Exec visits popular Reddit Comic Book community to interact with readers after ARCHIE #1 news
NOT FINAL promotional artwork by ARCHIE series artist Fiona Staples
Following the unexpected, massive announcement of the 2015 ARCHIE relaunch by Mark Waid and Fiona Staples, Archie Comics Publisher/CEO Jon Goldwater participated in a Reddit “Ask Me Anything” on the Comic Books subreddit of the popular community site.
Fans joined the hour-long discussion with the publisher asking questions about the upcoming ARCHIE relaunch, plans for new titles, the DARK CIRCLE launch, AFTERLIFE WITH ARCHIE and more. Take a look at some of the breaking news and insight that Jon Goldwater had to offer in the first ever Archie Comics AMA.
Potential ARCHIE character designs by Fiona Staples
ON ARCHIE #1’S INTERPRETATION OF THE ARCHIE GANG:
“The integrity of the core characters will never change.”
ON HOW ARCHIE #1 WILL STAND ON ITS OWN
“ARCHIE #1 is going to be a completely fresh take on the Archie universe. We will harken back to the early days when Archie was born, in 1941 [with the] same sort of humor and visual sight gags, but completely new, current and modern. We’re breaking ground while of course respecting the storied history of Archie.”
ON THE TONE OF ARCHIE #1
“The new ARCHIE #1 is going to first and foremost be funny. There is no dark underbelly, or gritty side of Riverdale in this series. It’s going to be a fun, lighthearted look at life in Riverdale for Archie and the entire gang. Our goal is for people to read this book and enjoy it. We have no desire to tell dark, gritty tales. I can assure that will not happen.”
Potential ARCHIE character designs by Fiona Staples
ON ARCHIE’S LONGEVITY
“I think that Archie and the gang reflect what’s best in all of us – I think when people read the books they enjoy the camaraderie and friendship amongst the entire gang, and they see it as reflective of their own lives. And hopefully can relate to some of the situations that the gang goes through – whether it’s at home, school, with friends…it’s a slice of real life done in an Archie way. And that’s eternal.”
ON ARCHIE’S CREATIVE REBIRTH
“To be honest, when I first arrived at Archie in 2009, it seemed like the company had been reprinting the same story for the past 20 years. If we were to remain competitive and interesting, we needed to do something to change the dynamic.”
“I believe that Archie and the gang are very flexible and can exist in many different worlds as long as we remain true to who they are. If you read AFTERLIFE WITH ARCHIE, even though they are in a zombie apocalypse, Archie is still Archie. The whole gang remains the same.”
“I was concerned when I came into Archie that at a certain point in one’s comic book reading life you stopped reading Archie. I knew that if we gave people something interesting to read, we could expand Archie’s audience. So that’s what we’ve done with LIFE WITH ARCHIE with AFTERLIFE and SABRINA. All we’ve done truly is expand our reach, but the core has not changed. We still print our digest books like we always have and the new ARCHIE #1 is also an effort to expand our reach again while staying true to the foundation on which this company was built.”
ON AFTERLIFE WITH ARCHIE’S ORIGINS
“AFTERLIFE started over a breakfast meeting between myself, my son Jesse and [Archie Comics Chief Creative Officer] Roberto [Aguirre-Sacasa]. Roberto mentioned how much he loved a LIFE WITH ARCHIE variant cover Francesco [Francavilla] drew, and that he was bummed that he opened the book and it wasn’t a horror story. Jesse chimed in that he felt the same way. After discussing it for a while and Roberto expressing a real passion to write an Archie horror book, AFTERLIFE WITH ARCHIE was born.”
ON A POTENTIAL AFTERLIFE WITH ARCHIE MOVIE OR TV SHOW
“The answer is YES! Absolutely! This is something that will be happening at some point in the near future – nothing to announce just yet, but rest assured it will happen.”
ON THE KEVIN KELLER RELAUNCH
“We are really excited for the Kevin reboot. I can tell you it’ll be Kevin in his early 20s, living in New York. We’ll see Kevin as his career starts to get off the ground as well as his social life developing as a young man. We’re so thrilled Dan Parent is helming the series, as he’s done from the beginning. I know Dan has a lot of surprises in store – from story to art – so it should be a lot of fun.”
ON DARK CIRCLE COMICS
“The bottom line is we need to tell great stories, and with these incredible creators, we’ve been able to do that. I can’t wait for people to read these books. Even though they’re in the superhero genre, they are able to stand alone as great comic books. The stories are exceptional and the art is A+. It’s such an exciting initiative for 2015 that when the first book comes out, BLACK HOOD #1 in February, it’s going to be a phenomenon. THE SHIELD is going to be a game-changer and from what I’ve read and seen so far, Chuck and Adam are doing a terrific job.”
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