At 75, Archie Andrews set for makeover!
17 Dec 2014 12:40 AM GMT
After nearly 75 years of chasing girls through the halls of Riverdale High and hanging out at Pop Tate’s soda shop, the teenage Everyman Archie Andrews is headed for a makeover. Plans for the redheaded Romeo include a new look and an edgier tone, which will be introduced in 2015 when the Archie comic book is reset at No. 1 with a new creative team. The effort is timed to celebrate the 75th anniversary of Archie, who was introduced in 1941, and coincides with plans for a television series on Fox and an apparel line from the fashion designer Marc Ecko.
The overhaul at Archie Comic Publications extends to other parts of the company as well, including Red Circle Comics, an imprint that will be rebranded Dark Circle Comics and will reintroduce vintage superheroes like the Fox and the Shield. The updates build on changes that began about five years ago, after Jon Goldwater took over as chief executive and publisher of Archie Comics. Goldwater stepped in after the 1999 death of his father, John L Goldwater, who helped found the company in 1939.
“I found Archie to be dusty, irrelevant and watered-down,” Goldwater said. “It has taken me a while to really wrap my hands around where we are as a brand,” The New York Times reported.
Reinvigorating the brand included introducing new titles like Life With Archie, which imagined the teenager’s life as an adult and ended with his much publicized death, and Afterlife With Archie, a darker version in which Riverdale is overrun by zombies.
The overhaul at Archie Comic Publications extends to other parts of the company as well, including Red Circle Comics, an imprint that will be rebranded Dark Circle Comics and will reintroduce vintage superheroes like the Fox and the Shield. The updates build on changes that began about five years ago, after Jon Goldwater took over as chief executive and publisher of Archie Comics. Goldwater stepped in after the 1999 death of his father, John L Goldwater, who helped found the company in 1939.
“I found Archie to be dusty, irrelevant and watered-down,” Goldwater said. “It has taken me a while to really wrap my hands around where we are as a brand,” The New York Times reported.
Reinvigorating the brand included introducing new titles like Life With Archie, which imagined the teenager’s life as an adult and ended with his much publicized death, and Afterlife With Archie, a darker version in which Riverdale is overrun by zombies.
Next Story
