural fit for this kind of storytelling, as the old Gag Bag strips in the comics will attest!

Vincent Lovallo: As Ron mentioned, it’s a natural progression from what has come before. In addition to our previously published works, I’ve also had experience creating the art for original webcomics separate from Archie, in which I collaborated with our Senior Director of Editorial, Jamie L. Rotante and another with our Director, J. Betancourt. Still, there is always room for improvement, and I aim to continue honing my skills to ensure the art is expressive and complements Ron’s already brilliant writing!

Which strip is your favorite thus far?

Cacace: It’s incredibly hard to choose just one, but I really love #25, “The Boy Next Door”, because that final panel lands a real punch.

A four panel comic Bite Sized Archie strip called The Boy Next Door. Archie and Betty look at each other through their bedroom windows in the first two panels, wistfully, as though he is about to ask her out. In the third panel Archie asks, "Can you text Veronica for me?" and in panel four a brick flies through Archie's window.

Lovallo: Agreed, it’s hard to pick just one, but Strip #18, “Cabin Fever”, never fails to make me laugh. I remember when Ron submitted his script for it and reading the final panel description got me good.A four panel Bite Sized Archie comic, called Cabin Fever. Archie and Betty arrive at Veronica's new cabin in the woods, the "first" visitors it's seen. In the third panel, Betty asks for the wi-fi password, and Archie answers. In the fourth panel Archie is sweating profusely and being bombarded by questions asking why he knew that, including being told he can't "I'm Baby" his way out of it.

Name a character you’d love to include in the Bite Sized Archieverse but whom you haven’t drawn or written about yet.

Cacace: Oh, I’d really love to introduce Tabitha Tate into the Bite Sized Archieverse. I feel like she’d be so much fun to write and I would love to see Vin’s design for her. Souphead is a dream character, and I definitely need to do something with Katy Keene!

Lovallo: While we mainly stick to the teens, I think it would be fun to have a strip that introduces Sabrina’s aunts, Hilda and Zelda since they’re both wildcards. Others I’d love to see are Ethel Muggs and Jinx Holliday!

What’s your favorite branch of the main Archie universe — do you like Archie Horror, Pureheart the Powerful, etc.?

Cacace: I have a real sweet spot for the Ryan North/Derek Charm Jughead series that was part of the 2015 reboot. Those comics were exceptionally fun!

Lovallo: Cosmo the Mighty Martian (also known as the Merry Martian) is a character that is very near and dear to my heart. I had the honor of redesigning the cast back in 2017 and working with two brilliant creators from my time on the action books, Ian Flynn and Tracy Yardley, on two mini-series starring Cosmo and his crew! It was out of this world!

What does the average creative process behind a week’s strip look like for each of you?

Cacace: Vin and I put together a calendar so we know when each strip will be debuting on social media. From there, we’ll look to see if there are any new movies, video games, or TV shows debuting around that same time that we could have a tie-in to. We’ll also look at if there are any trends or memes that we can naturally incorporate into a story . . . and from there I wait until the absolute last moment to start writing the scripts so that I’m forced to go with what comes to mind and so I don’t overthink things. I’ll send the scripts over to Vin and our editor Jamie L. Rotante for feedback and notes, and then I’ll see the strips once Vin has the artwork close to final so I can give it a final lettering pass. From there, Vin will send the strips out for final approvals, and then we get them set up on Tinyview and the Archie social media pages!

Lovallo: Because I’m working in editorial in the daytime, I mostly do all the artwork at night on weekdays, or if I have free time during the weekend, I’ll work on them then. As Ron mentioned, Jamie and I review the scripts with Ron before we finalize them. We always work in batches of four so that we have content for about a month. Once I have the final scripts, it can take about a week or so for me to finish them. I handle all stages of production, so that includes layouts, linework, colors, and letters.

What’s your favorite newspaper comic strip, and does it influence your work on Bite Sized Archie at all?

Cacace: I absolutely loved Garfield and Foxtrot as a kid. And while it’s not a newspaper strip, I was a huge fan of Penny Arcade as a teenager. Those early 2000s webcomics influenced a lot of my humor and if you don’t understand the jokes I’m writing it’s because I’m terminally online and my brain is irreparably damaged from years of mainlining the web.

Lovallo: My favorite is Family Circus for its relatability and because my family enjoy it, too! Growing up, I also loved reading B.C.Beetle Bailey, Hagar the Horrible, and Garfield. I also would read the comics published in Disney Adventures and fondly remember the strip Scene But Not Heard from Nickelodeon Magazine. I draw inspiration from all media that I consume; I pull the most from anything with an animated flair to it. I enjoy bold linework and vibrant colors!

Would you ever consider creating a comic-length adventure featuring the Bite Sized Archie version of the characters?

Cacace: If that’s something people are interested in, I’d love to do it. I think there’s a space for longer stories, perhaps as part of one of those amazing anthologies that Jamie and her team have been developing. If the fans want more BITE SIZED ARCHIE, they should let Archie Comics know by sending them emails and kind messages on Discord.

Lovallo: I’d be open to it! I think the charm of BITE SIZED ARCHIE is that it’s quick and easy to digest, so as long as it still retains the snappy interactions and comedic tone, it could translate well to a longer format.

If you could change anything at all about any of the strips that you’ve published thus far, what would you tweak?

Cacace: The secret is . . . we’ve already changed some things for the paperback collection that just came out in stores. They’re very minor and I’m not sure if most people would spot them, but we did alter some elements of the artwork and lettering. I don’t have any other changes to make, but maybe Vin has a different answer!

Lovallo: Like Ron said, any revisions we made for the paperback are super minor. Because I was still getting my bearings, there is a significant shift in my style from strip #1 to strip #7. Maybe I would tweak those so that the style shift isn’t so apparent, but at the same time, it’s cool to see how it changes and finds its footing.

This strip made me wonder: Which Jughead is best Jughead?

Cacace: All Jugheads are valid.

Lovallo: Jughead is all the Jugheads, so my answer is Jughead.

The Archieverse is notorious for its crossovers.  Which outside-of-the Archie world character would you love to have cross over into Bite Sized Archie?

Cacace: I would absolutely love to do a crossover with [REDACTED] and I know Vin feels the same way! All jokes aside, I would love to do a Bite Sized Archie Meets AEW crossover. How would Hook and Danhausen react to the wild and wacky world of Riverdale? I’d love to write that story!

Lovallo: It’s no secret that Ron and I both love video games. I think it would be cool to get an official crossover with any of the big gaming icons like Mario, Pac-Man, Master Chief, and Lara Croft. If all of Nintendo was on the table, there would be no end to the crazy antics the gang could get into. I think Kirby would give Jughead some serious competition at an eating contest.

Advertisements

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.

Close
Menu
WP Twitter Auto Publish Powered By : XYZScripts.com