Red Circle

If you've been reading ComicsAlliance for any length of time at all, you've probably already twigged to the fact that I tend to like really weird comics. Whether it's obscure Golden Age oddities, the Ninja training manuals that were sent to comic book stores in the '80s, or the pouch-filled excesses of the '90s, that's what I love to read. And in three solid decades of reading comic books, I've rarely seen one as weird as The Fox. Even though it had some of the biggest names in comics involved -- drawn and plotted by Dean Haspiel with scripts by Mark Waid and J.M. DeMatteis -- the miniseries seemed to slip under the radar for a lot of people, and to be honest, I can see why. It's a strange story about a strange character that most people aren't too familiar with. Now that it's out in paperback, though, it's easy to pick up and read -- and you should, if only because it's even stranger when you read it all together.

The first three ongoing titles in Archie Comics' new Dark Circle line of superhero comics have been announced, and they offer an immediate glimpse of the diversity of the range, with one offbeat comedy book, one violent noir book, and what looks like a fairly classic legacy superhero story. Duane Swierczynski and Michael Gaydos tackle noir in The Black Hood; Mark Waid and Dean Haspiel return for more of The Fox; and novelists Adam Christopher and Chuck Wendig join artist Wilfredo Torres on The Shield. All three titles have promise, but they paint a slightly different picture of the line than the forbidding 'Dark Circle' umbrella might have lead readers to expect!

Archie Comics has developed a reputation for doing the unexpected and somehow pulling it off. The wholesome publisher pipped Marvel and DC to the lead in launching an ongoing book with a gay teen protagonist in Kevin Keller; it broke with the conventions of comic book continuity with its attention-grabbing Archie Marries... books; and it successfully brought zombies to Riverdale with its critically and commercially successful Afterlife With Archie books, potentially kicking off a new line of horror books. So it feels in keeping with that spirit that Archie Comics announced yesterday that it plans to relaunch its cheery (and under-exposed) Red Circle superhero line as 'Dark Circle,' a line of adult-oriented series with the sophisticated narrative ambitions of HBO or Showtime. It's certainly unexpected. Can Archie Comics pull it off?

Despite various incarnations over the years (including two separate versions published by DC Comics) and the involvement of creators like Carmine Infantino and Alex Toth, Archie's superhero characters have always been the weirder branch of the Riverdale family tree...

Archie's Red Circle app continues to deliver the ongoing adventures of the latest incarnation of its flagship heroes in Ian Flynn and Ben Bates' New Crusaders series and Archie Comics has given us a first-look at covers to the book's upcoming third issue...

We've talked a lot here on ComicsAlliance about the progressive approach to storytelling that Archie Comics has been geared towards over the past few years, but the way that they've embraced digital comics has been every bit as forward-thinking...

Archie Comics is bringing its Red Circle line back in a big way in 2012 with New Crusaders by Ian Flynn and artist Ben Bates. Part of an upcoming iVerse powered app that will house serialized installments of the New Crusaders series, along with a library of previously published Red Circle material, these new six-page tales will star legacy heroes working under the direction of the first Shield af

Coming in 2012, Archie Comics' Red Circle characters return to regular adventures in New Crusaders, an ongoing digital series by writer Ian Flynn and artist Ben Bates. Establishing a new continuity inspired by many of the classic Red Circle stories told over the years, the book will follow the adventures of a young team of legacy heroes lead by the original Shield, who spring into action after the

Archie Comics will revive its former stable of Red Circle imprint super-heroes this spring via a monthly digital subscription service that will give users access to both new, regularly released six-page stories and an archive of previously-published Red Circle comics...