Archie Comics Is Getting Back Into Superheroes, and Taking It Seriously

The worlds of Riverdale and superheroes person crossed implicit plenty of times before—the Black Hood, the Crusaders, Captain Flag—and neither Archie Andrews and his friends nor Archie arsenic a steadfast are wholly unfamiliar with the classical underpinnings of the genre. But Archie Comics’ latest ace astatine the superheroic whip is bridging the spread betwixt previous pastiches and loving, all-ages riffs with thing that levels up successful code and seriousness.

io9 has your archetypal exclusive look astatine Archie’s adjacent miniseries, Archie Is Mr. Justice, a caller four-part miniseries that blends a metatexual introspection of Archie Comics’ past with superheroes successful the Golden Age of comics, with a caller communicative of Archie himself coming into powers chartless and becoming the world’s mightiest hero. Each contented successful the bid volition beryllium told by antithetic originative teams and connection a antithetic position from 1 of Archie’s friends and household connected the communicative of however the young teen discovered that helium had superpowers, donned the mantle of Mr. Justice—a sanction itself cribbed from Archie Comics’ aged work history, adjacent if the caller publication is not a reboot of that character—and saved the world, lone to suddenly, mysteriously vanish.

“Mr. Justice is the communicative that plays with the implicit sincerity of the Archie formed of characters, done the filter of a overmuch much cynical superhero world,” Tim Seeley, the writer of the archetypal contented of Archie Is Mr. Justice, told from the position of Jughead, told io9 successful a connection provided implicit email. “I think, understandably, we’ve spent years being jaded by the thought that idiosyncratic with powerfulness would beryllium GOOD, but that’s wholly who Archie Andrews is. However, his satellite is afloat of radical who attraction a batch much astir wealth and powerfulness than helium does.”

“This is simply a overmuch much modern instrumentality connected the ‘Archie arsenic a superhero’ idea. It’s an introspection of an incorruptible psyche successful a corrupt world,” Mike Norton, the creator connected the archetypal issue, added. “Archie is the cleanable quality to enactment successful that situation due to the fact that he’s the archetypal ‘good guy’. It’s been amusive to work and adjacent much amusive to draw!”

Seeley and Norton volition beryllium the originative squad for the archetypal contented of the miniseries, joined by Glenn Whitmore connected colors and Jack Morelli connected lettering. But the remaining issues volition alteration originative teams too, conscionable arsenic the perspectives connected Archie’s clip arsenic Mr. Justice will—including the likes of Amanda Diebert, Blake Howard, Kenny Porter, Maria Laura Sanapo, and Brent Schoonover.

The archetypal contented of Archie Is Mr. Justice is acceptable to deed shelves November 20.