Archie Comic Publications, Inc., is an

American American(s) may refer to: * American, something of, from, or related to the United States of America, commonly known as the "United States" or "America" ** Americans, citizens and nationals of the United States of America ** American ancestry, pe ...

comic book A comic book, also called comicbook, comic magazine or (in the United Kingdom and Ireland) simply comic, is a publication that consists of comics art in the form of sequential juxtaposed panels that represent individual scenes. Panels are of ...

publisher headquartered in Pelham,

New York New York most commonly refers to: * New York City, the most populous city in the United States, located in the state of New York * New York (state), a state in the northeastern United States New York may also refer to: Film and television * '' ...

.Archie Comics leaves Mamaroneck for Pelham
" John Golden. May 28, 2015. Westfair Communications. Retrieved on October 20, 2015. The company's many titles feature the fictional

teenagers Adolescence () is a transitional stage of physical and psychological development that generally occurs during the period from puberty to adulthood (typically corresponding to the age of majority). Adolescence is usually associated with the t ...

Archie Andrews Archibald "Archie" Andrews, created in 1941 by publisher John L. Goldwater and artist Bob Montana in collaboration with writer Vic Bloom,

Jughead Jones Forsythe Pendleton "Jughead" Jones III is one of the fictional characters created by Bob Montana and John L. Goldwater in Archie Comics who first appeared in the first Archie story, from '' Pep Comics'' #22 (December 1941). He is the drummer of ...

Betty Cooper Elizabeth "Betty" Cooper is one of the main characters appearing in American comic books published by Archie Comics. She is the lead guitarist, percussionist and one of the three singers of The Archies. The character was created by Bob Montana an ...

Veronica Lodge Veronica Cecilia Lodge is one of the main characters in the Archie Comics franchise, and is the keyboardist and one of the three vocalists of rock band The Archies. She is from New York but currently resides in the town of Riverdale, with her ...

Reggie Mantle Reginald "Reggie" Mantle is a fictional teenager in stories published by Archie Comics; he is introduced by writer-artist Bob Montana and John L. Goldwater in ''Jackpot Comics'' #5 (cover-dated Spring 1942). He also appears in CW's '' Riverdale' ...

Sabrina Spellman Sabrina Victoria Spellman is the eponymous character of the Archie Comics series ''Sabrina the Teenage Witch.'' Sabrina was created by writer George Gladir and artist Dan DeCarlo, and she first appeared in ''Archie's Mad House'' #22 in October 196 ...

, Josie and the Pussycats and Katy Keene. The company is also known for its long-running ''

Sonic the Hedgehog is a Japanese video game series and media franchise created by Sega. The franchise follows Sonic, an anthropomorphic blue hedgehog who battles the evil Doctor Eggman, a mad scientist. The main ''Sonic the Hedgehog'' games are platformers m ...

'' comic series, which it published from 1992 until 2016. The company began in 1939 as M.L.J. Magazines, Inc., which primarily published

superhero A superhero or superheroine is a stock character that typically possesses ''superpowers'', abilities beyond those of ordinary people, and fits the role of the hero, typically using his or her powers to help the world become a better place, ...

comics. The initial Archie characters were created in 1941 by publisher

John L. Goldwater John Leonard Goldwater (born Max Leonard Goldwasser;Saunders, David ''Field Guide to Wild American Pulp Artists''. Accessed Oct. 22, 2018. February 14, 1916 – February 26, 1999) co-founded (with Maurice Coyne and Louis Silberkleit) MLJ Comics ...

and artist

Bob Montana Robert William Montana (October 23, 1920 – January 4, 1975) was an American comic strip artist who created the original likenesses for characters published by Archie Comics and in the newspaper strip ''Archie''. Early life He was born in Stock ...

, in collaboration with writer Vic Bloom.''Pep Comics'' #22
at the

Grand Comics Database The Grand Comics Database (GCD) is an Internet-based project to build a database of comic book information through user contributions. The GCD project catalogues information on creator credits, story details, reprints, and other information useful ...

. Retrieved January 9, 2017. They first appeared in ''

Pep Comics ''Pep Comics'' is the name of an American comic book anthology series published by the Archie Comics predecessor MLJ Magazines Inc. (commonly known as MLJ Comics) during the 1930s and 1940s period known as the Golden Age of Comic Books. The titl ...

'' #22 (

cover-date The cover date of a periodical publication is the date displayed on the cover, which is not necessarily the true date of publication (the on-sale date or release date); later cover dates are common in magazine and comic book publishing. More unu ...

d Dec. 1941). With the creation of Archie, publisher John Goldwater hoped to appeal to fans of the

Andy Hardy Andrew "Andy" Hardy is a fictional character best known for the Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer series of 16 films in which he was played by Mickey Rooney. The films were released from 1937 to 1946, except for a final one made in 1958 in an unsuccessful att ...

films starring

Mickey Rooney Mickey Rooney (born Joseph Yule Jr.; other pseudonym Mickey Maguire; September 23, 1920 – April 6, 2014) was an American actor. In a career spanning nine decades, he appeared in more than 300 films and was among the last surviving stars of the ...

. ''

Archie Comics Archie Comic Publications, Inc., is an American comic book publisher headquartered in Pelham, New York.Maurice Coyne,

Louis Silberkleit Louis Horace Silberkleit (; 17 November 1900 – 21 February 1986) was an American publisher of magazines, books, and comic books; together with Maurice Coyne and John L. Goldwater, he co-founded MLJ Magazines (later known as Archie Comics), and ...

, and

formed M.L.J. Magazines, Inc. and started publishing in September 1939. The company name was derived from the initials of the partners' first names.Archie (MLJ) Comics
at

Don Markstein's Toonopedia Don Markstein's Toonopedia (subtitled A Vast Repository of Toonological Knowledge) is an online encyclopedia of print cartoons, comic strips and animation, initiated February 13, 2001. Donald D. Markstein, the sole writer and editor of Toonopedi ...

. From the original on April 13, 2013. Coyne served as M.L.J.'s bookkeeper and

CFO The chief financial officer (CFO) is an officer of a company or organization that is assigned the primary responsibility for managing the company's finances, including financial planning, management of financial risks, record-keeping, and financ ...

. Coyne and Silberkleit had been partners in

Columbia Publications Columbia Publications was an American publisher of pulp magazines featuring the genres of science fiction, westerns, detective stories, romance, and sports fiction. The company published such writers as Isaac Asimov, Louis L'Amour, Arthur C. Cla ...

, a pulp company that published its last pulp in 1960. Silberkleit had a college degree from St. John's University, was a licensed and registered pharmacist, and had a law degree from

New York Law School New York Law School (NYLS) is a private law school in Tribeca, New York City. NYLS has a full-time day program and a part-time evening program. NYLS's faculty includes 54 full-time and 59 adjunct professors. Notable faculty members include ...

. His efforts were focused on the business, printing, separating, distribution and financial ends of the company. John Goldwater served as editor-in-chief. Goldwater was one of the founders of the

Comics Magazine Association of America The Association of Comics Magazine Publishers (ACMP) was an American industry trade group formed in the late 1940s to regulate the content of comic books in the face of public criticism during that time. It was a precursor to the Comics Magazine A ...

, and he served as its president for 25 years. (The Comics Magazine Association of America is best known to comic fans for its

Comics Code Authority The Comics Code Authority (CCA) was formed in 1954 by the Comics Magazine Association of America as an alternative to government regulation. The CCA allowed the comic publishers to self-regulate the content of comic books in the United States. ...

.) Goldwater was also a national commissioner of the

Anti-Defamation League The Anti-Defamation League (ADL), formerly known as the Anti-Defamation League of B'nai B'rith, is an international Jewish non-governmental organization based in the United States specializing in civil rights law. It was founded in late Septe ...

. M.L.J.'s first comic book, published in September 1939 (with a November cover date), was ''

Blue Ribbon Comics ''Blue Ribbon Comics'' is the name of two American comic book anthology series, the first published by the Archie Comics predecessor MLJ Magazines Inc., commonly known as MLJ Comics, from 1939 to 1942, during the Golden Age of Comic Books. The re ...

'' with the first half full color and the last half in red and white tints. The first issue featured

Rang-a-Tang the Wonder Dog Rang-a-Tang the Wonder Dog is a fictional canine adventure hero who appeared in ''Blue Ribbon Comics'', published from 1939 to 1942 by MLJ Comics (later renamed Archie Comics) during the Golden Age of Comic Books. The character was created by writ ...

. In November 1939 (with a January 1940 cover date), ''Pep Comics'' debuted with the

Shield A shield is a piece of personal armour held in the hand, which may or may not be strapped to the wrist or forearm. Shields are used to intercept specific attacks, whether from close-ranged weaponry or projectiles such as arrows, by means of ...

, the first USA patriotic comic book hero, created by writer and managing editor Harry Shorten and designed by artist Irv Novick. ''

Top Notch Comics ''Top-Notch Comics'' is an American comic book anthology series that was published by MLJ Magazines Inc., more commonly known as MLJ Comics, during the 1930s and 1940s period known as the Golden Age of Comic Books. From issue #28 it was re-titled ...

'' was launched in December 1941. Until March 1944, the cover feature of ''Pep'' was the Shield when Archie took over the cover. The Shield was a forerunner for

Joe Simon Joseph Henry Simon (October 11, 1913 – December 14, 2011) was an American comic book writer, artist, editor, and publisher. Simon created or co-created many important characters in the 1930s–1940s Golden Age of Comic Books and served as the ...

's and

Jack Kirby Jack Kirby (born Jacob Kurtzberg; August 28, 1917 – February 6, 1994) was an American comic book artist, writer and editor, widely regarded as one of the medium's major innovators and one of its most prolific and influential creators. He gre ...

Captain America Captain America is a superhero appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics. Created by cartoonists Joe Simon and Jack Kirby, the character First appearance, first appeared in ''#Golden Age, Captain America Comics'' #1 (cover ...

, being published 13 months earlier.

Archie Comics

=1946–1990s

= The

movies were an inspiration for Goldwater to have a comic book about a relatable normal person. Teenaged Archibald "Chick" Andrews debuted with

and

in ''Pep Comics'' #22 (Dec. 1941), in a story by writer Vic Bloom and artist

. Archie soon became M.L.J. Magazines' headliner, which led to the company changing its name to Archie Comic Publications in 1946. Siberkleit and Coyne discontinued Columbia Publications. In the late 1950s, Archie Publishing launched its " Archie Adventure Series" line with a new version of the Shield and two new characters. The February 1962 issue of

Harvey Kurtzman Harvey Kurtzman (; October 3, 1924 – February 21, 1993) was an American cartoonist and editor. His best-known work includes writing and editing the parodic comic book '' Mad'' from 1952 until 1956, and writing the ''Little Ann ...

's ''

Help! ''Help!'' is the fifth studio album by the English rock band the Beatles and the soundtrack to their film of the same name. It was released on 6 August 1965. Seven of the fourteen songs, including the singles " Help!" and " Ticket to Ride", ...

'' magazine featured his parody of the Archie characters in its '' Goodman Beaver'' story, "Goodman Goes Playboy", which was illustrated by frequent collaborator

Will Elder William Elder (born Wolf William Eisenberg; September 22, 1921 – May 15, 2008) was an American illustrator and comic book artist who worked in numerous areas of commercial art but is best known for a frantically funny cartoon style that helped ...

. ''Help!'' publisher Jim Warren received a letter on December 6, 1961, accusing ''Help!'' of

copyright infringement Copyright infringement (at times referred to as piracy) is the use of works protected by copyright without permission for a usage where such permission is required, thereby infringing certain exclusive rights granted to the copyright holder, ...

and demanding removal of the offending issue from newsstands. Warren was unable to

recall Recall may refer to: * Recall (bugle call), a signal to stop * Recall (information retrieval), a statistical measure * ''ReCALL'' (journal), an academic journal about computer-assisted language learning * Recall (memory) * ''Recall'' (Overwatc ...

the magazine, but he agreed to settle out of court rather than risk an expensive lawsuit. Warren paid Archie Comics $1,000, and ran a note of apology in a subsequent issue of ''Help!'' The story was reprinted in the book collection ''Executive Comic Book'' in 1962, with the artwork modified by Elder to obscure the appearance of the Archie characters. Archie Comics found their appearance still too close to its copyrighted properties, and threatened another lawsuit. Kurtzman and Elder settled out of court by handing over the copyright to the story. Archie Comics held onto the copyright and refused to allow the story to be republished. A request from Denis Kitchen in 1983 to include the story in his ''Goodman Beaver'' reprint collection was turned down. After ''The Comics Journal'' co-owner

Gary Groth Gary Groth (born September 18, 1954) is an American comic book editor, publisher and critic. He is editor-in-chief of ''The Comics Journal'', a co-founder of Fantagraphics Books, and founder of the Harvey Awards. Early life Groth is the son of ...

discovered that Archie Comics had allowed the copyright on "Goodman Goes Playboy" to expire, he had the story reprinted in ''The Comics Journal'' #262 (September 2004), and made it available as a

PDF Portable Document Format (PDF), standardized as ISO 32000, is a file format developed by Adobe in 1992 to present documents, including text formatting and images, in a manner independent of application software, hardware, and operating systems. ...

on the magazine's website. In the mid-1960s, during the period fans and historians call the

Silver Age of Comic Books The Silver Age of Comic Books was a period of artistic advancement and widespread commercial success in mainstream American comic books, predominantly those featuring the superhero archetype. Following the Golden Age of Comic Books and an in ...

, Archie switched its superheroes to a new imprint, "

Mighty Comics Mighty may refer to: * ''Mighty'' (The Planet Smashers album) * ''Mighty'' (Kristene DiMarco album) * ''The Mighty'' (1929 film), a 1929 American action film *''The Mighty'', a 1998 comedy-drama film * ''The Mighty'' (comics), a DC Comics title *Th ...

Group," with the MLJ heroes done in the campy humor of the Batman TV show. This imprint ended in 1967. In the early 1970s, Archie Enterprises Inc. went

public In public relations and communication science, publics are groups of individual people, and the public (a.k.a. the general public) is the totality of such groupings. This is a different concept to the sociology, sociological concept of the ''Öf ...

. Just over 10 years later, Louis Silberkleit's son Michael and John Goldwater's son Richard returned Archie Comic Publications to private ownership. Michael Silberkleit served as chairman and co-publisher, while Richard Goldwater served as president and co-publisher. Coyne retired in the 1970s as CFO. In the 1970s and 1980s,

Spire Christian Comics ''Spire Christian Comics'' was a line of comic books published by Fleming H. Revell starting in 1972. In the 1980s, Barbour & Company, founded by Hugh Revell Barbour, acquired the rights to republish many of the titles in the Spire Christian Com ...

, a line of comic books by Fleming H. Revell, obtained license to feature the Archie characters in several of its titles, including ''Archie's Sonshine,'' ''Archie's Roller Coaster,'' ''Archie's Family Album,'' and ''Archie's Parables.'' These comics used Archie and his friends to tell stories with strong Christian themes and morals, sometimes incorporating Bible scripture. In at least one instance, the regular characters meet a Christ-like figure on the beach, and listen as he gently preaches Christian values. Archie launched a short-lived fantasy and horror imprint, Red Circle Comics, in the 1970s. The company revived that imprint in the 1980s for its brief line of superheroes comics. Later in the 1980s, Archie planned to publish superheroes again with the Spectrum Comics imprint, featuring a number of high-profile talents, but it cancelled this attempt before publishing a single issue. Having licensed Archie's MLJ Superheroes in 1991,

DC Comics DC Comics, Inc. ( doing business as DC) is an American comic book publisher and the flagship unit of DC Entertainment, a subsidiary of Warner Bros. Discovery. DC Comics is one of the largest and oldest American comic book companies, with the ...

launched its imprint Impact Comics with these heroes. In 1992, Archie partnered with

Sega is a Japanese multinational video game and entertainment company headquartered in Shinagawa, Tokyo. Its international branches, Sega of America and Sega Europe, are headquartered in Irvine, California and London, respectively. Its division ...

to create a four-part ''Sonic the Hedgehog'' comic book miniseries based on the video game series of the same name. This was continued with a full series launch in 1993, which incorporated elements from the 1993

animated series An animated series is a set of animated works with a common series title, usually related to one another. These episodes should typically share the same main characters, some different secondary characters and a basic theme. Series can have eith ...

DiC Entertainment DIC Entertainment Corporation (; also known as DIC Audiovisuel, DIC Enterprises, DIC Animation City, DIC Entertainment, L.P., and DIC Productions), branded as The Incredible World of DIC, was an international film and television production com ...

. The series ran for over 20 years, becoming the longest-running comic series based on a video game by 2008.

=2000s

= On April 4, 2003,

Dad's Garage Theatre Company Dad's Garage Theatre Company, located at 569 Ezzard St. in the Old Fourth Ward in Atlanta, Georgia, was founded in 1995 by Chris Blair, Marc Cram, Sean Daniels, George Faughnan, John Gregorio, David Keeton, Joseph Limbaugh, Matt Stanton, and Matt Yo ...

Atlanta Atlanta ( ) is the capital and most populous city of the U.S. state of Georgia. It is the seat of Fulton County, the most populous county in Georgia, but its territory falls in both Fulton and DeKalb counties. With a population of 498,7 ...

was scheduled to debut a new play by

Roberto Aguirre-Sacasa Roberto Aguirre-Sacasa (born 1973) is an American playwright, screenwriter, and comic book writer best known for his work for Marvel Comics and for the television series '' Glee'', '' Big Love'', '' Riverdale'', '' Chilling Adventures of Sabrina' ...

, ''Archie's Weird Fantasy,'' which depicted Riverdale's most famous resident coming out of the closet and moving to New York. The day before the play was scheduled to open, Archie Comics issued a cease and desist order, threatening litigation if the play proceeded as written. Dad's Garage artistic director Sean Daniels said, "The play was to depict Archie and his pals from Riverdale growing up, coming out and facing censorship. Archie Comics thought if Archie was portrayed as being gay, that would dilute and tarnish his image." It opened a few days later as "Weird Comic Book Fantasy" with the character names changed. In 2014, Aguirre-Sacasa would become Archie's Chief Creative Officer.

Bill Yoshida William Saburo Yoshida ( ja, 吉田三郎, December 1921 - February 17, 2005) was a long time letterer for Archie Comics. He was sometimes credited as Bill Yosh or Saburo Yoshida. Born in the United States in 1921, Yoshida and his family were pl ...

learned comic book lettering from Ben Oda and was hired in 1965 by Archie Comics, where he averaged 75 pages a week for 40 years for an approximate total of 156,000 pages. Archie Comics sued music duo The Veronicas for trademark infringement in 2005 over the band's name, which Archie Comics alleges was taken from the comic book character. Archie Comics and Sire Records (The Veronicas's record label) reached a settlement involving co-promotion. In 2008, Archie Publications once again licensed DC Comics its MLJ Super heroes for a DC Universe integrated line, Red Circle.

=2010–present

= Following Richard Goldwater's death in 2007 and Michael Silberkleit's in 2008, Silberkleit's widow Nancy and Goldwater's half brother Jonathan became co-CEOs in 2009. Nancy Silberkleit, a former elementary-school art teacher, was given responsibility for scholastic and theater projects, and Jon Goldwater, a former rock/pop music manager, was responsible for running the company's day-to-day publishing and entertainment efforts. The company sued Silberkleit in July 2011, and Goldwater filed another lawsuit against her in January 2012, alleging she was making bad business decisions and alienating staff; she in turn sued him for defamation. As of February 2012,

New York Supreme Court The Supreme Court of the State of New York is the trial-level court of general jurisdiction in the New York State Unified Court System. (Its Appellate Division is also the highest intermediate appellate court.) It is vested with unlimited civ ...

Judge Shirley Kornreich, in

Manhattan Manhattan (), known regionally as the City, is the most densely populated and geographically smallest of the five boroughs of New York City. The borough is also coextensive with New York County, one of the original counties of the U.S. state ...

, had fined Silberkleit $500 for violating the court's autumn order temporarily barring her from the company's headquarters, and said the court might appoint a temporary receiver to protect the company's assets. , these legal proceedings had been resolved. Beginning in 2010, the company partnered with Random House Publisher Services for its bookstore distribution which included trade paperbacks, original graphic novels and additional book formats. Archie Comics saw its graphic novel and collected edition output increase from 11 book titles that year to 33 in 2012, and 40 in 2013. The company's sales also increased by 410% for books and 1,000% for e-books since 2010. Beginning in July 2010, the first issue of ''

Life with Archie ''Life with Archie'' is a comic book published by Archie comics from 1958 to 1991. It featured Archie Andrews in adventure stories that were more dramatic than the standard Archie tales. In 2010, it was revived as a magazine-sized comic devoted to ...

'' was launched. The series featured two different storylines exploring two possible futures — a world where Archie marries Betty and a world where he marries Veronica. The series also incorporated more contemporary themes including death, marriage woes, same-sex marriage, cancer, financial problems and gun control. Kevin Keller, Archie Comics' first gay character, debuted in ''Veronica'' #202 in September 2010. The character was created out of a conversation between Goldwater and longtime Archie Comics writer-artist

Dan Parent Dan Parent is an American comic book artist and writer best known for his work for Archie Comics. He has illustrated Love Showdown, Felix the Cat, Barbie, Disney Adventures, and with Fernando Ruiz, created the comic series '' Die Kitty Die''. Bi ...

during the company's first creative summit, about bringing more diversity to Riverdale. The issue sold out at the distributor level, prompting Archie Comics for the first time to issue a second edition of a comic. In June 2011, Keller was featured in his own four-part miniseries. A bimonthly Kevin Keller series launched with writer-artist Parent in early 2012 received a

GLAAD GLAAD (), an acronym of Gay & Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation, is an American non-governmental media monitoring organization originally founded as a protest against defamatory coverage of gay and lesbian demographics and their portrayal ...

award for Outstanding Comic Book the following year. In March 2011, a copy of ''

Archie Comics Archie Comic Publications, Inc., is an American comic book publisher headquartered in Pelham, New York. At the

New York Comic Con The New York Comic Con is an annual New York City fan convention dedicated to Western comics, graphic novels, anime, manga, video games, cosplay, toys, movies, and television. It was first held in 2006. History The New York Comic Con is a ...

in October 2011, Archie Comics announced that its superheroes would return as an all-digital line under the Red Circle imprint, a subscription model with back-issue archive access. The imprint started in 2012 with a new ''

New Crusaders The New Crusaders is a fictional superhero team and their eponymous title published by Archie Comics' imprint Red Circle Comics. A revamp of the previously published ''Mighty Crusaders'' title, ''New Crusaders'' follows the sons and daughters of t ...

'' series. In October 2013, Archie Comics launched its first horror title, '' Afterlife with Archie,'' depicting Archie and the gang dealing with a zombie apocalypse that begins in their hometown of Riverdale. Written by

and drawn by artist Francesco Francavilla, ''Afterlife with Archie'' was also the first Archie Comics title to be sold exclusively to comic shops and to carry a rating of "Teen+". The series adapted the Archie characters into a world with adult themes and horror tropes including zombies, the occult, demons, and

Cthulhu Cthulhu is a fictional cosmic entity created by writer H. P. Lovecraft. It was first introduced in his short story "The Call of Cthulhu", published by the American pulp magazine '' Weird Tales'' in 1928. Considered a Great Old One within the pa ...

. The success of ''Afterlife with Archie'' led to a second horror series, '' Chilling Adventures of Sabrina,'' which launched in October 2014 from Aguirre-Sacasa and artist Robert Hack. ''Chilling Adventures of Sabrina'' takes place in the 1960s in the neighboring town of Greendale, and follows a 16-year-old

as she struggles to balance her responsibilities as a witch-in-training, with her feeling for her boyfriend, Harvey Kinkle. On April 9, 2014, Archie Comics announced that the adult version of Archie Andrews featured in the ''Life with Archie'' series would die in issue #36 (July 2014), which would also be the second-to-last issue. Goldwater said Archie's final fate would be the same in both of the possible parallel futures covered by the series. This version of Archie was killed saving Senator Kevin Keller from an assassination attempt. In July 2014, Archie Comics announced that its superhero imprint Red Circle Comics would be rebranded as

Dark Circle Comics Dark Circle Comics is an imprint of Archie Comics Publications, Inc. Under its previous name, Red Circle Comics, it published non-humor characters, particularly superheroes in the 1970s and 1980s, and was a digital imprint from 2012 to 2014. I ...

in 2015. The new imprint focuses on self-contained stories featuring the superheroes from the Red Circle library while exploring the crime, horror, and adventure genres. The first wave included the superheroes the Black Hood, the Fox, and the Shield. Dark Circle Comics debuted with '' The Black Hood'' #1 (Feb. 2015) by writer

Duane Swierczynski Duane Louis Swierczynski (born February 22, 1972) is an American crime writer known for his work in non-fiction books, novels and comic books. Early life Duane Swierczynski was born and raised in Frankford, a neighborhood in lower Northeast Phi ...

and artist

Michael Gaydos Michael Gaydos is an American comics artist. Career At Marvel Comics he has worked with Brian Michael Bendis on ''Alias,'' the last storyline of its follow up, '' The Pulse'', and the current sequel comic, ''Jessica Jones''. He has also illustra ...

in February 2015. The mature-readers title introduced policer officer Gregory Hettinger, the new Black Hood, who struggles with an addiction to painkillers as a result of a shooting outside a school in Philadelphia. The launch continued with '' The Fox'' (April 2015), picking up where Red Circle's ''The Fox'' series had left. The series was co-written by

Dean Haspiel Dean Edmund Haspiel (born May 31, 1967 in New York City) is an American comic book artist, writer, and playwright. He is known for creating Billy Dogma, The Red Hook, and for his collaborations with writer Harvey Pekar on his '' American Splendor ...

and

Mark Waid Mark Waid (; born March 21, 1962) is an American comic book writer best known for his work on DC Comics titles ''The Flash'', '' Kingdom Come'' and '' Superman: Birthright'' as well as his work on ''Captain America'', '' Fantastic Four'' and ''Da ...

with art by Haspiel. ''

The Shield ''The Shield'' is an American crime drama television series starring Michael Chiklis that premiered on March 12, 2002, on FX in the United States, and concluded on November 25, 2008, after seven seasons. Known for its portrayal of corrupt pol ...

'' #1 (Oct. 2015) from co-writers Chuck Wendig and Adam Christopher and artist Drew Johnson debuted a new, female Shield named Victoria Adams. '' The Hangman'' #1 (Nov. 2015) introduced a supernatural horror series from writer Frank Tieri and artist Felix Ruiz about mob hit-man Mike Minetta making a deal with the devil to become the new Hangman after the previous person to wear the mantle ascended to Heaven. Archie Comics launched a $350,000

Kickstarter Kickstarter is an American public benefit corporation based in Brooklyn, New York, that maintains a global crowdfunding platform focused on creativity. The company's stated mission is to "help bring creative projects to life". As of July 2021, ...

in May 2015 campaign to help the publisher get three additional series out to the public sooner than otherwise: ''Life with Kevin'', focusing on Kevin Keller, and new '' Jughead'' and '' Betty and Veronica'' series. Five days later, Archie Comics cancelled the campaign after critical response. The company stated that the three titles would still be published at a later time. In March 2015, Archie Comics announced that its two delayed horror series would return under a new imprint, Archie Horror, with ''Chilling Adventures of Sabrina'' #2 and ''Afterlife with Archie'' #8 being released in April and May.

=Flagship relaunch

= In December 2014, Archie Comics announced that its flagship series ''

Archie Archie is a masculine given name, a diminutive of Archibald. It may refer to: People Given name or nickname *Archie Alexander (1888–1958), African-American mathematician, engineer and governor of the US Virgin Islands * Archie Blake (mathemati ...

'' would relaunch with a new first issue in July 2015. The new series would be a modern take on the Archie characters by writer Mark Waid and artist

Fiona Staples Fiona Staples is a Canadian comic book artist known for her work on books such as ''North 40'', '' DV8: Gods and Monsters'', '' T.H.U.N.D.E.R. Agents'', ''Archie'', and ''Saga''. She has been described as one of the best artists working in the ind ...

, featuring serialized storylines. After the first three issues, Annie Wu drew an issue, followed by new regular artist

Veronica Fish Veronica Fish is an American comic book artist and painter best known for her work with Marvel Comics and Archie Comics. Early life Veronica Fish attended the School of Visual Arts in New York City for two years and received a BFA from the Mas ...

. The new title received IGN's "Best New Comic Series of 2015" award. The first title in the company's "New Riverdale" universe, ''Archie'' was released with a July 2015 cover date and came in at #7 for comic book sales for the month. The next title, ''Jughead'', was released in October. In April 2015, Archie Comics announced '' Betty and Veronica'' which debuted in July 2016. Also announced was '' Life with Kevin'', a digital-first mini-series that debuted in June 2016. '' Josie and the Pussycats'' and ''

Reggie and Me Reginald "Reggie" Mantle is a fictional teenager in stories published by Archie Comics; he is introduced by writer-artist Bob Montana and John L. Goldwater in ''Jackpot Comics'' #5 (cover-dated Spring 1942). He also appears in CW's '' Riverdale' ...

'' followed in September and December 2016. Roberto Aguirre-Sacasa, playwright, screenwriter and comic book writer, was appointed Archie Comics chief creative officer in March 2014. Archie characters landed a live-action TV series, '' Riverdale'', at Fox with a script deal plus penalty in October 2014.

Warner Bros Television Warner Bros. Television Studios (operating under the name Warner Bros. Television; formerly known as Warner Bros. Television Division) is an American television production and distribution studio of the Warner Bros. Television Group division of ...

and

Berlanti Productions Berlanti Productions is an American film and television production company founded by screenwriter, producer and filmmaker Greg Berlanti and producer Mickey Liddell. History The company was founded in 2000 as Berlanti-Liddell Productions by ...

were producing. However, the show was not picked up until January 29, 2016, when it was picked up by the CW. In February 2017, Marvel had licensed Archie Comics to publish Marvel Digests collections for the newsstand market starting in November 2017. With three TV series at various stages, Archie Comics expanded its film and television operations in February 2019 to a division, Archie Comics Studios, with the hire of two executives, Siobhan Bachman, senior vice-president of film and television, and Matthew Lottman, head of development & production.

Corporate affairs

The headquarters is in a property in the Sanborn Map Building in

Pelham, New York Pelham is a suburban town in Westchester County, approximately 10 miles northeast of Midtown Manhattan. As of the 2020 census, it had a population of 13,078, an increase from the 2010 census. Historically, Pelham was composed of five villages ...

. It was in a facility

Mamaroneck, New York Mamaroneck ( ) is a town in Westchester County, New York, United States. The population was 31,758 at the 2020 United States census over 29,156 at the 2010 census. There are two villages contained within the town: Larchmont and the Village of M ...

with warehouse facilities and of office space until May 2015, when it moved to its current location. Due to changes in the comics industry with digitization, the company needed more office space and less warehouse space.

Characters

Archie and Riverdale

''Archie'' is set in the fictional small town of Riverdale. The ''New York Times'' postulated that "the cartoonist Bob Montana inked the original likenesses of Archie and his pals and plopped them in an idyllic Midwestern community named Riverdale because Mr. Goldwater, a New Yorker, had fond memories of time spent in

Hiawatha, Kansas Hiawatha (Ioway: ''Hári Wáta'' pronounced ) is the largest city and county seat of Brown County, Kansas, United States. As of the 2020 census, the population of the city was 3,280. History Etymology B.L. Rider reportedly was responsible f ...

." However, others have noted resemblance between Riverdale and

Haverhill, Massachusetts Haverhill ( ) is a city in Essex County, Massachusetts, United States. Haverhill is located 35 miles north of Boston on the New Hampshire border and about 17 miles from the Atlantic Ocean. The population was 67,787 at the 2020 United States Cen ...

where Bob Montana attended Haverhill High School.

Superheroes

Initially, MLJ started out publishing humor and adventure strips in anthology comic books as was the standard, but quickly added superheroes in their first title's second issue, ''

'' #2, with

Bob Phantom The following is a list of characters in the ''Archie Comics'' universe. Licensed characters like Sonic the Hedgehog and Mega Man are not included in this list. ''Archie'' series Main characters Archie Andrews The character Archie Andrews w ...

. In January 1940, ''Pep Comics'' debuted featuring the

, America's first patriotic comic book hero, by writer and managing editor Harry Shorten and artist Irv Novick. MLJ's Golden Age heroes also included the

Black Hood The Black Hood is a fictional character created by MLJ Comics (later known as Archie Comics) during the period known as the "Golden Age of Comic Books". The Black Hood first appeared in ''Top-Notch Comics #9'', October 1940 and became one of MLJ ...

, who also appeared in pulp magazinesThe Black Hood
International Catalogue of Superheroes and a radio show; and the Wizard, who shared a title with the Shield. Later revivals of the MLJ superheroes occurred under a number of imprints: Archie Adventure Series, Mighty Comics, Red Circle Comics and one aborted attempt, Spectrum Comics. Archies Publications then licensed them out to

in the 1990s for Impact Comics universe imprint then again in 2008 for a DC Universe integrated Red Circle line. Archie's Silver Age relaunch of its superheroes under the Archie Adventure Series imprint and then the Mighty Comics imprint began with a new version of the Shield and two new characters the

Jaguar The jaguar (''Panthera onca'') is a large cat species and the only living member of the genus ''Panthera'' native to the Americas. With a body length of up to and a weight of up to , it is the largest cat species in the Americas and the th ...

and the

Fly Flies are insects of the order Diptera, the name being derived from the Greek δι- ''di-'' "two", and πτερόν ''pteron'' "wing". Insects of this order use only a single pair of wings to fly, the hindwings having evolved into advanced ...

. In the mid-1960s with the Silver Age of Comics, Archie switched the heroes to a new imprint, "

Group", with the revival of all the MLJ heroes done as Marvel parodies with "the campy humor of the Batman TV show." This imprint shift soon brought the company its first super hero team book similar to Marvel's Avengers with the Mighty Crusaders.Mighty Crusaders
at

. This imprint ended in 1967. With the conversion of Archie's Red Circle Comics from horror to superheroes in the 1980s, the Mighty Crusaders, Black Hood, the Comet, the Fly and two version of the Shields had their own titles. Archie planned to publish superheroes again in the late 1980s with an imprint called Spectrum Comics, featuring a number of high-profile talents, including

Steve Englehart Steve Englehart (; born April 22, 1947) is an American writer of comic books and novels. He is best known for his work at Marvel Comics and DC Comics in the 1970s and 1980s. His pseudonyms have included John Harkness and Cliff Garnett. Early lif ...

Jim Valentino Jim Valentino (born October 28, 1952) is an American writer, penciler, editor and publisher of comic books, best known for his 1990–1992 work on '' Guardians of the Galaxy'' for Marvel Comics, and for co-founding Image Comics, a company publis ...

Marv Wolfman Marvin Arthur Wolfman (born May 13, 1946) is an American comic book and novelization writer. He worked on Marvel Comics's '' The Tomb of Dracula'', for which he and artist Gene Colan created the vampire-slayer Blade, and DC Comics's ''The New Te ...

, Michael Bair,

Kelley Jones Kelley Jones (born July 23, 1962) is an American comics artist best known for his work on ''Batman'' with writer Doug Moench and on '' The Sandman'' with writer Neil Gaiman. Early life Kelley Jones was born in Sacramento, California and grew up ...

, and

Rob Liefeld Robert Liefeld (; born October 3, 1967) is an American comic book creator. A prominent writer and artist in the 1990s, he is known for co-creating the character Cable (comics), Cable with writer Louise Simonson and the character Deadpool with wri ...

. Planned Spectrum titles included '' The Fly'', '' The Fox'', '' Hangman'', ''

'', '' Mister Justice'', and ''

''. Ultimately, Archie cancelled Spectrum Comics before publishing a single issue. In 2012, Archie Comics relaunched its superhero imprint, Red Circle Comics, as an all-digital line under a subscription model with back issues archive access starting with New Crusader. In 2015, Archie Comics rebranded its superhero imprint under the new title

. It was launched in February with The Black Hood followed by the launch of '' The Fox'' in April, while ''

'' and '' The Hangman'' followed in September and November.

Titles

Titles in publication as of 2020

Archie Forever

* ''Cosmo the Mighty Martian'' * '' Archie and Katy Keene''

Archie One-Shot Series

* ''Betty and Veronica: Friends Forever'' * ''Archie & Friends''

The Archie Library

* ''Archie Jumbo Comics Digest'' * ''Betty and Veronica Comics Double Digest'' * ''World of Archie Jumbo Comics Digest'' * ''B & V Friends Jumbo Comics Digest'' * ''Archie Milestones Digest''

Other Titles

* ''Archie's Big Book Series'' * ''Archie Modern Classics''

"New look" series

In 2007, Archie Comics launched a "new look" series of stories, featuring Archie characters drawn in an updated, less cartoony style similar to the characters' first appearance. There are a total of seven storylines and each one was published as a four-part storyline in a digest series. Also each "new look" story was based on a Riverdale High novel, a series of twelve novels; seven that are published, five that are not. They were published in the 1990s.

Reprints

* Archie Archives Vol. 1 (''Pep Comics'' #22–38; Archie Comics #1–2; ''Jackpot Comics'' #4–8) * Archie Archives Vol. 2 (''Pep Comics'' #39–45; Archie Comics #3–6; ''Jackpot Comics'' #9) * Archie Archives Vol. 3 (''Pep Comics'' #46–50; Archie Comics #7–10) * Archie Archives Vol. 4 (''Pep Comics'' #51–53; Archie Comics #11–14) * Archie Archives Vol. 5 (''Pep Comics'' #54–56; Archie Comics #15–18) * Archie Archives Vol. 6 (''Pep Comics'' #57–58; Archie Comics #19–22) * Archie Archives Vol. 7 (''Pep Comics'' #59–61; Archie Comics #23–25; ''Laugh Comics'' #20–21) * Archie Archives Vol. 8 (''Pep Comics'' #62–64; Archie Comics #26–28; ''Laugh Comics'' #22–23) * Archie Archives Vol. 9 (''Pep Comics'' #65–67; Archie Comics #29–31; ''Laugh Comics'' #25–26) *Archie Archives Vol. 10 (''Pep Comics'' #67–79; Archie Comics #32–34, ''Laugh Comics'' #27–28) *Archie Archives Vol. 11 (''Pep Comics'' #70–72; Archie Comics #35–36, ''Laugh Comics'' #29–31) *Archie Archives Vol. 12 (''Pep Comics'' #73–75, ''Archie Comics'' #37–39, ''Laugh Comics'' #32–34) *Archie Archives Vol. 13 (''Pep Comics'' #76–78, Archie Comics #39–40, ''Laugh Comics'' #35–37)

Honors and awards

The

United States Postal Service The United States Postal Service (USPS), also known as the Post Office, U.S. Mail, or Postal Service, is an independent agency of the executive branch of the United States federal government responsible for providing postal service in the ...

included Archie in a set of five 44-cent

commemorative postage stamps A commemorative stamp is a postage stamp, often issued on a significant date such as an anniversary, to honor or commemorate a place, event, person, or object. The ''subject'' of the commemorative stamp is usually spelled out in print, unlike de ...

on the theme "Sunday Funnies", issued July 16, 2010. The Archie stamp featured Veronica, Archie, and Betty sharing a chocolate

milkshake A milkshake (sometimes simply called a shake) is a sweet beverage made by blending milk, ice cream, and flavorings or sweeteners such as butterscotch, caramel sauce, chocolate syrup, fruit syrup, or whole fruit into a thick, sweet, cold mixtu ...

. The other stamps depicted characters from the comic strips ''

Beetle Bailey ''Beetle Bailey'' is an American comic strip created by cartoonist Mort Walker, published since September 4, 1950. It is set on a fictional United States Army post. In the years just before Walker's death in 2018 (at age 94), it was among the old ...

'', ''

Calvin and Hobbes ''Calvin and Hobbes'' is a daily American comic strip created by cartoonist Bill Watterson that was syndicated from November 18, 1985, to December 31, 1995. Commonly cited as "the last great newspaper comic", ''Calvin and Hobbes'' has enjoyed b ...

'', ''

Garfield ''Garfield'' is an American comic strip created by Jim Davis. Originally published locally as ''Jon'' in 1976, then in nationwide syndication from 1978 as ''Garfield'', it chronicles the life of the title character Garfield the cat, his hum ...

'', and '' Dennis the Menace''.

Archie characters in other media

Television

Animation

In 1968, CBS began airing episodes of ''

The Archie Show ''The Archie Show'' (also known as ''The Archies)'' is an American musical animated sitcom television series produced by Filmation for CBS. Based on the Archie Comics, created by Bob Montana in 1941, ''The Archie Show'' aired Saturday morning ...

'', a cartoon series produced by

Filmation Filmation Associates was an American production company that produced animation and live-action programming for television from 1963 until 1989. Located in Reseda, California, the animation studio was founded in 1962. Filmation's founders and ...

. Although it only lasted for a single season, it aired in reruns for the next decade, and was followed by several spin-off programs, which used segments from this original Archie show and new material. In 1970, Sabrina, the Teenage Witch got her own animated series, also produced by Filmation. In 1970, another Archie property received the

Saturday morning cartoon "Saturday-morning cartoon" is a colloquial term for the original animated series programming that was typically scheduled on Saturday and Sunday mornings in the United States on the "Big Three" television networks. The genre's popularity had a br ...

treatment: ''Josie and the Pussycats''. Unlike Archie and Sabrina, Josie's show was produced by

Hanna-Barbera Productions Hanna-Barbera Cartoons, Inc. ( ) was an American animation studio and production company which was active from 1957 to 2001. It was founded on July 7, 1957, by William Hanna and Joseph Barbera following the decision of Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer to c ...

, the company behind such animated hits as ''

Yogi Bear Yogi Bear is an anthropomorphic animal character who has appeared in numerous comic books, animated television shows and films. He made his debut in 1958 as a supporting character in '' The Huckleberry Hound Show''. Yogi Bear was the first ...

'', ''

The Flintstones ''The Flintstones'' is an American animated sitcom produced by Hanna-Barbera Productions. The series takes place in a romanticized Stone Age setting and follows the activities of the titular family, the Flintstones, and their next-door neighb ...

'', ''

The Jetsons ''The Jetsons'' is an American animated sitcom produced by Hanna-Barbera Productions. It originally aired in prime time from September 23, 1962, to March 17, 1963, on ABC, then later aired in reruns via syndication, with new episodes produced ...

'', and ''Scooby-Doo, Where Are You?''. The show was followed by a spin-off, ''Josie and the Pussycats in Outer Space,'' in 1972. ''The Archie Show'', ''Sabrina the Teenage Witch'', ''Josie and the Pussycats'', and several of the spin-off shows including ''Josie and the Pussycats in Outer Space'' are currently available on DVD in complete series boxed sets. In 1987,

DIC Entertainment DIC Entertainment Corporation (; also known as DIC Audiovisuel, DIC Enterprises, DIC Animation City, DIC Entertainment, L.P., and DIC Productions), branded as The Incredible World of DIC, was an international film and television production com ...

produced an NBC

, ''

The New Archies ''The New Archies'' is an American animated sitcom produced by DIC Animation City, based upon the characters by Archie Comics. The series, originally produced for NBC's Saturday morning schedule and broadcast from September 12 to December 5, 198 ...

''. This children's television cartoon re-imagined the teenage students of Riverdale High School as pre-teens in junior high. Fourteen episodes of the show were produced, which aired during the show's only season in 1987 and were repeated in 1989. A short-lived Archie Comics series was produced bearing the same title and set in the same universe as the animated series. Reruns of the series ran on The Family Channel's Saturday morning lineup from 1991 to 1993, and on Toon Disney from 1998 to 2002. The cast was basically the same, but Dilton Doiley was replaced as the "intellectual" character by an African American named Eugene. Eugene's girlfriend Amani was another addition to the cast. Archie also gained a dog named Red. In 1999, another animated program featuring Archie and his friends was produced by DIC Entertainment. ''

Archie's Weird Mysteries ''Archie's Weird Mysteries'' (French: ''Archie, mystères et compagnie'') is an animated television series based on the characters by Archie Comics. The series premise revolves around a Riverdale High physics lab gone awry, making the town of R ...

'' featured core Archie characters solving mysteries occurring in their hometown of Riverdale. The show ran on the PAX network for only a single 40-episode season, and continues to air sporadically in reruns on various other networks. The complete series was released on DVD in 2012. As a companion to the Archie series, DIC also produced '' Sabrina: The Animated Series'', '' Sabrina's Secret Life'' and '' Sabrina: Friends Forever''; the cartoons featured Sabrina and her aunts at a younger age than they were in the comic books. Tie-in comic book titles were produced for all of these series. In 2012, it was announced that MoonScoop would produce a new Sabrina the Teenage Witch series titled '' Sabrina: Secrets of a Teenage Witch''. It ran for a single 26-episode season on

Hub Network Discovery Family is an American cable television channel co-owned by Warner Bros. Discovery and Hasbro Entertainment. The channel was originally launched by Discovery Communications on October 7, 1996 as Discovery Kids, a spin-off of Discover ...

from October 2013 until June 2014. In 2013, MoonScoop announced that it would produce a new Archie animated series titled ''It's Archie'', featuring Archie and friends in junior high. The first season was set to feature 52 11-minute episodes, however the series never aired. In 2021, a television series, titled ''

Superhero Kindergarten ''Superhero Kindergarten'' (also known as ''Stan Lee's Superhero Kindergarten'') is a superhero streaming television series starring Arnold Schwarzenegger and Desiree Burch. The series is created by Stan Lee, Arnold Schwarzenegger and Andy He ...

'', was produced by

Genius Brands Genius Brands International (GBI) is an entertainment company headed by Andy Heyward. The company was formed from the merger of Genius Brands International and A Squared Entertainment. History 2014–2015 Genius Brands International (GBI) was f ...

. The series is based on the comic series of the same name written by

Stan Lee Stan Lee (born Stanley Martin Lieber ; December 28, 1922 – November 12, 2018) was an American comic book writer, editor, publisher, and producer. He rose through the ranks of a family-run business called Timely Publications which ...

Live action

=1976 special and ''Archie: To Riverdale and Back Again''

= In the mid-1970s, two live-action specials of Archie and the Archie characters were aired on U.S. television. "Archie," which aired on December 19, 1976, was a one-hour pilot episode as part of the ABC Saturday Comedy Special, and "The Archie Situation Comedy Musical Variety Show," a TV Movie, which aired on August 5, 1978. Both specials featured the same actors cast in their respective roles. In 1990,

NBC The National Broadcasting Company (NBC) is an American English-language commercial broadcast television and radio network. The flagship property of the NBC Entertainment division of NBCUniversal, a division of Comcast, its headquarters are l ...

aired '' Archie: To Riverdale and Back Again'' (titled ''Archie: Return to Riverdale'' on video), a TV movie featuring Christopher Rich as a 30-something Archie Andrews who returns to his hometown for a high school reunion, and reunites with Betty, Veronica, and several other original comic book characters.

=''Sabrina the Teenage Witch''

= In 1996, cable network Showtime aired ''Sabrina the Teenage Witch'', a live-action TV movie starring

Melissa Joan Hart Melissa Joan Hart (born April 18, 1976) is an American actress, producer, and director. She had starring roles as the title characters in the sitcoms '' Clarissa Explains It All'' (1991–1994), ''Sabrina the Teenage Witch'' (1996–2003), and '' ...

as Sabrina. The film served as the pilot for a

TV series A television show – or simply TV show – is any content produced for viewing on a television set which can be broadcast via over-the-air, satellite, or cable, excluding breaking news, advertisements, or trailers that are typically placed b ...

, also starring Hart, which began airing in the fall of 1996 on ABC. The sitcom was relatively faithful to the comic book series (despite major revisions to the character's backstory that were later retconned into the comic books), and enjoyed a lengthy run until 2003. It is now available in its entirety on DVD, as is the original TV movie.

=''Riverdale''

= By October 2014,

Greg Berlanti Gregory Berlanti (born May 24, 1972) is an American screenwriter, producer and director of film and television. He is known for his work on the television series ''Dawson's Creek'', '' Brothers & Sisters'', '' Everwood'', '' Political Animals'', ...

was developing a drama series for Fox titled '' Riverdale'' with Berlanti and

Sarah Schechter Sarah Schechter is the first female rabbi in the U.S. Air Force. She joined the Air Force as a chaplain candidate, and became a chaplain when she was ordained as a Reform rabbi in 2003. Her father was an Air Force chaplain in 1960. She grew ...

as executive producers through

, and

writing the series. It would feature Archie, Betty, Veronica, Jughead, Cheryl, Toni, Sweetpea, Fangs, Reggie, Kevin, Josie & the Pussycats, and all of the parents. In July 2015, the pilot was moved to

The CW ''The'' () is a grammatical article in English, denoting persons or things already mentioned, under discussion, implied or otherwise presumed familiar to listeners, readers, or speakers. It is the definite article in English. ''The'' is the ...

. In addition to the series offering a bold, subversive take on the gang, Aguirre-Sacasa has described ''Riverdale'' as "Archie meets ''

Twin Peaks ''Twin Peaks'' is an American mystery serial drama television series created by Mark Frost and David Lynch. It premiered on ABC on April 8, 1990, and originally ran for two seasons until its cancellation in 1991. The show returned in 2017 ...

''". The pilot was ordered by the network in January 2016 with filming set to begin in the spring. Archie is portrayed by actor

KJ Apa Savae Keneti James Fitzgerald Apa, Moata'a (born 17 June 1997) is a New Zealand actor, singer and musician. He has received various accolades, including a Saturn Award and nominations for an MTV Movie & TV Award, two People's Choice Awards an ...

=''Chilling Adventures of Sabrina''

= In September 2017, it was reported that a live-action television series was being developed for

Warner Bros. Television Warner Bros. Television Studios (operating under the name Warner Bros. Television; formerly known as Warner Bros. Television Division) is an American television production and distribution studio of the Warner Bros. Television Group division of ...

and

, with a planned release in the 2018–2019 television season. Based on the comic series, featuring the Archie Comics character

Sabrina the Teenage Witch ''Sabrina the Teenage Witch'' is a comic book series published by Archie Comics about the adventures of a fictional American teenager named Sabrina Spellman. Sabrina was created by writer George Gladir and artist Dan DeCarlo, and first appeare ...

, the series would be a companion series to '' Riverdale''.

Lee Toland Krieger Lee Toland Krieger (born January 24, 1983) is an American film director and screenwriter best known for the films '' The Vicious Kind'' (2009), '' Celeste and Jesse Forever'' (2012) and ''The Age of Adaline'' (2015). Early life Krieger was born ...

will direct the pilot, which will be written by

. Both are executive producers along with

, Sarah Schechter, and Jon Goldwater. In December 2017, the project had moved to

Netflix Netflix, Inc. is an American subscription video on-demand over-the-top streaming service and production company based in Los Gatos, California. Founded in 1997 by Reed Hastings and Marc Randolph in Scotts Valley, California, it offers a ...

under a yet-to-be-announced new title. Two seasons, comprising ten episodes each, have been ordered by the streaming service. Filming for first season will begin on March 19, 2018. It is expected to film back-to-back with the second season. In January 2018, it was announced that

Kiernan Shipka Kiernan Brennan Shipka (born November 10, 1999) is an American actress, best-known for her roles as Sally Draper in the AMC drama series ''Mad Men'' (2007–2015), Sabrina Spellman in the Netflix series '' Chilling Adventures of Sabrina'' (2018 ...

has signed on to play the lead role of

, and CW president Mark Pedowitz noted that, "at the moment, there is no discussion about crossing over" with ''Riverdale''. Throughout February and mid-March 2018, the remaining starring cast members were cast, including

Jaz Sinclair Jasmine Sinclair is an American film and television actress. She is known for playing Angela in ''Paper Towns'', Anna in '' When the Bough Breaks'' and Rosalind "Roz" Walker in the Netflix series ''Chilling Adventures of Sabrina''. She will star ...

as Rosalind Walker,

Michelle Gomez Michelle Gomez (born 23 November 1966) is a Scottish actress. She gained recognition for her roles in the comedy series ''The Book Group'' (2002–2003), ''Green Wing'' (2004–2007), and '' Bad Education'' (2012–2013). She went on to appear ...

as Mary Wardell / Madam Satan,

Chance Perdomo Chance Perdomo is an American-born English actor. He appeared in ''Killed by My Debt'' (2018) and played Ambrose Spellman on the Netflix series ''Chilling Adventures of Sabrina''. Early life and education Perdomo was born in Los Angeles, Califor ...

as Ambrose Spellman,

Lucy Davis Lucy Clare Davis (born 17 February 1973) is an English actress best known for playing Dawn Tinsley in the BBC comedy ''The Office'' (2001–2003). She is also known for her roles as Hilda Spellman in the Netflix series '' The Chilling Adven ...

as Hilda Spellman, Miranda Otto as

Zelda Spellman Zelda Phiona Spellman is a character featured in the Archie comic book ''Sabrina the Teenage Witch''. Zelda is a full witch (as opposed to half or fully mortal) who lives in the fictional town of Greendale (in the 1990s live-action sitcom, Zelda ...

, Richard Coyle as Father Blackwood,

Ross Lynch Ross Shor Lynch (born December 29, 1995) is an American actor, singer, and musician. He was the lead vocalist of the pop rock band R5 and is one half of the band the Driver Era (with his brother Rocky Lynch). As an actor, he rose to recogniti ...

as Harvey Kinkle, and Tati Gabrielle as Prudence. Salem Saberhagen also appears in the series.

=''Katy Keene''

= In August 2018, Aguirre-Sacasa revealed that another ''Riverdale'' spin-off was in development at The CW. He said that the series would be "very different from ''Riverdale''" and that it would be produced "in he 2018–19development cycle." By January 2019, The CW issued a pilot order for the series stating that the plot will: " ollowthe lives and loves of four iconic Archie Comics characters — including fashion legend-to-be Katy Keene — as they chase their twenty-something dreams in New York City. This musical dramedy chronicles the origins and struggles of four aspiring artists trying to make it on Broadway, on the runway and in the recording studio." In February of the same year, it was announced that

Ashleigh Murray Ashleigh Monique Murray (born January 18, 1988) is an American actress and singer. She portrayed Josie McCoy, the lead singer of the band Josie and the Pussycats, on the CW television series '' Riverdale''. Murray reprised this role in the '' R ...

, who portrays

Josie McCoy ''Josie and the Pussycats'' (initially published as ''She's Josie'' and ''Josie'') is a teen-humor comic book about a fictional rock band, created by Dan DeCarlo and published by Archie Comics. It was published from 1963 until 1982; since then, o ...

in ''Riverdale'', had been cast in a lead role for ''Katy Keene'', leading to her exit from the former. By August 2019, Michael Grassi announced that there is a crossover between ''Riverdale'' and ''Katy Keene'' being developed. The

crossover episode A crossover is the placement of two or more otherwise discrete fictional characters, settings, or universes into the context of a single story. They can arise from legal agreements between the relevant copyright holders, unofficial efforts by ...

aired on February 5, 2020.

Film

In 1994, a planned live-action ''Archie'' movie to be released by

Universal Studios Universal Pictures (legally Universal City Studios LLC, also known as Universal Studios, or simply Universal; common metonym: Uni, and formerly named Universal Film Manufacturing Company and Universal-International Pictures Inc.) is an Americ ...

in 1995 was announced. In 1996, it was said that the script was being finalized and the film was scheduled for release in 1997. In 1997 it was still reported that Universal was developing the film's script. In 2001, Universal Studios and

Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Studios Inc., also known as Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Pictures and abbreviated as MGM, is an American film, television production, distribution and media company owned by amazon (company), Amazon through MGM Holdings, founded o ...

released '' Josie and the Pussycats'', based on the comic of the same name. In 2003,

Miramax Miramax, LLC, also known as Miramax Films, is an American film and television production and distribution company founded on December 19, 1979, by brothers Harvey and Bob Weinstein, and based in Los Angeles, California. It was initially a lea ...

announced that they were working on a Betty and Veronica movie, but the project was cancelled. In 2013, it was announced that Warner Bros. would produce a live-action ''Archie'' film, directed by Jason Moore and written by

. An Indian feature film adaptation of ''The Archies'' directed by

Zoya Akhtar Zoya Akhtar (born 14 October 1972) is an Indian film director and screenwriter who works in Hindi cinema. After completing a diploma in filmmaking from NYU, she assisted directors such as Mira Nair, Tony Gerber and Dev Benegal, before becomin ...

is currently in production for

and will be released by 2023.

Broadway

In 2015, Archie Comics announced that they would be bringing Archie, Betty, Veronica, Jughead and the rest of the Riverdale gang to

Broadway Broadway may refer to: Theatre * Broadway Theatre (disambiguation) * Broadway theatre, theatrical productions in professional theatres near Broadway, Manhattan, New York City, U.S. ** Broadway (Manhattan), the street **Broadway Theatre (53rd Stree ...

with an all-new musical. Adam McKay is set to write the book for the show while

Funny or Die Funny or Die is a comedy video website and film/television production company owned by Henry R. Muñoz III that was founded by Will Ferrell, Adam McKay, Mark Kvamme, and Chris Henchy in 2007. The website contained exclusive material from a re ...

will serve as a presenting partner. CEO Jon Goldwater and CCO

will oversee production. Triptyk Studios packaged the partnership and Tara Smith, B. Swibel and Adam Westbrook will oversee development of the musical for the company. At this time no creative team for the musical has been announced.

Official site

According to the publisher, th
official ''Archie'' website
receives 40 million hits a month. There have been many ''Archie'' licensing deals and products.

References

Works cited

* * * * *

External links

* * *

at the

Big Comic Book DataBase The Big Cartoon DataBase (or BCDB for short) is an online database of information about animated cartoons, animated feature films, animated television shows, and cartoon shorts. The BCDB project began in 1997 as a list of Disney animated feat ...

''Archie'' comic strip
at

Creators Syndicate Creators Syndicate (also known as Creators) is an American independent distributor of comic strips and syndicated columns to daily newspapers, websites, and other digital outlets. When founded in 1987, Creators Syndicate became one of the few suc ...

* {{Portal bar, United States, New York (state), Companies, Comics, Animation, Television, Comedy, 1950s, 1960s, 1980s, 1990s 1939 establishments in New York (state) Comic book publishing companies of the United States Comics publications Companies based in Westchester County, New York Pelham, New York American companies established in 1939 Publishing companies established in 1939 Comics adapted into animated series Comics adapted into television series Comics adapted into radio series