Archie Comics Pubwatch: January 2023

Comics News Pubwatch Reviews
Lisa Fernandes
Archie Pubwatch Featured Image

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 January’s pubwatch, Archie previews another new Archie Horror one-shot; there are some April previews to be had, too; The Archies wraps production; Riverdale gets a spring return date; some fresh cover exclusives, and much more.

Archie Horror and Chilling Adventures Present Pop’s Chock’lit Shoppe of Horrors #1 in March

Redheaded Archie Andrews, a white thin teenager, gapes in horror as he's held aloft in the leafy grasp of a mutated hamburger. Also in the grip of the burger is thin, dark haired, thin white teenager Jughead Jones. Archie wears his purple, orange and black Riverdale varsity sweater and brown slacks and jughead wears a blue shirt, brown pants, red sneakers and a long black vest. The burger is stationed outside the gristly visage of Pop's Chock'lit Shoppe, but the sky is a menacingly orange and black shade. The burger itself has sharp teeth and a large tongue, and resembles Audrey II from Little Shop of Horrors. It sits in a pool of blood and seems to be prepared to add Archie and Jughead to its conquests.

Archie Comics plans on adding yet another one-shot to its successful line of Archie Horror stories. Pop’s Chock’lit Shoppe of Horrors #1 will, as previous anthology one-shots such as Archie’s Christmas Horror did before it, be composed of three different stories drawn by three different teams of writers and artists. All three tales take place at the titular restaurant and give readers a more sinister look at Pops.

“The first time I ever really thought about Pop being not-so-nice and the food he serves maybe not being exactly edible, actually came from a pitch writer Ryan Cady had many, many moons ago,” Archie Comics Senior Director of Editorial Jamie L. Rotante said in a press release posted on the official Archie website. “Elements of Pop’s sinister side were even explored in the RIVERDALE tie-in comic! The idea always stuck with me and I hoped we’d get the chance to explore it in some capacity. Once the idea was given the green light, I knew Ryan needed to be a part of it. These stories crafted by the amazing team of Amy Chase, Jordan Morris, and Ryan are so creepy, campy, schlocky, and both horrific and hilarious. I can’t wait for everyone to take a bite out of this comic!”

The issue – which will tie Pop Tate’s actions back to the zombie outbreak which infected half of Riverdale in the so-far-still-unfinished Archie Horror progenitor Afterlife with Archie – will feature the talents of Ryan Cady and Chris Panda on the story “Night Shift,” Jordan Morris and Liana Kangas on the tale “Soylent Teen,” and Amy Chase and Federico Sabbatini on “Die-And-Dash.” Matt Herms and Jack Morelli will provide their typical yeomen work on colors and letters, respectively. Adam Gorham drew the main cover, with Francesco Francavilla providing the variant. Pop’s Chock’lit Shoppe of Horrors #1  will street on March 22.

Betty and Veronica form a new band (and intro a new character) in March’s Betty and Veronica Friends Forever #1: Rock and Roll 

Jola Kitt - a white thin teenager with blue shoulder-length hair - stands confidently beside Betty Cooper and Veronica Lodge. Both Betty and Veronica are thin white teenagers. Betty has long, blond hair held up in a ponytail; Veronica has long dark hair that cascades past her shoulders. Jola wears sleeveless black teeshirt with a white skull on the chest and purple trousers with a black belt; she also has a red, heart-shaped tattoo. Betty's hair tie is black, and she wears a red-sleeved baseball teeshirt and clutches a green electric guitar with a green fretboard, neck and body. Veronica wears a blue babydoll top with a gold star on the chest and jeans with a black belt. She holds a red-bodied electric bass guitar. Behind them, on a dark purple backdrop, multicolored hot pink and dark purple splotches rain down.

After years of being second-string gals for The Archies, Betty and Veronica are set to strike out on their own with a whole new band. In Betty and Veronica: Friends Forever: Rock and Roll #1, Betty and Veronica split from the band to form Rock Candi.  The all-girl trio features Jola Kitt, a new character and a confident drummer who happens to bear a slight resemblance to Joan Jett. The girls write and play their own songs but they still feel some concerns about a possible rivalry with The Archies. That kind of conflict will naturally complicate both romances and friendships, but no one’s going to stop Betty and Veronica from breaking free.

Speaking to Smashpages, artist, cover artist and story writer Holly G describes the story as more of a drama than a comedy. “It’s about not letting someone keep your light from shining, and how a band is supposed to support one another,” they said in an Archie press release posted to the website. Betty and Veronica: Friends Forever: Rock and Roll #1 also sports art by Bob Smith, letters by Jack Morelli, colors by Matt Herms and assistance on the cover by Rosario “Tito” Peña. Otherwise, the issue’s new story is 100 percent Holly G’s baby. It hits newsstands on March 8.

The Super Mecha Teens Debut in April’s Archie & Friends: All Action #1

Would you trust Archie Andrews to co-pilot a giant robot? The upcoming Archie & Friends: All Action #1 dares to ask that question. The comic’s new story pits Riverdale’s family of teens against an invading team of monsters who want to crush the town. As in Pacific Rim, the solution is to punch ’em back with giant mechs. But they must be piloted by two people. Archie finds he has to pick between Betty and Veronica’s robots when things start getting hairy and more and more mechs start hitting the dust.

Gizmodo has initial art by artist Ryan Jampole, who designed the looks Archie and company will wear for the tale and shall illustrate it. The story will be written by Daniel Kibbelsmith, who told the website he’s been pitching the idea to Archie comics for a while.

“I’ve been asking the editors if I could write an Archie mecha story for literal years and I hope it’s not our last one. Anyone who reads this will hopefully see how much world-building we put into it, and all the possibilities of hurling the Archie cast into these genre conventions. It’s crazy how perfectly these characters click into this kind of story, but as always, that malleability is the magic of Archie comics. What’s left to say? Get in the robot, Archie,”  he told io9, as quoted by Gizmodo.

The issue will feature a main cover by Jampole and Rosario “Tito” Peña, with colors by Glenn Whitmore and letters by Jack Morelli. Archie & Friends: All Action #1 streets on April 5.

 

Archie Comics Senior Director of Editorial Jamie L. Rotante Begins a Regular Column About Archie Horror with Daily Dead

Betty and Veronica, Archie Comics

There’s no word as to how frequent the column will be, but you can read Rotante’s thoughts about Archie: Happy Horror Days #1 over here!

Archie Comics Mounts Holiday Billboard in New York City

The Billboard apparently illuminated the skies over Penn Station during Christmas week.

The Archies Wraps Filming

The Netflix India production, which does not have a debut date at press time, wrapped filming on December 19, 2022.

The CW announces the debut date for Riverdale Season 7 and its series finale

Variety reports that the show’s final season will debut on March 29. It will retain its Wednesday 9 p.m. EST timeslot and is slated to finish airing on August 23, which will conclude the show’s broadcast run. The CW is planning on running the fourth and final season of Nancy Drew concurrently with Riverdale in the 8 o’clock EST slot, and both series will conclude on the same night.

Butch Mappa shares Happy Horror Days #1 Concept Art

Click through to see some concept art for Sheila’s story.


New Variant Covers from Great Wall of Comics, Mellow Fellow Trading, My Bargain Comics, The Comic Corner Store, Dan Parent and Stadium Comics

It’s new variant cover time! Dan Parent has released a Sabrina Spellman variant and, per his Twitter, it will soon be available at Mellow Fellow Trading via WhatNot, possibly in February.

Parent also has a huge spate of now-sold-out exclusives at Great Wall of Comics. The first cover, featuring Betty Cooper and Veronica was limited to 200 copies each and covered  The covers cost $39.99 as a single purchase and are now sold out.

Next is Parent’s tribute to Dave Stevens’s famous cover Vanguard Illustrated #2.  Parent’s cover cloaks Archie Vs The World #1 and features Betty, Veronica, and Cheryl Blossom running for cover while under heavy fire. The cover was limited to 200 copies at $24.99 apiece and has sold out.

Last among the sold-out Great Wall of Comics variants is this cover for Archie’s Valentines Spectacular #1. It features Betty and Cassie Cloud and all 200 copies of it are sold out.

Parent is also offering copies of the Archie 2023 calendar with hand-remarque’d characters of the buyer’s choice. He only has 25 copies though, so jump to it if you want one by DMing him.

The next variant comes from Stadium comics. First is Dan Parent’s ultra-limited virgin variant foil cover for Archie’s Valentines Spectacular #1. It was pinned to just 50 copies apiece and the double-pack it was available in has sold out. So did the standard Parent version of the cover.

Stadium does have two exclusive variants that remain available at press time, however. The first one covers Archie Vs The World #1 and is the work of Nuno Pereira. The cover pays tribute to Tom Lyle’s classic cover for Robin II: Joker’s Wild #1. The cover has three variants and can be bought three different ways; the first variant has Archie holding a playing card with an image of Veronica on it and is available for $19.99 individually;  The second has Archie holding an image of Betty, and is exclusive to a two-cover pack with the Veronica variant that costs $59.99. The last has Archie holding up a card with Jughead’s image on it and is only available in a three-pack with the Betty and Veronica covers. The Veronica cover is limited to 150 copies, the Betty cover to 50 copies, and the Jughead cover to 25; only the Jughead package is sold out at press time, the rest can be bought at the above link.

Then there’s Pereira’s visual tribute to What If? #105 which features Cassie Cloud and covers Archie’s Valentines Spectacular #1. It is limited to 250 copies with 25 metal cover variants that are long gone. The standard variant is $14.99.

Two more Dan Parent variants were available at The Comic Corner, and one is still available. First, there’s Dan Parent’s homage to that infamous Amazing Spider-Man #601 cover featuring an oddly sitting MJ. Cassie Cloud is MJ in this case, and out the window flies Pureheart the Powerful. It covers – what else? – Archie’s Valentine’s Spectacular #1.  5 etched wood, 5 etched metal, 10 ‘heart overlay metal’, 5 gold etched metal, 50 color metal and 200 virgin variant covers were offered on January 11. The virgin cover was $24.99, the color metal variants $75, The heart overlays $100, The golden etched Metal $125, The Red Etched Metal $125, and the wooden covers were also $125. All covers have sold out.

Still available is, however, is Parent’s variant for Archie Christmas Spectacular #1.  A duel cover featuring Archie, Veronica, Jughead, and Betty, it is limited to 150 sets apiece and costs $24.99.

Lastly, we have a surprise — a Parent variant for Archie’s Valentine’s Spectacular #1 that pays tribute to Archie Comics #50. This Cheryl Blossom variant is limited to 425 copies and features the original Betty Cooper cover on the back. It is available for pre-order now and is expected to be in by February 15. Each comic costs $27.99 and is also available in bundles with damaged covers leftover from Parent’s wares.

Archie Comics Tweets of the Month

I will never not make an Archie vs the Punk Scene Tweet my Archie Tweet of the Month. Also, Archie fashion fails, suspense, kicky neckerchiefs, and Archie taking full advantage of Kiss a Ginger day.

Sugar Sugar of the Month

Archie Jumbo Comics Digest #336
Steven Butler (Art); Tom DeFalco (Writing); Ian Flynn (Writing); Ben Galvan (Art); Bill Galvan (Art); Bill Golliher (Cover, Writing, Art); Jack Morelli (Letters); Rosario “Tito” Peña (Cover); Glenn Whitmore (Colors)
January 11, 2023

I am a simple person – sometimes watching the gang trying to tough their way through taking a dunk into an icy pool of water is all it takes to get me smiling. Some stories are just good old-fashioned fun on the bun, and the new one here is what puts this issue over the top for me. The whole gang takes on what’s basically a Polar Plunge for various reasons – some altruistic, some selfish, and some of them just really want to impress someone cute. Who will make it, and whose feet will get way too cold? The superhero stories here are really just icing on the cake.

Hotdogs and Hotshots

Redheaded, muscular white teenager Archie Andrews brandishes and fires an oversized gun as he stares to the left of him. He holds a sawed-off shotgun in the other hand and wears a form-fitting white teeshirt and a shredded black vest, and black pants and boots, with grey gunbelts strapped over it. To his right is Betty Cooper, a white, thin, blonde-haired teenager who crouches on the ground in blue overalls with an oatmeal-colored blouse underneath. She wears brown boots, thick brown work gloves, and a helmet and goggles. Standing to Archie's left is Veronica Lodge, a thin white brunette teenager wearing a black skirt with a shredded hem, black tights, black boots, a black shredded vest and a blue blouse underneath, along with elbow-length black gloves. Her long, black hair waves in the breeze and she wears very modern-looking grey sunglasses perched upon the crown of her head. She too wears a gunbelt and gun. Behind them all is Archie's red hot rod, which has been souped up into a death machine with grey grills. Behind them the sky is orange and ominous plumes of thick black smoke fill the air. The foreground is arid and desert-like, and there is a scattering of skulls at the teens' feet.

Archie Vs the World #1
Jed Dougherty (Art and Cover); Matt Herms (Colors); Aaron Lopresti (Variant Cover); Jack Morelli (Letters); Aubrey Sitterson (Writing)
January 18, 2023

This is one of those comics that’s either going to work for you immediately or you’re going to run screaming for the hills.  In this one-shot AU tale, Archie meets Fist of the North Star meets Mad Max: Fury Road. As Riverdale grapples with life post-apocalypse and Archie and Reggie prepare for the ultimate battle. If you like Archie Horror and its off-kilter take on the canon, then this one’s sure to please!

Archie Milestones Jumbo Comics Digest 18: Jughead  Guide to Life
Craig Boldman (Writing); Rex Lindsey (Art); Rosario “Tito” Peña (Colors – Cover); Jeff Shultz (Pencils – Cover); Bob Smith (Inks – Cover); Glenn Whitmore (Colors); Various (Writing, Etc.)
January 18, 2023

I just really like Jughead y’all. Ergo, this issue is tops. Do you want to live burgerliciously? This Archie Milestones issue is all about Jughead. Among the classic stories is a brand-new tale in which he discovers the glory of VR.

Picks From the Timecops

 

Blonde white thin Betty cooper stands in the foreground wearing a purple hoodie and a purple ribbon in her tied back blonde hair. She stares at the reader with her blue eyes in a darkly-shrouded woodland glen. in the distance stands a darkly-shrouded individual, the light behind them causing an eerie distortion.

Betty: The Final Girl #1 
Carola Borelli (Art); Laura Braga (Art and Cover); Casey Gilly (Writing); Matt Herms (Colors); Sam Maggs (Writing); Jack Morelli (Letters); Natalie Nardozza (Art); Micol Ostow (Writing);
February 15, 2023

This is my most anticipated Archie comics issue of 2023 so far. I love me some horror tropes, love me some final girls, and this Archie Horror trilogy portends to offer both. Featuring Betty Cooper battling the elements (and her own mind), Melody Valentine battling a twisted serial killer wearing an animal costume who plans on taking all of the Pussycats out, and Brigitte Reilly facing a twisted romantic stalker, Betty: The Final Girl promises twists, turns and chills aplenty!

 

Thin white teenagers Betty Cooper, Veronica Lodge and Archie Andrews frolic in a pile of multicolored conversation hearts. Betty wears a dark pink shirt with a white heart in the center of it and a grey skirt; Archie a blue polo shirt and Veronica a yellow scoopneck dress. They're all enthusiastically tossing the hearts in the air against a white heart-shaped spotlight and pale pink background.

Archie Valentine’s Spectacular #1
Jim Amash (Art); Holly G (Art); Jack Morelli (Letters); Dan Parent (Cover); Jamie L. Rotante (Writing); Glenn Whitmore (Colors)
February 1, 2023

Tall Cassie Cloud is introduced for the first time in this Valentine’s Day-centered one-shot. The tall, nerdy, rainbow-haired Cassie Cloud confuses all of Riverdale with her dating habits; she seems to prefer short, nerdy types. Cue murmurings from the Riverdale High social enclaves.

 

Ethel Muggs, a brunette white woman, poses among a group of grown-up Rivedalians at a nighttime party. There are lights strung up behind her. Ethel wears pale blue overalls and a blue and pink and purple-striped turtleneck and smiles with determination into the camera.

Big Ethel Energy Vol. 2
Keryl Brown Ahmed (Writing); Siobhan Keenan (Art and Cover)
February 22, 2023

If you’ve been enjoying Big Ethel Energy on WebToons, then this softcover volume chronicling the next step in Ethel’s Riverdale adventures will surely please!

 

The Archie gang build a snowman on stilts in the middle of a frozen skating pond. They frolic and laugh in the winter snow.

Betty and Veronica Jumbo Comics Digest #311
Francis Bonnet  (Writing and Cover); Tom DeFalco (Writing); Bill Galvan (Art); Pat and Tim Kennedy (Cover); Rex Lindsey (Art); Jack Morelli (Letters); Dan Parent (Writing and Art); Rosario “Tito” Peña (Cover); Bob Smith (Inks); Glenn Whitmore (Colors)
February 8, 2023

Little Betty and Veronica encounter the Boy Buddies during a trip to a military academy (!!) and Lodge Industries is smacked by a Ransomware attack, causing Hiram to hire Fu Chang  — who brings along his trainee detective, Archie Andrews!

 

The Archies and the Pussycats frolic and rock out in front of a pink background

The Archie Library # 12: The Archie and Josie and the Pussycats Battle of the Bands
Dan Parent (Writing, art and Cover); Bill Galvan (Art); Alex Simmons (Writing);
February 22, 2023

Are you a Pussycats fan or a lover of The Archies? This collection combines all of the bands’ best crossover storylines into a single digestible volume.

Leftover Fries
World of Archie Jumbo Comics Digest #127
Archie Jumbo Comics Digest #337

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Lisa Fernandes

Lisa Fernandes

missmelbouvier@gmail.com
Lisa Fernandes

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