archie meets kiss

Over the past 10 years, Francesco Francavilla emerged as one of the most unique and prolific artists of this generation, with a slew of credits at almost every major publisher and fans clamoring to see his gorgeous style on their favorite characters. Earlier this year, Mondo hosted a special gallery show celebrating his milestone. A frequent collaborator with the Austin art house, Francavilla will also be appearing at this weekend's MondoCon. ComicsAlliance caught up with Francavilla ahead of the event for a retrospective of his first decade in comics.

Interviews, panel appearances, fan mail -- artists and writers understandably get much of the focus when we talk about professionals in the American comics industry. But beyond the front lines there's a whole host of people working hard to keep the business running: accountants, lawyers, publicists, librarians, production staff and many others. Most of these people don't have the opportunity to talk about their work with the people who read the comics they help put in their hands, but the work they do is important -- often integral -- to this industry. Whether it's making sure creators get paid, designing logos, or even planning a convention, these people affect how the whole package of our industry comes together. In the first of what we've planned as a series of spotlights on the behind-the-scenes comics pros, we're speaking with Alex Segura, Archie Comics' Senior Vice President - Publicity and Marketing. Segura started his career in comics as a journalist but has spent nearly a decade doing publicity at DC Comics and Archie, the latter of which has been especially praised by this site and others for revitalizing its brand. One of the architects of the new Archie Comics, Segura sat down with us to talk about how he ended up as a publicist and what exactly that job entails.

Following a strangely plausible visit from President Barack Obama and former Alaska Governor Sarah Palin, the town of Riverdale will play host to another set of celebrities from IRL: rock n' roll legends KISS. The band will visit Archie and the gang during the midst of a supernatural invasion that sees Riverdale overrun with monsters and zombies...