Archie

So here's a sentence I can almost guarantee you didn't know you were going to be reading today: There's a Broadway musical based on Archie in the works, written and co-produced by Adam McKay and Funny Or Die. And before you ask, no, you are not dreaming, and yes, this is actually happening.

I'll be honest with you, folks: I have never seen any of the three (and counting) Sharknado films. This is not, I assure you, from lack of interest, as anything that can combine the destructive power of nature and the terrifying threat of sharks being whipped through the air is certainly something I want to see, but the point remains. I will tell you, though, that there's a pretty good chance that Archie vs. Sharknado is going to be the first comic I read this week. Not only does it hit the sweet spot of being one of Archie's increasingly frequent and increasingly bizarre crossovers, something that's produced more hits than misses in recent years, but it also has sweet, kindhearted Betty Cooper expressing sympathy for the sharknado, and a rarely seen reference to Josie and the Pussycats, the greatest comic book movie of all time. Check out a preview below!

Yes, it's true. In 2016, Riverdale's typical teenagers will be teaming up with New York City's original punks in a musical crossover for the ages. Saturday night at San Diego Comic-Con's "Comics & Pop Music: Making New Noise" panel, writers Alex Segura and Matthew Rosenberg revealed Archie Comics' latest, greatest, rockingest release to date, a special comic that brings together the formerly disparate worlds of CBGB's and Pop's Chocklit Shop in a hyperspeed bubblegum battle of the bands.

Now that the first volume of Archie has ended after 666 issues, in accordance with prophecy, the blood moon has risen high to herald the arrival of a new series of adventures for the man-child who bears hair the color of flame. Or... or maybe I'm just reading way too much into a coincidental issue number of the last issue? Either way, the Archie reboot from Mark Waid and Fiona Staples is now upon us, and I'm pretty excited. To celebrate our impending Archiegeddon, we've got a preview of the events of the first issue, in which Riverdale's favorite son finally takes the stage to play a little music.

Everyone loves comic book trivia, but with 75 years of superhero comics behind us right now, there’s always some new obscure fact to learn. That’s why ComicsAlliance is going deep into the minutiae of your favorite characters in our continuing video series. You think you know comics? Well, here’s a few things you might not know! With Archie's high profile relaunch just over the horizon, this week we're taking a look at America's boy friend, Archie Andrews! Find out Archie's quickly abandoned nickname, what he does with his time when he's not busy being America's typical bigamist teenager, and who the strangest visitors to darken Riverdale's doorway are, as well as several other equally interesting facts.

The impending relaunch of Archie is almost upon us, and that can mean only one thing: variant covers, including retailer exclusives from some of the country's most prominent comic shops. Yes, when Mark Waid and Fiona Staples kick off their new take on Riverdale's favorite son next month, their story will be wrapped up in not one, not two, but seventeen different covers, each one made for a specific store.

July 8th marks the first time in 74 years that we'll see a comic called Archie #1 on the stands, when Mark Waid and Fiona Staples relaunch Riverdale's favorite teenager in a new series. As we reported previously, Archie Comics is releasing several variant covers of the issue to mark the occasion --- including the covers we exclusively debuted from Ron Salas, Greg Scott, Brittney Wiilliams, and Genevieve F.T., and the cover above from The Fox artist Dean Haspiel. Haspiel's cover sees young Mr. Andrews engaging in a bit of parkour, inspired by Bob Montana's cover for the original Archie #1. However, Haspiel also posted four layouts that didn't make the cut, and they suggest some intriguing possibilities.

I don't know about you, but I did not wake up this morning expecting to see the phrase, "Jughead relaunch from the writer of Sex Criminals." And yet, here we are. Following up on the upcoming relaunch of Archie with Mark Waid and Fiona Staples, Archie Comics announced today that they plan to expand the rebooted Riverdale through a Kickstarter campaign. The goal is set at $350,000, with the money going to a trio of rebooted comics: Jughead from writer Chip Zdarsky and an unannounced artist, Life With Kevin by Dan Parent and J. Bone, and, maybe the most surprising one of all, a new Betty & Veronica #1 written and drawn by Adam Hughes.

A while back, the first issue of the newly relaunched The Black Hood made headlines pretty much everywhere --- including here at ComicsAlliance --- for being the first Archie Comics book to ever drop the f-bomb. Truly, it is a momentous occasion, but it seems that Roberto Aguirre-Sacasa and Francesco Francavilla will not be outdone, because next week's Afterlife With Archie #8 is almost certainly the first Archie comic to ever use the word "twincest-y."

Ever since it was announced, I was pretty sure that Alex de Campi and Fernando Ruiz's Archie vs. Predator was going to be everything I wanted out of comics. Now, with the first issue out, I know for a fact that's true --- at the very least, it's my favorite Predator crossover of all time, replacing even the one where Judge Dredd takes his shirt off and fights a Predator with a knife alongside Dutch's granddaughter. But really, that first issue is just the tip of an alarmingly violent iceberg, which is why I spoke to de Campi about how she prepared for the series, why she's so drawn to writing Betty, Veronica, and the medium of emojis, and why she wanted to give Dilton a giant robot Archie that he could use to fight aliens. Really.