Archie Comics Pubwatch: October 2022

Welcome to the Archie Comics Pubwatch for the month of October! 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, a Riverdale poster preview, new exclusive covers, and much more!

Riverdale preview poster released

Fans are definitely going to be waiting awhile for more Riverdale (The final season won’t begin airing until next year, and there has been no concrete date set for the final season), but this eerie poster presages what’s on tap for Season 7. For those who didn’t catch the Season 6 finale, Cheryl Blossom’s attempt at stopping the apocalypse resulted in the gang being zapped back into the 1950s (specifically the day after James Dean died). They all act like their classic-universe selves — except for Jughead, who remembers everything about his modern life. Thus the eerie nature of the above poster, which feels very American Horror Story.

Archie announces a partnership with Dollskill

The collaboration with the alternative wardrobe outfitter contains a plus-sized line and an accessories line. Prices range from $10 to $108 and all items are for purchase here.

Archie Comics Launches Halloween-centric store

Click here to collect a variety of issues that are spooky and get a custom drawing from Dan Parent

New Variant Covers from Great Wall of Comics, Jetpack Comics, and New York Comic-Con

Thin white brunette teenager veronica lodge stands in a blue-floored, black walled house. Snow falls peacefully outside and green bushes can be seen through a multi-paned window framed in light green curtains. A wreath with a red ribbon has been hung over the windows, and behind veronica to her right is a mantle with a roaring fire and and red ermine-trimmed stockings hanging from it. Another wreathe is mounted over the green stone mantle. Veronica smiles and wears a green and red striped bikini, the cups and waistband lined with blinking christmas lights. She wears a red santa cap on her head with white fur trim

Thin white blonde teenager betty cooper stands in a blue-floored, black walled house. Snow falls peacefully outside and green bushes can be seen through a multi-paned window framed in light green curtains. A wreath with a red ribbon has been hung over the windows, and behind betty to her left is a decorated christmas tree with yellow garland and purple ornaments and several well decorated presents beneath it. Another wreathe is mounted over the green stone mantle. Betty smiles and wears a white bikini with a holly print and red bows on it, the cups and waistband lined with blinking christmas lights. She wears a red santa cap on her head with white fur trim

In a tribute to the cover of Elvira's house of mystery, madame satan flies before a yellow moon in a black sky. Her black, low-cut dress flies out behind hewr as she rides a broom with one hand extended over her head, her horns brown atop her head and her arm raised

Thin white teenagers Betty Cooper, Archie Andrews, Jughead Jones, Veronica Lodge, Reggie Mantle, Archie Andrews and Moose Mason are gathered on the lawn of a purple house in halloween costumes, the white porch dotted over with jack o'lanterens and bats, with a sign over the door, indicating its a haunted house. Betty is dressed like Buffy Summers on prom night from Buffy the vampire slayer, veronica is dressed like Jennifer Check from Jennifer's body in the prom scene, Reggie is dressed like Michael Myers, Archie is dressed like Leatherface, Jughead is dressed like Freddy Kreuger, and Moose is dressed like Jason Voorhees. Veronica says to Regigie - Our Haunted House is Going to scare the kids. Reggie - If you really want to scare them tell archie to keep his mask off!

Before an orange backdrop and a yellow spotlight, white thin blonde and white-haired teenager sabrina spellman impersonates marilyn monroe in the seven year itch, her black dress blowing up with a trail of purple starry magic dancing over her body. She laughs and iggles, her black hat with yellow band. Nearby sits her black and white cat salem, who looks on in amusement

In a visual parody of the famous cover for The Uncanny X-Men #141. Pureheart and Power Teen stand before a wanted poster lit by a golden spotlight. Redhead and thin white Archie protects thin white teenager betty with his arm as they stand before a wanted poster covered with images of their friends before a brick wall

white thin white-haired teenager sabrina spellman stands before a snowy woodland backdrop, with pale green trees behind her. She wears a red sweater and a red santa's cap with white ermine trim, as well as a green striped scarf. She cleverly points to the sky, indicating that the snow falling all around her is due to a spell cast. Behind her her black and white cat, salem, smiles an wears a red and white striped scarf and a green and white trimmed santa cap

It’s new variant cover time! The top two issues — featuring Betty Cooper and Veronica Lodge wearing bikinis and Christmas lights in a Christmassy backdrop — was drawn by Dan Parent and covers Betty and Veronica Friends Forever: Christmas Party #1. Each is limited to 200 issues and costs $24.99 individually or in a $39.99 set at Great Wall of Comics here.

Great Wall of Comics also had the exclusive Parent variant for The Return of Chilling Adventures in Sorcery #1. It was also limited to 200 issues and sold out in the preorder stage.

Meanwhile, Jetpack Comics has this Matt Talbot variant for Archie’s Halloween Spectacular #1. It’s limited to 250 copies, costs $12.99 each, and is available here.

Finally, Dan Parent has released three exclusive covers for New York Comic-Con. The first is for Sabrina the Teenage Witch #1; the second is for Archie’s Halloween Spectacular #1; and the last covers Sabrina’s Christmas Magic #1. All three covers have been limited to 25o copies each and were available signed from Parent’s Comic-Con booth. He recently reported on Twitter that he has some copies left and can be contacted through his Twitter if you wish to purchase one.

Archie Comics Tweets of the Month

Archie Comics wants to wish folks a Happy National Coming Out Day!!!
We love you all! 🌈 ❤️ #NationalComingOutDay #ArchieComics #Archie #Comics pic.twitter.com/wLOLUo4gwI

— Archie Comics (@ArchieComics) October 11, 2022

We're super excited for Halloween, but Christmas isn't too far off!
And since we're the Official Comic Book of Christmas, we wanted to be the first to wish you A VERY ARCHIE CHRISTMAS!
Enjoy this special collection of holiday stories, ON SALE NOW!https://t.co/NTcjHw3GjO #Comics pic.twitter.com/El1kEAmIPi

— Archie Comics (@ArchieComics) September 21, 2022

A lovely National Coming Out Day post and an exclusive preview for A Very Archie Christmas.

Sugar Sugar of the Month

$An adolescent Archie Andrews - a white preteen with red hair- holds a flashlight up to his face and holds out his right hand in a menacing way. The beam of light refracts up from the flashight to cast a green glow on Archie's face and that of Jughead jones, who has shaggy brown hair and wears a grey fool's cap and a red shirt, and holds a bite of a burger in his mouth. Behind and to the right of him, white teenagers betty cooper and veronica lodge, the former a blonde girl with her hair in a ponytail and the latter a brunette, cower back in fear, their faces shaded in red. Red eyes gleam to Archie's left and right, and the background is thrown into a shade of purple$

Fear the Funhouse #1
Diana Camero (Art); Lisette Carrera (Art); Ryan Caskey (Art); Matt Herms (Colors); Jack Morelli (Letters); Micol Ostow (Writing); Michael Northrop (Writing); Magdalene Visaggio (Writing)
October 19, 2022

We’ve got a lot of Halloween books out this month, and this is my absolute favorite among the latest batch of Archie Horror books. A much more lighthearted take on the genre, this kiddie horror book meant for tweens features younger versions of Archie and co telling creepy fireside stories. Can Archie, Veronica, Betty and Jughead make it to the morning without scaring each other ? Are what they’re facing down too scary to be believed? Great art, a fun plotline and a sense of humor make this one my top pick and the month’s can’t-miss issue.

Hotdogs and Hotshots

World of Betty and Veronica Jumbo Comics Digest #19
Jim Amash (Inks); Tania del Rio (Writing); Ben Galvan (Cover); Bill Galvan (Art and Cover); Jack Morelli (Letters); Rosario “Tito” Peña (Cover); Glenn Whitmore (Colors)
October 5, 2022

When it comes to main-line thrills, I have to go with this B&V issue, which features more of Sabrina tangling with her new mortal enemy, Amber Nightstone. Sabrina’s pretty sure she vanquished her new foe last month — so why does she have a sneaking suspicion that Amber’s out to get her this Halloween? Even though she’s on her guard and ready to defend her place, that doesn’t mean safety’s guaranteed.

Chilling Adventures of Salem #1
Cullen Bunn (Writing); Francesco Francavilla (Cover Variant); Matt Herms (Colors and Cover); Jack Morelli (Letters); Dan Schoening (Art and Cover)
October 12, 2022

This dark one-shot is all Salem, all the time. Sabrina’s kitty familiar strikes out on his own on a quest to protect strays in this spin-off of the CAOS universe. While it’s very intense and very well done, this one carries a warning with it, though, for major incidents of animal abuse and animal death, including depictions of dead animals, all of which occur on page.

Picks From the Timecops

Bob Phantom #1
James III (Writing); Matt Herms (Colors and Cover); Jamal Igle (Alt Cover); Jack Morelli (Letters); Richard Ortiz (Art), Tim Seeley (Cover)
November 16, 2022

It’s time for the return of another Blue Ribbon Comics hero. This time, it’s theatre critic turned vigilante Walter Whitney — aka Bob Phantom. Will he manage to save the day and survive dire matinees?

Betty and Veronica Friends Forever: Christmas Party #1
Bill Galvan (Pencils); Bill Golliher (Cover); Jack Morelli (Letters); Dan Parent (Cover); Rosario “Tito” Peña (Cover); Bob Smith (Inks); J. Torres (Writing); Glenn Whitmore (Colors)
November 9, 2022

A whole issue of Betty and Veronica-centered Christmas antics includes a brand-new story in which our favorite teen twosome employ Ginger and Harper to help each other grab the perfect Christmas gift for one another.

Betty and Veronica Jumbo Comics Digest #309
Ben Galvan (Cover); Bill Galvan (Cover); Jack Morelli (Letters); Dan Parent (Writing and Art); Rosario “Tito” Peña (Cover); Bob Smith (Inks); Glenn Whitmore (Colors)
November 23, 2022

Veronica is forced to do something unthinkable – get a holiday retail job so she can pay off her credit card bills! She calls in Betty when she turns out to be very bad at wrapping gifts — and some additional help from the North Pole does them no further favors.

World of Archie Jumbo Comics Digest #125
Jim Amash (Inks); Bill Golliher (Writing, Cover, and Art); Jack Morelli (Letters); Rosario “Tito” Peña (Cover); Glenn Whitmore (Colors);
November 30, 2022

It’s Sugarplum the Fairy and Jingles the Elf in an all-out battle of the sexes for Christmas spirit supremacy! Who will come out on top in this titanic battle?

World of Betty and Veronica Jumbo Comics Digest #20
Jim Amash (Inks); Bill Golliher (Cover); Jack Morelli (Letters); Dan Parent (Writing and Art); Rosario “Tito” Peña (Cover); Glenn Whitmore (Colors)
November 9, 2022

Human bad luck generator Jinx Molloy hits town, forcing the teens of Riverdale to work twice as hard to avoid Santa’s naughty list!

Archie Jumbo Comics Digest #335
Francis Bonnet (Writing and pencils); Bill Golliher (Writing, Cover and Art); Jack Morelli (Letters); Rosario “Tito” Peña (Cover); Glenn Whitmore (Colors);
November 16, 2022

Betty, Veronica, Jughead, and Archie find themselves in hot water as they try to wrangle their siblings and cousins during a wild day at the mall.

Archie Milestones #17: Best of the 1980s
Dan DeCarlo (Cover); Tania del Rio (Writing); Rex Lindsey (Art and Inks); Jack Morelli (Letters); Glenn Whitmore (Colors)
November 2, 2022

Archie and the gang head back in time with some tubular hits from the ’80s! In the collection’s new story, Betty and Veronica attempt to escape the texting-happy ’20s’ with an 80’s throwback party.