Since its relaunch last year with a new direction and a rebooted continuity, Archie has boasted a pretty incredible roster of talented artists tasked with bringing Riverdale's favorite teenager to life. Now, after debuting on the title in its latest issue, Veronica Fish has been named the regular ongoing artist of Archie Comics' flagship title.

Fish  will be joining writer Mark Waid, following Fiona Staples, who drew the initial three-issue arc, and Annie Wu, who filled in with #4's "Lipstick Incident."

 

Archie by Veronica Fish
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In addition to her work on the actual comic, Fish is also the artist of the initial concept art for Riverdale, the hour-long teen drama currently in development at the CW. Clearly, she's got a handle on the characters, and as a rising star in the world of comics, she makes for a very solid choice to take over the critically acclaimed reboot.

The announcement comes courtesy of Entertainment Weekly, where Fish spoke about the pressure of taking on the new role:

“It’s a dream job,” Fish tells EW. “And like all dream jobs, it comes with responsibilities. Even though I do feel quite a bit of pressure, I’m trying to focus on how much fun it is.”

Even though Fish isn’t exactly new to the Archie universe thanks to her guest artist stint, she still feels like she’s acclimating to the series. “I think it’ll take a few more issues to get more solid consistency,” she says. “As of today I’ve drawn 66 pages and three or four covers, so it’s settling into a good groove.” That grove also includes a comfortable collaboration with Waid, something that Fish calls “the highlight of my professional life.” “He’s an incredible writer and a great guy, so this experience means a lot to me,” she says. “I’ve been fortunate in my career to work with wonderful writers (JJ Kahrs, Chip Zdarsky, Robbie Thompson, Melissa Osbourne) and each time you learn something new in the creative process. This is my first time working on a character with this much history. Mark is more than capable of handling that, and I’m so inspired by his ideas it’s exciting to dive in. My husband knows when a new script is in because he can hear cackling laughter explode from my studio.”

 

In an interesting bit of trivia, I believe Fish is the first creator to work on an Archie comic who actually shares a name with a member of the main cast --- you would not believe how few Jugheads, Mooses and Diltons there are in the history of the comics industry --- but before you say anything, I can assure you that she's heard the jokes.

Fish's run began with Archie #5, and continues in the next issue.

 

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