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| Founded | 1939; 86 years ago (1939) (as MLJ Magazines) |
|---|---|
| Founders | |
| Country of origin | United States |
| Headquarters location | Pelham, New York |
| Key people |
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| Publication types | Comic books |
| Fiction genres | |
| Imprints |
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| Official website | archiecomics |
Archie Comic Publications, Inc. (often referred to simply asArchie Comics) is anAmericancomic book publisher headquartered in thevillage ofPelham, New York.[3] The company's many titles feature the fictional teenagersArchie Andrews,Jughead Jones,Betty Cooper,Veronica Lodge,Reggie Mantle,Sabrina Spellman,Josie and the Pussycats andKaty Keene. The company is also known for its long-runningSonic the Hedgehog comic series, which it published from 1992 until 2016.
The company began in 1939 asM.L.J. Magazines, Inc., which primarily publishedsuperhero comics. The initial Archie characters were created in 1941 by publisherJohn L. Goldwater and artistBob Montana,[4] in collaboration with writer Vic Bloom.[5][6][7] They first appeared inPep Comics #22 (cover-dated Dec. 1941).[5] With the creation of Archie, publisher John Goldwater hoped to appeal to fans of theAndy Hardy films starringMickey Rooney.[6]
Archie Comics was also the title of the company's longest-running publication, the first issue appearing with a cover date of Winter 1942. Starting with issue #70, the title was shortened to simplyArchie. The flagship series was relaunched from issue #1 in July 2015 with a new look and design suited for a new generation of readers, although after #32 it reverted to its historic numbering with #699.[8] Archie Comics characters and concepts have also appeared in numerous films, television programs, cartoons, and video games.
Maurice Coyne,Louis Silberkleit, andJohn L. Goldwater formed M.L.J. Magazines, Inc., and started publishing in September 1939. The company name was derived from the initials of the partners' first names.[9]
Coyne served as M.L.J.'s bookkeeper andCFO. Coyne and Silberkleit had been partners inColumbia Publications, apulp company that published its last issue in 1960. Silberkleit had a college degree fromSt. John's University, was a licensed and registered pharmacist, and had a law degree fromNew York Law School. His efforts were focused on the business, printing, separating, distribution and financial ends of the company. John Goldwater served as editor-in-chief. Goldwater was one of the founders of theComics Magazine Association of America, and he served as its president for 25 years. (The Comics Magazine Association of America is best known to comic fans for itsComics Code Authority.) Goldwater was also a national commissioner of theAnti-Defamation League.[10]
M.L.J.'s first comic book, published in September 1939 (with a November cover date), wasBlue Ribbon Comics with the first half full color and the last half in red and white tints. The first issue featuredRang-a-Tang the Wonder Dog. In November 1939 (with a January 1940 cover date),Pep Comics debuted with theShield, the first US patriotic comic book hero, created by writer and managing editorHarry Shorten and designed by artistIrv Novick.Top Notch Comics was launched in December 1941. Until March 1944, the cover feature ofPep was the Shield when Archie took over the cover. The Shield was a forerunner forJoe Simon's andJack Kirby'sCaptain America, being published 13 months earlier.[6][11]
TheAndy Hardy movies were an inspiration for Goldwater to have a comic book about a relatable normal person. TeenagedArchibald "Chick" Andrews debuted withBetty Cooper andJughead Jones inPep Comics #22 (Dec. 1941), in a story by writer Vic Bloom and artistBob Montana.[6] Archie soon became M.L.J. Magazines' headliner, which led to the company changing its name toArchie Comic Publications in 1946. Siberkleit and Coyne discontinued Columbia Publications.[6] In the late 1950s, Archie Publishing launched its "Archie Adventure Series" line with a new version of the Shield and two new characters.[9]
The February 1962 issue ofHarvey Kurtzman'sHelp! magazine featured his parody of the Archie characters in itsGoodman Beaver story, "Goodman Goes Playboy", which was illustrated by frequent collaboratorWill Elder.[12]Help! publisherJim Warren received a letter on December 6, 1961, accusingHelp! ofcopyright infringement and demanding removal of the offending issue from newsstands. Warren was unable torecall the magazine,[13] but he agreed to settle out of court rather than risk an expensive lawsuit. Warren paid Archie Comics $1,000, and ran a note of apology in a subsequent issue ofHelp![14] The story was reprinted in the book collectionExecutive Comic Book in 1962, with the artwork modified by Elder to obscure the appearance of the Archie characters. Archie Comics found their appearance still too close to its copyrighted properties, and threatened another lawsuit. Kurtzman and Elder settled out of court by handing over the copyright to the story. Archie Comics held onto the copyright and refused to allow the story to be republished. A request fromDenis Kitchen in 1983 to include the story in hisGoodman Beaver reprint collection was turned down.[13] AfterThe Comics Journal co-ownerGary Groth discovered that Archie Comics had allowed the copyright on "Goodman Goes Playboy" to expire, he had the story reprinted inThe Comics Journal #262 (September 2004),[15] and made it available as aPDF on the magazine's website.[16][17]
In the mid-1960s, during the period fans and historians call theSilver Age of Comic Books, Archie switched its superheroes to a new imprint, "Mighty Comics Group," with the MLJ heroes done in the campy humor ofthe Batman TV show. This imprint ended in 1967.[9]
In the early 1970s, Archie Enterprises Inc. wentpublic. Just over 10 years later, Louis Silberkleit's son Michael and John Goldwater's son Richard returned Archie Comic Publications to private ownership.[6] Michael Silberkleit served as chairman and co-publisher, while Richard Goldwater served as president and co-publisher.[18] Coyne retired in the 1970s as CFO.[6]
In the 1970s and 1980s,Spire Christian Comics, a line of comic books by Fleming H. Revell, obtained license to feature the Archie characters in several of its titles, includingArchie's Sonshine,Archie's Roller Coaster,Archie's Family Album, andArchie's Parables. These comics used Archie and his friends to tell stories with strong Christian themes and morals, sometimes incorporating Bible scripture. In at least one instance, the regular characters meet aChrist-like figure on the beach, and listen as he gently preaches Christian values.[19]
Archie launched a short-lived fantasy and horror imprint,Red Circle Comics, in the 1970s. The company revived that imprint in the 1980s for its brief line of superhero comics.[9] Later in the 1980s, Archie planned to publish superheroes again with theSpectrum Comics imprint, featuring a number of high-profile talents, but it cancelled this attempt before publishing a single issue.[20]
Having licensed Archie's MLJ Superheroes in 1991,DC Comics launched its imprintImpact Comics with these heroes.[21][22]
In 1992, Archie partnered withSega to create a four-partSonic the Hedgehog comic book miniseries based on the video game seriesof the same name.[23] This was continued with a full series launch in 1993, which incorporated elements from the 1993animated series byDiC Entertainment.[24] The series ran for over 20 years, becoming the longest-runningcomic series based on a video game by 2008.[25]
On April 4, 2003,Dad's Garage Theatre Company inAtlanta was scheduled to debut a new play byRoberto Aguirre-Sacasa,Archie's Weird Fantasy, which depicted Riverdale's most famous resident coming out of the closet and moving to New York. The day before the play was scheduled to open, Archie Comics issued a cease and desist order, threatening litigation if the play proceeded as written. Dad's Garage artistic director Sean Daniels said, "The play was to depict Archie and his pals from Riverdale growing up, coming out and facing censorship. Archie Comics thought if Archie was portrayed as being gay, that would dilute and tarnish his image."[26] It opened a few days later as "Weird Comic Book Fantasy" with the character names changed.[27] In 2014, Aguirre-Sacasa would become Archie's Chief Creative Officer.[28]
Bill Yoshida learned comic book lettering fromBen Oda and was hired in 1965 by Archie Comics, where he averaged 75 pages a week for 40 years for an approximate total of 156,000 pages.[29]
Archie Comics sued music duoThe Veronicas for trademark infringement in 2005 over the band's name, which Archie Comics alleges was taken from the comic book character. Archie Comics and Sire Records (The Veronicas's record label) reached a settlement involving co-promotion.[30]
In 2007, Archie Comics launched a "new look" series of stories, featuring Archie characters drawn in an updated, less cartoony style similar to the characters' first appearance. There are a total of seven storylines and each one was published as a four-part storyline in a digest series. Also each "new look" story was based on a Riverdale High novel, a series of twelve novels; seven that are published, five that are not. They were published in the 1990s.
| Title | Featured character(s) | Comic Release | Publication Date | Riverdale High Novel Counterpart |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| "Bad Boy Trouble" | Veronica,Betty | Betty & Veronica Double Digest #151–154 | July–October 2007 | "The New Kid. Grrrrr." |
| "The Matchmakers" | Jughead | Jughead's Double Digest #139–142 | April–August 2008 | "First Kiss by Jughead Jones" |
| "Break-up Blues" | Moose,Midge | Archie's Pals 'n' Gals Double Digest #125–128 | October 2008 – February 2009 | "Big children. BIG challenges. Divorced." |
| "My Father's Betrayal" | Hiram Lodge,Veronica | Betty & Veronica Double Digest #170–173 | May–August 2009 | "No Archies Allowed" |
| "Goodbye Forever" | Archie | Archie's Double Digest #200–203 | July–November 2009 | "Will Archie Comics Have Its Defunct Date?" |
| "A Funny Kind of Love" | Reggie | Archie's Pals n' Gals Double Digest #135–138 | September 2009 – February 2010 | "Reggie Mantle, Prankster" |
| "No Baseball for Betty" | Betty | Betty & Veronica Double Digest #180–183 | May–August 2010 | "Hit a Home Run" |
In 2008, Archie Publications once again licensed DC Comics its MLJ Super heroes for a DC Universe integrated line,Red Circle.[21]
Following Richard Goldwater's death in 2007 and Michael Silberkleit's in 2008, Silberkleit's widow Nancy and Goldwater's half-brother Jonathan became co-CEOs in 2009.[18] Nancy Silberkleit, a former elementary-school art teacher, was given responsibility for scholastic and theater projects, and Jon Goldwater, a former rock/pop music manager, was responsible for running the company's day-to-day publishing and entertainment efforts.[18] The company sued Silberkleit in July 2011, and Goldwater filed another lawsuit against her in January 2012, alleging she was making bad business decisions and alienating staff; she in turn sued him for defamation.[18] As of February 2012,New York Supreme Court Judge Shirley Kornreich, inManhattan, had fined Silberkleit $500 for violating the court's autumn order temporarily barring her from the company's headquarters, and said the court might appoint a temporary receiver to protect the company's assets.[18] As of May 2016[update], these legal proceedings had been resolved.[citation needed]
Beginning in 2010, the company partnered withRandom House Publisher Services for its bookstore distribution which included trade paperbacks, original graphic novels and additional book formats. Archie Comics saw its graphic novel and collected edition output increase from 11 book titles that year to 33 in 2012, and 40 in 2013. The company's sales also increased by 410% for books and 1,000% for e-books since 2010.[2]
Beginning in July 2010, the first issue ofLife with Archie was launched. The series featured two different storylines exploring two possible futures — a world where Archie marries Betty and a world where he marries Veronica. The series also incorporated more contemporary themes including death, marriage woes, same-sex marriage, cancer, financial problems and gun control.[31]
Kevin Keller, Archie Comics' first gay character, debuted inVeronica #202 in September 2010.[32] The character was created out of a conversation between Goldwater and longtime Archie Comics writer-artistDan Parent during the company's first creative summit, about bringing more diversity to Riverdale.[33] The issue sold out at the distributor level, prompting Archie Comics for the first time to issue a second edition of a comic.[34] In June 2011, Keller was featured in his own four-part miniseries.[35] A bimonthly Kevin Keller series launched with writer-artist Parent in early 2012 received aGLAAD award for Outstanding Comic Book the following year.[36]
In March 2011, a copy ofArchie Comics #1, first published in 1942, was sold at auction for $167,300, a record for a non-superhero comic book.[37]
In April 2011, Archie Comics became the first mainstream comic-book publisher to make its entire line available digitally on the same day as the print release.[38] At theNew York Comic Con in October 2011, Archie Comics announced that its superheroes would return as an all-digital line under theRed Circle imprint, a subscription model with back-issue archive access.[22] The imprint started in 2012 with a newNew Crusaders series.[39]
In October 2013, Archie Comics launched its first horror title,Afterlife with Archie, depicting Archie and the gang dealing with a zombie apocalypse that begins in their hometown ofRiverdale. Written byRoberto Aguirre-Sacasa and drawn by artist Francesco Francavilla,Afterlife with Archie was also the first Archie Comics title to be sold exclusively to comic shops and to carry a rating of "Teen+".[40] The series adapted the Archie characters into a world with adult themes and horror tropes including zombies, the occult, demons, andCthulhu.[41]
The success ofAfterlife with Archie led to a second horror series,Chilling Adventures of Sabrina, which launched in October 2014 from Aguirre-Sacasa and artist Robert Hack.[38][42]Chilling Adventures of Sabrina takes place in the 1960s in the neighboring town of Greendale, and follows a 16-year-oldSabrina Spellman as she struggles to balance her responsibilities as a witch-in-training, with her feeling for her boyfriend, Harvey Kinkle.[43]
On April 9, 2014, Archie Comics announced that the adult version of Archie Andrews featured in theLife with Archie series would die in issue #36 (July 2014), which would also be the second-to-last issue.[44] Goldwater said Archie's final fate would be the same in both of the possible parallel futures covered by the series.[45] This version of Archie was killed saving Senator Kevin Keller from an assassination attempt.[46]
In July 2014, Archie Comics announced that its superhero imprint Red Circle Comics would be rebranded asDark Circle Comics in 2015.[47] The new imprint focuses on self-contained stories featuring the superheroes from the Red Circle library while exploring the crime, horror, and adventure genres. The first wave included the superheroes the Black Hood, the Fox, and the Shield.[48] Dark Circle Comics debuted withThe Black Hood #1 (Feb. 2015) by writerDuane Swierczynski and artistMichael Gaydos in February 2015. The mature-readers title introduced policer officer Gregory Hettinger, the new Black Hood, who struggles with an addiction to painkillers as a result of a shooting outside a school in Philadelphia.[49] The launch continued withThe Fox (April 2015), picking up where Red Circle'sThe Fox series had left. The series was co-written byDean Haspiel andMark Waid with art by Haspiel.[50]The Shield #1 (Oct. 2015) from co-writers Chuck Wendig and Adam Christopher and artist Drew Johnson debuted a new, female Shield named Victoria Adams.[51]The Hangman #1 (Nov. 2015) introduced a supernatural horror series from writer Frank Tieri and artist Felix Ruiz about mob hit-man Mike Minetta making a deal with the devil to become the new Hangman after the previous person to wear the mantle ascended to Heaven.[52]
Archie Comics launched a $350,000Kickstarter in May 2015 campaign to help the publisher get three additional series out to the public sooner than otherwise:Life with Kevin, focusing on Kevin Keller, and newJughead andBetty and Veronica series.[53] Five days later, Archie Comics cancelled the campaign after critical response. The company stated that the three titles would still be published at a later time.[54]
In March 2015, Archie Comics announced that its two delayed horror series would return under a new imprint,Archie Horror, withChilling Adventures of Sabrina #2 andAfterlife with Archie #8 being released in April and May.[55]
In December 2014, Archie Comics announced that its flagship seriesArchie would relaunch with a new first issue in July 2015.[56] The new series would be a modern take on the Archie characters by writer Mark Waid and artistFiona Staples, featuring serialized storylines.[57] After the first three issues, Annie Wu drew an issue, followed by new regular artistVeronica Fish.[58] The new title received IGN's "Best New Comic Series of 2015" award.[59]
The first title in the company's "New Riverdale" universe,Archie was released with a July 2015 cover date and came in at #7 for comic book sales for the month.[60] The next title,Jughead, was released in October. In April 2015, Archie Comics announcedBetty and Veronica which debuted in July 2016. Also announced wasLife with Kevin, a digital-first mini-series that debuted in June 2016.[61]Josie and the Pussycats andReggie and Me followed in September and December 2016.
Roberto Aguirre-Sacasa, playwright, screenwriter and comic book writer, was appointed Archie Comics chief creative officer in March 2014.[62] Archie characters landed a live-action TV series,Riverdale, at Fox with a script deal plus penalty in October 2014.Warner Bros Television andBerlanti Productions were producing.[63] However, the show was not selected for broadcast until January 29, 2016, when it was picked up by the CW.[64]
In February 2017, Marvel had licensed Archie Comics to publish Marvel Digests collections for the newsstand market starting in November 2017.[65] With three TV series at various stages, Archie Comics expanded its film and television operations in February 2019 to a division, Archie Comics Studios, with the hire of two executives, Siobhan Bachman, senior vice-president of film and television, and Matthew Lottman, head of development & production.[66]
Phil Lord and Christopher Miller, the filmmaking duo behind “Spider-Verse,” “The Lego Movie” and “21 Jump Street,” are bringing Archie Comics to the big screen with their production company Lord Miller, through their first-look deal with Universal Pictures.[67]
The company's headquarters is in a 10,300-square-foot (960 m2) property in the Sanborn Map Building inPelham, New York. It was in a facility ofMamaroneck, New York, with warehouse facilities and 7,000 square feet (650 m2) of office space until May 2015, when it moved to its current location. Due to changes in the comics industry with digitization, the company needed more office space and less warehouse space.[3]
According to the publisher, theofficialArchie website receives 40 million hits a month.[68]
Archie is set in the fictional small town of Riverdale.
TheNew York Times postulated that "the cartoonist Bob Montana inked the original likenesses of Archie and his pals and plopped them in an idyllic Midwestern community named Riverdale because Mr. Goldwater, a New Yorker, had fond memories of time spent inHiawatha, Kansas."[69] However, others have noted resemblance between Riverdale andHaverhill, Massachusetts, where Bob Montana attendedHaverhill High School.[70]
Initially, MLJ started out publishing humor and adventure strips in anthology comic books as was the standard, but quickly added superheroes in their first title's second issue,Blue Ribbon Comics #2, withBob Phantom.[9] In January 1940,Pep Comics debuted featuring theShield, America's first patriotic comic book hero, by writer and managing editorHarry Shorten and artistIrv Novick.[11] MLJ's Golden Age heroes also included theBlack Hood, who also appeared in pulp magazines[71][72] and a radio show;[72][73] and the Wizard, who shared a title with the Shield.[74]
Later revivals of the MLJ superheroes occurred under a number of imprints: Archie Adventure Series, Mighty Comics,Red Circle Comics[9] and one aborted attempt, Spectrum Comics.[20] Archies Publications then licensed them out toDC Comics in the 1990s forImpact Comics universe imprint then again in 2008 for a DC Universe integrated Red Circle line.[21][75]
Archie's Silver Age relaunch of its superheroes under the Archie Adventure Series imprint and then the Mighty Comics imprint began with anew version of the Shield and two new characters: theJaguar and theFly.[9] In the mid-1960s with the Silver Age of Comics, Archie switched the heroes to a new imprint, "Mighty Comics Group", with the revival of all the MLJ heroes done as Marvel parodies with "the campy humor of the Batman TV show."[9] This imprint shift soon brought the company its first super hero team book similar toMarvel'sAvengers with theMighty Crusaders.[76] This imprint ended in 1967.[9]
With the conversion of Archie's Red Circle Comics from horror to superheroes in the 1980s, the Mighty Crusaders,[76] Black Hood, the Comet, theFly and two versions of the Shield had their own titles.
Archie planned to publish superheroes again in the late 1980s with an imprint calledSpectrum Comics, featuring a number of high-profile talents, includingSteve Englehart,Jim Valentino,Marv Wolfman,Michael Bair,Kelley Jones, andRob Liefeld. Planned Spectrum titles includedThe Fly,The Fox,Hangman,Jaguar,Mister Justice, andThe Shield. Ultimately, Archie cancelled Spectrum Comics before publishing a single issue.[20]
In 2012, Archie Comics relaunched its superhero imprint,Red Circle Comics, as an all-digital line under a subscription model with back issues archive access starting with New Crusader.[22][39]
In 2015, Archie Comics rebranded its superhero imprint under the new titleDark Circle Comics. It was launched in February withThe Black Hood followed by the launch ofThe Fox in April, whileThe Shield andThe Hangman followed in September and November.
 | This section needs to beupdated. Please help update this article to reflect recent events or newly available information.(January 2020) |
TheUnited States Postal Service included Archie in a set of five 44-centcommemorative postage stamps on the theme "Sunday Funnies", issued July 16, 2010. The Archie stamp featured Veronica, Archie, and Betty sharing a chocolatemilkshake. The other stamps depicted characters from the comic stripsBeetle Bailey,Calvin and Hobbes,Garfield, andDennis the Menace.[77]
In 1968,CBS began airing episodes ofThe Archie Show, a cartoon series produced byFilmation. Although it lasted only for a single season, it aired in reruns for the next decade, and was followed by several spin-off programs, which used segments from this original Archie show and new material. In 1970, Sabrina, the Teenage Witch gother own animated series, also produced by Filmation. In 1970, another Archie property received theSaturday morning cartoon treatment:Josie and the Pussycats. Unlike Archie and Sabrina, Josie's show was produced byHanna-Barbera Productions, the company behind such animated hits asYogi Bear,The Flintstones,The Jetsons, andScooby-Doo, Where Are You?. The show was followed by a spin-off,Josie and the Pussycats in Outer Space, in 1972.The Archie Show,Sabrina the Teenage Witch,Josie and the Pussycats, and several of the spin-off shows includingJosie and the Pussycats in Outer Space are currently available on DVD in complete-series boxed sets.
In 1974, Filmation producedThe U.S. of Archie, in which the gang recreated several events from American history, which lasted 16 episodes.
In 1987,DIC Entertainment produced an NBCSaturday morning cartoon,The New Archies. This children's television cartoon re-imagined the teenage students of Riverdale High School as pre-teens in junior high. Fourteen episodes of the show were produced, which aired during the show's only season in 1987 and were repeated in 1989. A short-lived Archie Comics series was produced bearing the same title and set in the same universe as the animated series. Reruns of the series ran on The Family Channel's Saturday morning lineup from 1991 to 1993, and on Toon Disney from 1998 to 2002. The cast was basically the same, but Dilton Doiley was replaced as the "intellectual" character by an African American named Eugene. Eugene's girlfriend Amani was another addition to the cast. Archie also gained a dog named Red.
In 1999, another animated program featuring Archie and his friends was produced by DIC Entertainment.Archie's Weird Mysteries featured core Archie characters solving mysteries occurring in their hometown of Riverdale. The show ran on the PAX network for only a single 40-episode season, and continues to air sporadically in reruns on various other networks. The complete series was released on DVD in 2012. As a companion to the Archie series, DIC also producedSabrina: The Animated Series,Sabrina's Secret Life andSabrina: Friends Forever; the cartoons featured Sabrina and her aunts at a younger age than they were in the comic books. Tie-in comic book titles were produced for all of these series.
In 2012, it was announced thatMoonScoop would produce a new Sabrina the Teenage Witch series titledSabrina: Secrets of a Teenage Witch. It ran for a single 26-episode season onHub Network from October 2013 until June 2014.
In 2013, MoonScoop announced that it would produce a new Archie animated series titledIt's Archie, featuring Archie and friends in junior high.[78][79] The first season was set to feature 52 11-minute episodes,[80] however the series never aired.
In 2021, a television series, titledSuperhero Kindergarten, was produced byGenius Brands.[81] The series is based on the comic series of the same name written byStan Lee.[82]
In the mid-1970s, two live-action specials of Archie and the Archie characters were aired on U.S. television. "Archie,"[83] which aired on December 19, 1976, was a one-hour pilot episode as part of the ABC Saturday Comedy Special, and "The Archie Situation Comedy Musical Variety Show,"[84] a TV movie, which aired on August 5, 1978. Both specials featured the same actors cast in their respective roles. In 1990,NBC airedArchie: To Riverdale and Back Again (titledArchie: Return to Riverdale on video), a TV movie featuringChristopher Rich as a 30-something Archie Andrews who returns to his hometown for a high school reunion, and reunites with Betty, Veronica, and several other original comic book characters.
In 1996, cable networkShowtime airedSabrina the Teenage Witch, a live-action TV movie starringMelissa Joan Hart as Sabrina. The film served as the pilot for aTV series, also starring Hart, which began airing in the fall of 1996 onABC. The sitcom was relatively faithful to the comic book series (despite major revisions to the character's backstory that were laterretconned into the comic books), and enjoyed a lengthy run until 2003. It is now available in its entirety on DVD, as is the original TV movie.
By October 2014,Greg Berlanti was developing a drama series forFox titledRiverdale with Berlanti andSarah Schechter as executive producers throughBerlanti Productions, andRoberto Aguirre-Sacasa writing the series. It would feature Archie, Betty, Veronica, Jughead, Cheryl, Toni, Sweetpea, Fangs, Reggie, Kevin, Josie & the Pussycats, and all of the parents.[85] In July 2015, the pilot was moved toThe CW.[86][87] In addition to the series offering a bold, subversive take on the gang, Aguirre-Sacasa has describedRiverdale as "Archie meetsTwin Peaks".[88] The pilot was ordered by the network in January 2016 with filming set to begin in the spring.[89] Archie is portrayed by actorKJ Apa.
In September 2017, it was reported that a live-action television series was being developed forThe CW byWarner Bros. Television andBerlanti Productions, with a planned release in the2018–2019 television season. Based on the comic series, featuring the Archie Comics characterSabrina the Teenage Witch, the series would be a companion series toRiverdale.Lee Toland Krieger will direct the pilot, which will be written byRoberto Aguirre-Sacasa. Both are executive producers along withGreg Berlanti, Sarah Schechter, and Jon Goldwater.[90] In December 2017, the project had moved toNetflix under a yet-to-be-announced new title. Two seasons, comprising ten episodes each, have been ordered by the streaming service.[91] Filming for first season will begin on March 19, 2018.[92] It is expected to film back-to-back with the second season.[93]
In January 2018, it was announced thatKiernan Shipka has signed on to play the lead role ofSabrina Spellman,[94] and CW president Mark Pedowitz noted that, "at the moment, there is no discussion about crossing over" withRiverdale.[95] Throughout February and mid-March 2018, the remaining starring cast members were cast, includingJaz Sinclair as Rosalind Walker,[96]Michelle Gomez asMary Wardell / Madam Satan,Chance Perdomo asAmbrose Spellman,[97]Lucy Davis asHilda Spellman,[98]Miranda Otto asZelda Spellman,[99]Richard Coyle as Father Blackwood,[100]Ross Lynch as Harvey Kinkle,[101] and Tati Gabrielle as Prudence.[102]Salem Saberhagen does not appear.
In August 2018, Aguirre-Sacasa revealed that anotherRiverdale spin-off was in development at The CW. He said that the series would be "very different fromRiverdale" and that it would be produced "in [the 2018–19] development cycle."[103] By January 2019, The CW issued a pilot order for the series stating that the plot will: "[follow] the lives and loves of four iconic Archie Comics characters — including fashion legend-to-beKaty Keene — as they chase their twenty-something dreams in New York City. This musical dramedy chronicles the origins and struggles of four aspiring artists trying to make it on Broadway, on the runway and in the recording studio."[104] In February of the same year, it was announced thatAshleigh Murray, who portraysJosie McCoy inRiverdale, had been cast in a lead role forKaty Keene, leading to her exit from the former.[105] By August 2019, Michael Grassi announced that there is a crossover betweenRiverdale andKaty Keene being developed.[106] Thecrossover episode aired on February 5, 2020.[107][108]
On August 20, 2025, Jeff Snider reports that a new live action series based onAfterlife With Archie is in development byDisney+.[109]
In 1994, a planned live-actionArchie movie to be released byUniversal Studios in 1995 was announced.[110] In 1996, it was said that the script was being finalized and the film was scheduled for release in 1997.[111] In 1997 it was still reported that Universal was developing the film's script.[112]
In 2001, Universal Studios andMetro-Goldwyn-Mayer releasedJosie and the Pussycats, based on thecomic of the same name.
In 2003,Miramax announced that they were working on a Betty and Veronica movie, but the project was cancelled.[113]
In 2013, it was announced that Warner Bros. would produce a live-actionArchie film, directed byJason Moore and written byRoberto Aguirre-Sacasa.[114]
An Indian feature film adaptation ofThe Archies, directed byZoya Akhtar, was in production forNetflix, with release planned for late 2023.[115]
On August 20, 2025, it was announced that Universal was developing a live-action Archie movie withPhil Lord and Christopher Miller producing andTom King penning the screenplay.[109][116]
In 2015, Archie Comics announced that they would be bringing Archie, Betty, Veronica, Jughead and the rest of the Riverdale gang toBroadway with an all-new musical.Adam McKay is set to write the book for the show whileFunny or Die will serve as a presenting partner. CEO Jon Goldwater and CCORoberto Aguirre-Sacasa will oversee production. Triptyk Studios packaged the partnership and Tara Smith, B. Swibel and Adam Westbrook will oversee development of the musical for the company. At this time no creative team for the musical has been announced.[117]
Since the [court] settlement, every Archie product has listed John Goldwater as 'creator.' The name Bob Montana falls under a separate credit line that defines him as the 'creator' of 'the original characters' likenesses.'
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