Archie Horror
Parent companyArchie Comics Publications, Inc.
Founded2015
Country of originUnited States
Headquarters locationPelham, New York
Key peopleRoberto Aguirre-Sacasa (Archie Chief Creative Officer)
Publication typesComics
Fiction genresHorror
Official websitearchiehorror.com

Archie Horror is an imprint of Archie Comics Publications, Inc. focusing on the company's horror-related titles. Prior to the creation of the imprint the titles were published under the normal Archie Comics banner.[1]

The titles in the imprint are rated "TEEN+" due to their content and subject matter which include realistic violence, gore, blood, disturbing scenes, and some moderate language. All titles under this imprint are set in alternative realities from the core Archie Comics series, and each title is independent from the others.

Publication history

Beginnings

In 2013, Archie Comics announced Afterlife with Archie to be written by Roberto Aguirre-Sacasa and illustrated by Francesco Francavilla. It is the first horror title as well as the first series to be rated "TEEN+" under Archie Comics.[2] The series was partially inspired by the zombie-themed variant cover Francavilla did for Life with Archie: The Married Life.[3] The series launched in October 2013 to critical and commercial success. The first eight issues sold out while some reviewers called it one of the best horror comics to come out in a long time.[4] It won three awards at the 2013 Ghastly Awards for Best New Series, Best Ongoing Title, and Best Colorist for Francesco Francavilla.[5]

In 2014, Archie Comics released Afterlife with Archie #6, which details the whereabouts of Sabrina Spellman who had not been seen since the first issue. The issue was positively received, leading Archie Comics to announce a solo series starring Sabrina in June 2014.[6] The first issue of Chilling Adventures of Sabrina, an occult horror story detailing Sabrina's teenage witch origins in the 1960s, was released in October 2014.[1] As with Afterlife with Archie, the series received critical and commercial success with the first two issues selling out.[7][8]

Creation of imprint

In March 2015, Archie Comics announced the Archie Horror imprint due to the successes of Afterlife with Archie and Chilling Adventures of Sabrina. Roberto Aguirre-Sacasa, who is also Archie Comics' Chief Creative Officer, said that "in-house we started referring to these books as the Archie Horror books" so "when it started to look like Afterlife #8 and Sabrina #2 were going to be released around the same time, why don’t we formalize something that is already happening, which is the imprint.”[9]

Chilling Adventures of Sabrina #2 was the first to be released under the imprint in April 2015, followed by Afterlife with Archie #8 in May 2015.

Further titles

A one-shot titled Jughead: The Hunger was released in March 2017 as part of Archie Comics' "pilot season" for the New Riverdale lineup. The story focuses on Jughead Jones and his family's lycanthropic heritage to explain Jughead's excessive hunger.[10] It was written by Frank Tieri with artwork provided by Michael Walsh.[11] The book was picked up as an ongoing series that July and debuted its first official issue in October with Pat & Tim Kennedy taking over as artists.[12][13]

In March 2015, along with the announcement of the imprint, Archie Comics revealed that a new title was in the works featuring a "major female Archie character from the past" for the imprint.[9] Written by Megan Smallwood, with art by co-writer Greg Smallwood, Vampironica was officially announced in December 2017 and debuted in March 2018.[14][15]

Two 5-issue limited series were announced in October 2018. From writer Cullen Bunn and artist Laura Braga, Blossoms 666 features twins Cheryl and Jason Blossom competing for the title of Antichrist. The series released its first issue in January 2019.[16] The second series, a crossover titled Jughead: The Hunger vs. Vampironica features the protagonists of the two respective titles facing off against one another. The series comes from Tieri and the Kennedys and was released in April 2019.[17][18] Jack Morelli serves as letterer for all six titles.

Titles

Ongoing series

Limited series

One-Shots


Free Comic Book Day

Creative teams

The following is a list of main and frequent contributors to publications of the Archie Horror imprint, ordered alphabetically by surname.

Afterlife with Archie
(2013) 		Chilling Adventures of Sabrina
(2014) 		Jughead: The Hunger
(2017) 		Vampironica
(2018) 		Blossoms 666
(2019) 		Jughead: The Hunger vs. Vampironica
(2019)
Roberto Aguirre-Sacasa Creator,
Writer 		 
Laura Braga   Creator,
Artist 		 
Cullen Bunn   Creator,
Writer 		 
Joe Eisma   Artist   Variant cover artist Artist
Francesco Francavilla Creator,
Artist 		Variant cover artist
Robert Hack   Creator,
Artist 		Variant cover artist
Matt Herms   Colorist
Pat & Tim Kennedy   Artists   Creators,
Artists
Jack Morelli Letterer
Greg Scott   Artist  
Greg Smallwood   Creator,
Writer,
Artist 		 
Meg Smallwood   Creator,
Writer 		 
Frank Tieri   Creator,
Writer 		  Creator,
Writer
Michael Walsh   Creator,
Artist,
Colorist 		 

Other media

Main article: Chilling Adventures of Sabrina (TV series)

In September 2017, it was reported that a live-action Chilling Adventures of Sabrina television series was being developed for The CW by Warner Bros. Television and Berlanti Productions as a companion series to Riverdale, with a planned 2018–2019 release. Lee Toland Krieger directed the pilot, which was written by Roberto Aguirre-Sacasa. Both are executive producers along with Greg Berlanti, Sarah Schechter, and Jon Goldwater.[19] In December 2017, the project moved to Netflix with a two-season order, 10 episodes each.[20] In January 2018, it was announced that Kiernan Shipka has signed on to play the lead role of Sabrina Spellman.[21] The first season of Chilling Adventures of Sabrina was released worldwide on Netflix on October 26, 2018.[22]

Collected Editions

Afterlife with Archie

Title ISBN Release Date Story Art Collected Material
Afterlife with Archie, Vol. 1: Escape From Riverdale 978-1619889088 June 4th, 2014 Roberto Aguirre-Sacasa Francesco Francavilla Afterlife with Archie #1–5
Afterlife with Archie, Vol. 2: Betty R.I.P. 978-1619889484 September 24th 2019 Roberto Aguirre-Sacasa Francesco Francavilla Afterlife with Archie #6-10

Chilling Adventures of Sabrina

Title ISBN Release Date Story Art Collected Material
Chilling Adventures of Sabrina, Vol. 1: The Crucible 978-1627389877 August 18th, 2016 Roberto Aguirre-Sacasa Robert Hack Chilling Adventures of Sabrina #1-5
Chilling Adventures Of Sabrina, Vol. 2 978-1627388030 October 13th, 2022 Roberto Aguirre-Sacasa Robert Hack Chilling Adventures of Sabrina #6-8
Chilling Adventures of Sabrina: Occult Edition 978-1682557938 17th October, 2019 Roberto Aguirre-Sacasa Robert Hack Chilling Adventures of Sabrina #1-8

Jughead: The Hunger

Title ISBN Release Date Story Art Collected Material
Jughead: The Hunger, Vol. 1 - Run Like a Wolf 978-1682559017 July 18, 2018 Frank Tieri Michael Walsh, Pat & Tim Kennedy, Joe Eisma Jughead: The Hunger one-shot, Jughead: The Hunger #1-3
Jughead: The Hunger, Vol. 2 - Welcome Home, Jughead Jones 978-1682558430 January 23, 2019 Frank Tieri Pat & Tim Kennedy, Joe Eisma Jughead: The Hunger #4–8
Jughead: The Hunger, Vol. 3 - FrankenMoose Meets the Wolf Jug! 978-1682558270 August 8, 2019 Frank Tieri Pat & Tim Kennedy, Joe Eisma Jughead: The Hunger #9–13

Vampironica

Title ISBN Release Date Story Art Collected Material
Vampironica: First Blood 978-1682558331 April 4, 2019 Greg & Meg Smallwood Greg Smallwood, Greg Scott Vampironica #1-5
Vampironica New Blood 978-1645769521 October 15, 2020 Frank Tieri, Michael Moreci Audrey Mok, Matt Herms, Jack Morelli Vampironica New Blood #1-4

Blossoms 666

Title ISBN Release Date Story Art Collected Material
Blossoms 666 978-1682557976 November 7, 2019 Cullen Bunn Laura Braga Blossoms 666 #1-5

Jughead: The Hunger vs. Vampironica

Title ISBN Release Date Story Art Collected Material
Jughead: The Hunger vs. Vampironica 978-1645769736 March 5, 2020 Frank Tieri Pat & Tim Kennedy, Joe Eisma Jughead: The Hunger vs. Vampironica #1-5

Chilling Adventures Presents

Title ISBN Release Date Story Art Collected Material
Archie Horror Presents: Chilling Adventures 978-1645768593 September 12, 2023 Cullen Bunn, Frank Tieri Various Chilling Adventures of Sabrina Presents: Madam Satan, Chilling Adventures in Sorcery, Chilling Adventures Presents: Jinx's Grim Fairy Tales, Chilling Adventures Presents... Weirder Mysteries, Chilling Adventures of Salem, The Return of Chilling Adventures in Sorcery, Happy Horror Days
Title ISBN Release Date Story Art Collected Material
Archie Horror Presents: Terrifying Tales 978-1645768593 September 03, 2024 Cullen Bunn, Frank Tieri Various Chilling Adventures Presents… Betty: The Final Girl , Chilling Adventures Presents… Pop's Chock'lit Shoppe of Horrors , Chilling Adventures Presents… The Cult of That Wilkin Boy, Chilling Adventures Presents… Jinx: A Cursed Life , Chilling Adventures Presents… Camp Pickens, Chilling Adventures Presents… Strange Science, Chilling Adventures Presents… Madam Satan: Hell On Earth

See also

References

  1. ^ a b Rivera, Joshua. "Archie Comics announces Archie Horror imprint, teases a third series following return of Sabrina and Afterlife". Entertainment Weekly. Retrieved 26 July 2015.
  2. ^ Arlington, Jody (October 18, 2013). "World War R: New Comic Pits Archie And Friends Against The Undead". NPR. Retrieved July 26, 2015.
  3. ^ McIntyre, Gina (June 10, 2013). "'Afterlife With Archie': Francesco Francavilla cover, movie details". Hero Complex. Los Angeles Times. Retrieved July 26, 2015.
  4. ^ Alexander, Chris (January 13, 2014). ""AFTERLIFE WITH ARCHIE" #3 (Comic Review)". Fangoria. Archived from the original on March 3, 2016. Retrieved March 19, 2018.
  5. ^ Rotante, Jamie (January 31, 2014). "Ghastly Award Winners Announced". Archie Horror. Retrieved July 26, 2015.
  6. ^ Nadler, Lonnie (June 3, 2014). "Archie Comics Reveals "Sabrina" Horror Series!". Bloody Disgusting. Retrieved July 26, 2015.
  7. ^ McElhatton, Greg (April 16, 2015). "CHILLING ADVENTURES OF SABRINA #2". Comic Book Resources. Archived from the original on August 18, 2015. Retrieved July 26, 2015.
  8. ^ Burlingame, Russ (April 23, 2015). "EXCLUSIVE: Chilling Adventures of Sabrina #2 Sells Out, Reprint Coming With New Cover in May". ComicBook.com. Retrieved July 26, 2015.
  9. ^ a b Arrant, Chris (March 19, 2015). "ARCHIE COMICS Announces New Horror Imprint". Newsarama. Retrieved July 26, 2015.
  10. ^ Terror, Jude (December 13, 2016). "Little Archie, The Archies, Sabrina, And Werewolf Jughead In $5 One-Shots From Archie In March". Bleeding Cool. Retrieved March 19, 2018.
  11. ^ C., Ron (December 12, 2016). "Archie Comics Expands Lineup of Acclaimed, Bestselling Titles with Wave of One-Shots by Top Talent". Archie Comics. Retrieved March 19, 2018.
  12. ^ Whitbrook, James (July 11, 2017). "Werewolf Jughead Will Return For His Own Ongoing Comic Series". io9. Retrieved March 11, 2018.
  13. ^ Fitzpatrick, Insha (October 17, 2017). "Jughead: The Hunger is Everything You Want in a Horror Comic And More". Geek.com. Archived from the original on October 17, 2018. Retrieved March 11, 2018.
  14. ^ Staley, Brandon (December 8, 2017). "Veronica is a Blood Sucker in Archie's New Vampironica Series". Comic Book Resources. Retrieved March 19, 2018.
  15. ^ C., Ron (March 12, 2018). "Vampironica is here! Preview the new Archie Comics releases for 3/14/18!". Archie Comics. Retrieved March 19, 2018.
  16. ^ Dominguez, Noah (October 3, 2018). "Archie Comics Unveils Two More Supernatural Riverdale Series". Comic Book Resources. Retrieved January 23, 2019.
  17. ^ McMillan, Graeme (October 4, 2018). "Archie Unveils 2 Horror Miniseries Based on Classic Characters". The Hollywood Reporter. Retrieved October 11, 2018.
  18. ^ Long, Christian (January 16, 2019). "EXCLUSIVE: ARCHIE COMICS PREVIEWS 4 CREEPY COVERS FOR JUGHEAD: THE HUNGER VS VAMPIRONICA". SyfyWire. Retrieved January 23, 2019.
  19. ^ Stanhope, Kate (September 20, 2017). "'Riverdale' Companion Series 'The Chilling Adventures of Sabrina' In the Works at The CW". The Hollywood Reporter. Retrieved September 20, 2017.
  20. ^ Andreeva, Nellie (December 1, 2017). "Sabrina The Teenage Witch Series Picked Up By Netflix With 2-Season Order". Deadline Hollywood. Retrieved December 1, 2017.
  21. ^ Petski, Denise (5 January 2018). "Kiernan Shipka To Star In Netflix's Sabrina The Teenage Witch Series". Deadline. Retrieved January 5, 2018.
  22. ^ Bell, Amanda (July 29, 2018). "Spooky Riverdale Spinoff The Chilling Adventures of Sabrina Finally Has a Release Date". TV Guide. Archived from the original on July 29, 2018. Retrieved July 29, 2018.
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