Archie

The success of Arrow has now preceded no less than four CW DC dramas, so might Archie follow suit after the rave reception of Riverdale? A new development deal with Archie Comics could see additional characters landing shows to complement the malt shop murder-mystery, if not additional superhero series.

This week, the patriarchy raises its ugly head, Josie refuses to put up with white privilege, Ethel gets justice, Jughead gets all True Detective, and Betty… oh, Betty. “Body Double” was written by Yolonda Lawrence and directed by Lee Toland Krieger.

This week Veronica tries to repair her relationship with Betty, Archie tries to repair his relationship with Jughead, we find out more about Jason Blossom’s death, and Josie and the Pussycats rock out at a pep rally. “A Touch of Evil” was written by Roberto Aguirre-Sacasa and directed by Lee Toland Krieger.

Welcome to Riverdale, the latest CW show based on a comic; but instead of DC superheroes, this one is all about Archie Andrews and his pals 'n' gals! Archie Comics aficionado Chris Sims and CW teen drama superfan Emma Lawson will be your recappers for our weekly breakdown of what's hot and happening at Pop's Chock'lit Shoppe. This week, we meet all the characters we know and love, including Archie, Betty, Veronica, Kevin, Cheryl, Reggie, and Jughead --- but none of them are quite what you might expect here in Twink Peaks, and one of them might be covering up a murder. "The River's Edge" was directed by Lee Toland Krieger and written by Archie Comics' own creative director Roberto Aguirre-Sacasa.

Archie Andrews has always been quite the musician, and there are several stories involving him pursuing his dreams of rock stardom --- but his friends and family (and Reggie) have been in the musical spotlight too. For this playlist based on the current incarnation of the monthly Archie series by Mark Waid, Thomas Pitilli, Ryan Jampole, Joe Eisma, Veronica Fish et al, I decided to look at all the most beloved characters (and Reggie) and choose one song that fits each of them.

With all the characters that have been reintroduced to us over the past few years of Archie's newly rebooted universe, there are a few that we've yet to really see in the spotlight --- and chief among them is young Dilton Doiley. I mean, yes, we know from reading Jughead that he is canonically and incontrovertibly an amazing dancer, but does he still have the ability to, say, build a time machine? We just don't know. Or we didn't, until now. In this week's issue of Archie, Dilton finally reclaims the spotlight that he's been denied for so long. Or he will, anyway, if that downright satanic duo of Cheryl Blossom and Reggie Mantle don't get in the way. Check out a preview!

Of all the improvements that we've seen from the folks at Archie Comics over the past few years, the most incredible might have been their response time to trends. There was a time, as recently as ten or eleven years ago, when attempts to capitalize on what was hot among the the kids these days could take years, to the point where I once saw a comic where Jughead wore a shirt that said "Don't Taze Me, Bro" about two years after that particular meme was in the consciousness. Which, now that I think about it, was probably the least worrying thing about that choice. But no longer! Witness Archie Comics Double Digest #275, where the teens from Riverdale become obsessed with Cosmo GO!, a very familiar phone game about catching cute characters through the magic of augmented reality. Check out a preview (along with a look at the vintage stories that are published alongside it) below!

The thing you need to understand about Riverdale is that people there don't react to things with the normal levels of emotions. I mean, that's pretty obvious, right? The entire town --- the entire universe in which that town resides --- is built around the idea that this one teenager is so irresistibly alluring that it has resulted in a 75-year love triangle with dozens of characters caught in its orbit, and even if you're going by the upcoming TV show's version of Archie and his abs, that kind of all-consuming conflict is a little difficult to believe. In Riverdale, overreacting is just, you know, reacting. Which is how you get stories like the one where Veronica Lodge gets hit by a snowball and then very seriously threatens to murder an entire town.

The Holidays are upon as, and the year is basically gone. And as you know by now, that mean that here at ComicsAlliance, we're looking back at the best that comics had to offer in 2016. So here, to give you warm feeling as you head into your holiday weekend, are the best Archie Comics covers of the year.

We like to have our fun with The CW’s sexy re-imagining of any property they can get their hands on, but boy, if Archie reboot Riverdale isn’t quickly becoming the poster-child. Archie appears romantically involved with most everyone in town by the extended Riverdale trailer, with a side-helping of murderous teen angst and a little Barb.