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Archie Comics is an American comic book publisher founded in 1939. It is most well known as the home of Archie, Betty, Veronica, Jughead, Sabrina, and Josie and the Pussycats. It is currently led by co-CEOs Jon Goldwater and Nancy Silberkleit. It serves as the main inspiration and basis for Riverdale, Chilling Adventures of Sabrina and Katy Keene.
On July 9, 2020, it was announced that Archie Comics had partnered with Spotify to create an original series of podcasts based on the Archie Comics universe. The deal encompasses the whole Archieverse, including some of its most notable characters, Archie, Betty, Jughead and Veronica. [1]
History[]
Archie Comics was originally named MLJ Magazines Inc. after the initials of the partners' first names: Maurice Coyne, Louis Silberkleit, and John L. Goldwater. MLJ published two comic book series in 1939: Blue Ribbon Comics and Top-Notch Crimes.
In January 1940, MLJ published the anthology series Pep Comics featuring the Shield. Archie Andrews, Betty Cooper, and Jughead Jones made their first appearance in Pep Comics #22, December 1941. By 1942, Archie was so popular, he was given his own series: Archie Comics - later shortened to just Archie. By 1946, MLJ Magazines had changed its name to Archie Comics Publications.
The Archie series ran from the winter of 1942 until June 2015 with multiple spinoff series and adaptations. The Archie universe was rebooted in July 2015 with a second series featuring art and story lines targeted toward a more mature (teen/YA) audience.
Archie and Riverdale[]
In 2010, Archie Comics launched a series called "Life With Archie" that focused on two different futures - one where Archie marries Betty, and one where Archie marries Veronica. In the story were numerous political conversations, including but not limited to, same-sex marriage, gun control, financial problems, and many more. In the same year, Archie Comics created its first gay character - Kevin Keller, which would later lead to them winning a GLAAD award for outstanding comics.
In 2013, they launched its first horror-based comic, titled "Afterlife with Archie" whose success led to the making of another horror-based comic titled, "Chilling Adventures of Sabrina". The latter which focused on the teenaged-witch Sabrina Spellman.
In 2014, the company announced they would be relaunching the first issue of Archie, which would focus on a modern-day Archie, Betty, Veronica, and Jughead, along with new characters. The title received IGN's "Best New Comic Series of 2015" award. Also launched in 2015 with Archie, were Jughead, Betty and Veronica, Life with Kevin, Josie and the Pussycats, and finally, Reggie and Me.
The Archie comics have been adapted numerous times over the years, be it in on stage or on the small screen. The most recent adaption has been the CW show titled Riverdale, which is a darker look on the world of Archie. In this adaption are a number of the characters from the comics, as well as similar plot-lines.
Josie and the Pussycats[]
Josie and the Pussycats (originally titled Josie and She's Josie) is a humor-based comic series originally published by Archie Comics from 1963-1982; a series of one-shots were published regularly since. It focuses on the fictional female rockband known to the world as "Josie and the Pussycats". In the band were leader Josie, and her two best friends, Melody and Pepper. In 1969, after a renovation, Pepper would be renamed Valerie.
In 1970, the series was adapted into a morning cartoon, which had its own album released shortly after. Following the successful adaption, was a movie that took place in 2001, which also had its own album released.
In 2005, Manga remade the comic, but the series focused on the Pussycats rise to fame, instead of there life after achieving it. This version included new characters such as the rival group the Vixens, and numerous other characters.
In 2016, a Josie and the Pussycats reboot was announced along with "Archie". This comic would follow modern-day versions of Josie, Melody, and Valerie (who replaced Pepper).
Josie and the Pussycats has been adapted numerous times since its publication in 1963. They had their own animated TV show of the same name, which ran for a year before being canceled (1970-1971). The show was developed by Hanna-Barbera Animation Studios, whose copyrights are now owned by Warner Bros. following the acquisition of Turner Broadcasting System in 1996, the owners of the Hanna-Barbera library at the time.
The most recent adaptation has been Warner Bros.' 2017 television show titled, Riverdale, which airs on The CW. In the adaptation, Josie, Valerie, and Melody are all women of color.
Comic Book Adaptation[]
In April 2017, Archie Comics released a comic book adaptation of the CW's Riverdale TV series, called Riverdale. With Roberto Aguirre-Sacasa and the writers of the CW's Riverdale, this ongoing series is set in the universe of the TV series. The comic series run from March 1, 2017 (counting the Riverdale One-Shot) to August 29, 2018, when it was abruptly ended with the cancellation of two planned issues never to be released. The Riverdale comics were later relaunched for a 5-issues-long miniseries that served as a companion to the third season, and simply called Riverdale Season 3.[2]
Novels and Companion Books Adaptation[]
In 2018, Archie Comics partnered with Scholastic, which has acquired world and all language rights to publish original fiction and companion books based on the CW series Riverdale. The publishing program began August 28, 2018, with the release of the Riverdale Student Handbook and later on May 28, 2019 with the first novel, titled Riverdale: The Day Before.[3] From there, a variety of books have been released, also adapting from Netflix's Chilling Adventures of Sabrina and The CW's Katy Keene.