ARCHIE #23
Script: Mark Waid
Art: Audrey Mok, Kelly Fitzpatrick, Jack Morelli
Cover: Thomas Pitilli
Variant Cover: Greg Smallwood
On Sale Date: 8/23
32-page, full color comic
$3.99 U.S.
BRAND NEW STORY ARC! The fallout continues! One life has been destroyed, another family has been torn apart—and only the kids of Riverdale High can save their town from imploding!
*Warning Spoilers Below*
Archie #22 is the latest addition to the “Over the Edge” event in the relaunched Archie books, and it raises the stakes even further. Told in the same patchwork style as the previous issue, Archie #22 gives us flashbacks in to Betty Cooper’s origins, from her days as a screaming baby, to her childhood friendship with Archie, to the day she met Veronica. Unlike previous issues, the comedy is completely dropped from #22, keeping tension high throughout the book and giving the final moments the gravity they deserve.
Mark Waid’s script brings drama to the series in a way that’s been on hold since “Death of Archie” in 2014, the last major event when life or death played a part in the Archie universe. This time, however, there’s more “life” than “death”, as we finally discover that Betty has in fact survived the crash from issue #20. She flatlined at the end of issue #21, but in #22 the doctor’s bring her back from the brink. The accident still had a major impact on her, however, as the issue ends with a big reaveal: Betty can’t feel her legs.
While Betty’s fate is resolved here, there are still plenty of questions to answer. What consequences will Reggie face (Archie was released from questioning by police in issue #21, but they made reference to “dealing with” Reggie later)? Is Betty’s condition permanent? How will this effect Archie’s relationships with both Betty and Veronica? And is someone’s life still on the line?
Pick this one up for yourself–it looks like “Over the Edge” is building up to something bigger.
Story: Mark Waid Art: Pete Woods Lettering: Jack Morelli
Story: 9.0 Art: 9.0 Overall: 9.0 Recommendation: Buy
Archie Comics provided Graphic Policy with a FREE copy for review
ARCHIE #22
Script: Mark Waid
Art: Pete Woods, Jack Morelli
Cover: Pete Woods
Variant Cover: Thomas Pitilli, Greg Smallwood
On Sale Date: 7/19
32-page, full color comic
$3.99 U.S.
Tragedy has descended upon one of Riverdale’s most beloved residents. This is one you’re going to want to buy, keep, and re-read over the years, because we promise it will never leave you.
ARCHIE #22
Script: Mark Waid
Art: Pete Woods, Jack Morelli
Cover: Pete Woods
Variant Cover: Thomas Pitilli, Greg Smallwood
On Sale Date: 7/19
32-page, full color comic
$3.99 U.S.
Tragedy has descended upon one of Riverdale’s most beloved residents. This is one you’re going to want to buy, keep, and re-read over the years, because we promise it will never leave you.
ARCHIE #21
Script: Mark Waid
Art: Pete Woods, Jack Morelli
Cover: Pete Woods
Variant Covers: Matthew Dow Smith, Greg Smallwood
On Sale Date: 6/21
32-page, full color comic
$3.99 U.S.
A phone call leaves everyone in Riverdale in a state of shock and despair!
It’s new comic book day tomorrow! What’s everyone excited for? What do you plan on getting? Sound off in the comments below! While you decide on that, here’s some comic news and reviews from around the web.
Around the Tubes
Blastr – Pakistani university group creates Feminist Comic Con to celebrate women in comics – Very interesting to see and go them! Wonderful to hear they received so much support in Pakistan and around the world.
Around the Tubes Reviews
Comic Attack – All-Star Batman & Robin The Boy Wonder
Talking Comics – Archie #20
*Warning Spoilers Ahead*
The final pages of Archie #20 change everything for the residents of Riverdale – and one of Archie Comics’ most popular characters will face death as the epic “Over the Edge” storyline heads towards June’s can’t-miss Archie #21.
As revealed in the closing moments of the first chapter of “Over the Edge” by Mark Waid and Pete Woods, the dangerous street race between Archie Andrews and Reggie Mantle crashed into an unexpected bump in the road as Betty Cooper drove towards the two in an attempt to stop them. All three vehicles were sent careening over the edge as the issue leaving the fate of Riverdale’s favorite teenagers hanging in the balance.
Writer Mark Waid promises that “Over the Edge” will have lasting changes to the series in the months to come and that the effects of the storyline will change the dynamics between the cast.
While tragedy may strike Riverdale, the overall tone of the book will stay true to its core, merging the classic slapstick humor with modern teenage drama and romance.
The 3-part “Over the Edge” event launched in Archie #20. In June, a life-changing phone call will leave Riverdale’s citizens in shock and readers will discover the fate of their favorite characters in Archie #21. July’s Archie #22 will serve as a heartfelt and emotional coda to the event and set up the cast for the future of the series.
ARCHIE #21
A phone call leaves everyone in Riverdale in a state of shock and despair!
Script: Mark Waid
Art: Pete Woods, Jack Morelli
Cover: Pete Woods
Variant Covers: Matthew Dow Smith, Greg Smallwood
On Sale Date: 6/21
32-page, full color comic
$3.99 U.S.
ARCHIE #22
The end has come for one of Riverdale’s most beloved residents. This is one you’re going to want to buy, keep, and re-read over the years, because we promise it will never leave you.
Script: Mark Waid
Art: Pete Woods, Jack Morelli
Cover: Pete Woods
Variant Cover: Thomas Pitilli, Greg Smallwood
On Sale Date: 7/19
32-page, full color comic
$3.99 U.S.
Right on the tail of Riverdale‘s season finale, Archie Comics keeps up their momentum with a fresh storyline in their “All-New” Archie comics. The series rebooted in early 2016, so another reboot so soon would be largely pointless. “Over the Edge” continues the story that kicked off in issue #1, but raises the stakes from will-they-won’t-they to life-or-death.
It’s clear that at least some of Riverdale‘s appeal has rubbed off on artist Pete Woods, as Archie spends several pages gratuitously shirtless while he and Betty work on his classic jalopy. Much like every other element preserved from the original comics, the jalopy gets a backstory and becomes more important to our characters than ever before. One thing that hasn’t changed, however, is the vilification of Reggie Mantle, Riverdale’s ultimate bad guy.
Even in his own mini-series, the final words on Reggie declare him the “prince of darkness”, and this time he’s back with an attempt to steal Archie’s car (and possibly his girl.) *Spoiler – Highlight the text to read* However, all his plans are derailed when Betty speeds in to stop the plot, and they crash into each other mid-race. “Over the Edge” truly begins when Betty and Reggie go careening off the side of Serpent Hill. The story concludes with a line-up of the possible casualties of the storyline: Archie (already marked “safe” after this issue), Jughead, Betty, Veronica, and Reggie. *End Spoiler*
Writer Mark Waid has boosted the Riverdale gang to a new level of sophistication, without losing any of their timeless appeal. This continues in “Over the Edge”, as Veronica name-checks clothing designers, Betty remains fiercely protective of her friends, Jughead drops by with a bag of half-eaten burgers and Archie himself trips his way through life both literally and metaphorically. Waid remains easily one of the best things to happen to Archie since the whole universe rebooted in his “All-New Archie #1”, and the now infamous Lipstick Incident.
Archie Comics has raised the stakes before, most notably with their “Death to Archie” storyline, as well as their duel “Married Life with Archie” stories. “Over the Edge” seems more like a classic Life with Archie story, where life or death is teased for the sake of temporary drama, although the repercussions will only cause a small ripple in the universe as we know it. “Over the Edge” kicks off a little slow, but should slam into high gear by part 2 or 3.
Story: Mark Waid Art: Pete Woods
Story: 6.0 Art: 7.5 Overall: 7.0 Recommendation: Read
Archie Comics provided Graphic Policy with a FREE copy for review
ARCHIE #20
Script: Mark Waid
Art: Pete Woods, Jack Morelli
Cover: Pete Woods
Variant Covers: Elliot Fernandez with Joey Vazquez, Greg Smallwood
On Sale Date: 5/17
32-page, full color comic
$3.99 U.S.
It’s the BIGGEST comic event in ARCHIE HISTORY! Archie and Reggie’s ongoing feud reaches a fever pitch that pits the two against each other in a thrill ride on the deadly Serpent’s Tail!
After graduating from the Joe Kubert School, writer/artist Dan Parent got his first Archie Comics creator credits in 1988 and has been one of the company’s shining stars ever since. He has continued the tradition of the Archie “house” style” into the 21st century and worked a variety of classic storylines, including 1994’s “Love Showdown” that posited an end to the Betty/Veronica/Archie love triangle. and co-writing and drawing the crazy 2015 Archie vs. Sharknado crossover.
Possibly, best of all, Dan Parent created the first gay Archie character, Kevin Keller, who may or may not be my boyfriend. Kevin first appeared in 2010’s Veronica before getting his own solo title in 2012. He has played an important role in other Archie related material, like Afterlife with Archie and the Riverdale TV show. The adult Kevin Keller currently stars in the digital-exclusive Life with Kevin miniseries that Parent writes and pencils and will be wrapped up soon.
At C2E2, I had the opportunity to chat with Dan about the timelessness of the Archie characters in pop culture, the creation of Kevin Keller and his relationships as well as his upcoming comic Your Pal Archie that is coming out later in 2017 and will be written by Ty Templeton.
Graphic Policy: I’m proud to be a third-generation Archie fan. I was wondering why you think the Archie characters have endured in pop culture when its imitators, like Millie the Model, have gone into obscurity.
Dan Parent: Well, Archie was first so it was engrained in people’s heads early on. Archie is a part of Americana at this point, like Superman and Batman. He’s been around 75 years and is part of the culture. And the characters stand on their own. They’re unique characters.
GP: I like your Life with Kevin series. Why did you decide to have Kevin move to New York, and have it be the 
setting of the series?
DP: We wanted to do something different with Kevin, and since they were doing the other reboots with the other characters, we decided to do a soft reboot. We didn’t reinvent the style. We just tweaked it a little bit. You can do so much with Kevin as a character when he’s 20-22 years old because he’s in the real world, he’s dating, and jaunting up his career path. There’s so much more you can do storywise.
We took him out of the Riverdale background and also pushed the Veronica/Kevin friendship because they were a great pair in the original series.
GP: This actually leads into my next question. Why did you continue to make Kevin and Veronica BFFs in Life with Kevin?
DP: Who knows why it works, it just does. When Kevin first came to Riverdale, Veronica had a crush on him, and she wasn’t smart enough to realize he was gay when everyone else knew. And they have this unique friendship, which started out with her crushing on him, and then evolved into a really strong friendship.
They have this yin and yang kind of thing going back and forth that works.
GP: They definitely have chemistry. You’ve been working at Archie for 30 years, do you have any classic Archie artists you might want to recommend to fans who have only watched Riverdale or read the more recent Mark Waid Archie run.
DP: Absolutely. Dan DeCarlo to start with. I worked with Dan in his last decade and learned a lot from him myself. He’s the master of Archie as far as setting the modern style.
You can go back to other great artists, like Bob Montana, who was [Archie’s] creator and set the style. Dan DeCarlo kind of tweaked it and made it the house style. Harry Lucey was another inspirational artist and did a lot of great slapstick. Samm Schwartz was *the* Jughead artist for decades. His style is different than the other Archie artists. You can always tell his art right away. He’s good at Jughead because Jughead is different, and it suited his style.
Bob Montana, Dan DeCarlo, and Harry Lucey are the main go-to’s in my head. Especially Dan DeCarlo. As a kid, I was very inspired by him
GP: What was it like working with DeCarlo in his last decade?
DP: It was great. I probably learned more from him than from art school. Even though I learned a lot in art school. I’m not dissing my art school. Just the hand-on experience. He would lay out stories, and I would finish his stories for a while. So, I got to see how he would draw. And he was just a really sweet guy. I was very lucky to work with a master like him.
GP: What do you personally love about the Archie “house style”?
DP: I like it because I love simple art. It’s deceiving because it’s more difficult to pull off a simple style than a rendered style. People don’t see that. Growing up, I always loved the art that was simple. I grew up loving Harvey and Archie comics because there was a simple line to them.
Even with superhero stuff, I loved Bruce Timm and Darwyn Cooke’s art. I’m even wearing a Darwyn Cooke shirt right now. These guys had a clean, slick style that looked a little cartoon-y.
GP: You have great taste. So, there have been a lot of crazy Archie crossovers. I know you did Archie vs. Sharknado so what about Archie lends itself to being thrown into the world of Predator or the Punisher in these crossovers?
DP: Archie is such a part of pop culture any way. You’ll read old Archie stories and see him with whatever the latest fad or rock star is. I worked on Archie Meets KISS [in 2011], which gets the most fan response still. Something just works. Archie vs. Sharknado is the weirdest one.
But the personalities in Archie adapt to any situation. Jughead is always Jughead, Betty and Veronica are always the same, but they can adapt to these crazy situations. Even the Predator. They’re still the Archie gang, but they’re getting ripped apart.
GP: That’s probably my favorite one of the crossovers. You have Your Pal Archie coming up in July with writer Ty Templeton. Why should fans the of the all-new Archie and Riverdale check that out?
DP: Your Pal Archie is great because it fills the need for people who want classic Archie because the stories are very fun, simple, and old style. The style is still my style (Which is classic), but I just tweaked it a little bit. I was inspired by the fashions on the [Riverdale] show. I changed Archie’s hair and added a little detail to their faces. The changes are minimal when you look at the book, but it’s sort of a makeover.
I did Betty and Veronica Spectacular 10-15 years ago and changed the style of the book a little bit. It’s just keeping it fresh, but not straying too far from the classics.
GP: What can we expect from the first story arc?
DP: The first issue is about Jughead learning how to drive and Archie trying to teach him. I was thinking, “Of all the stories that were ever drawn, you rarely see Jughead driving.” You don’t see him driving that much. So, Ty Templeton latched onto a good story about Jughead driving. The story’s really funny. It’s like an old style slapstick story.
GP: What was has collaborating with Ty been like? I know you’re a big fan of Batman: The Animated Series, and he worked on the Batman Adventures comic back in 1990s.
DP: I’ve known him for a while and have always admired his art and writing. I was trying to come up with people to write [Your Pal Archie]. It’s good I didn’t write them because he brings a fresh outlook to the stories. Ty fills the bill because he’s flat out funny. He’s inking it too and has that nice line style that I like that adds to my artwork.
GP: This is kind of a weird fan fiction-y question. If every male character in the Archie universe was gay, bi, pan, or queer, who would Kevin Keller date?
DP: Maybe, he’d like Jughead. They have a similar taste in food. Kevin likes to eat, but not as much as Jughead. That was kind of their bonding experience in the first issue where Kevin appeared. So that might work.
GP: For my last question, I’m a big fan of the Shade the Changing Girl series from DC Comics and saw you got to draw the “Life with Honey” backup in issue 7. How did that happen?
DP: I know Jamie Rich, had done some DC covers in the fall, and reached out for work. And he had that in mind because I have a retro style like the Life with Honey show. It was fun, and I hope to do another one.
Dan Parent is currently writing and penciling Life with Kevin, writing and drawing numerous stories in the Archie Double Digests, and is the penciler on the upcoming Your Pal Archie series. He is also the co-writer and one of the artists on Chapterhouse Comics’ Die Kitty Die.