cheryl blossom

As much as they've been getting coverage for the bold new direction in stuff like the reboot of the core titles and the horror-themed imprint led by Afterlife With Archie, one of Archie Comics' greatest strengths has always been that it has so much content in its back catalog. It's one of the reasons that Archie has been able to put out so many of those massive 500-page Best Of collections in recent years, but one of the most interesting the publisher has done with all that content has been its approach to digital releases. You might have missed them if you don't keep an eye on Comixology, but the usual idea is that Archie puts out a bunch of reprints built around a particular theme, like when it collected all the stories about pro wrestling from over the years. This week, it's reprinting "Queen B," a pretty fantastic story about Betty and Veronica's most bitter rival, by some of Archie's best creators.

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."

Archie Comics continues its impressive confrontation of relevant social and political topics in this month's new issue of Life With Archie, in which one of Riverdale's citizens goes through treatment for breast cancer. That character is Cheryl Blossom, the redheaded spoiler in Betty and Veronica's love triangle with Archie...