AFTERLIFE WITH ARCHIE TV SERIES COMING TO DISNEY+

I'm really GEEKED about this announcement as I'm a big fan of the horror stories published by Archie Comics! “Afterlife with Archie,” the bestselling comic book series from Roberto Aguirre-Sacasa (“Chilling Adventures of Sabrina”) and Francesco Francavilla (“The Black Beetle”), has been greenlit for a TV series adaptation on Disney+, arriving just in time for Halloween 2027.

From Warner Bros. Television, Aguirre-Sacasa and Greg Berlanti (“You, The Flash,” “The Flight Attendant”) will serve as executive producers, bringing their signature blend of heart, humor, and high stakes to a story that turns the all-American town of Riverdale into a zombie-overrun apocalypse — where the only thing scarier than the undead is trying to survive your teenage years. When a supernatural spell from a certain teen witch backfires, unleashing an army of the possessed dead upon Riverdale, Archie and his friends must fight to stay alive, testing the friendships, romances, and loyalties.

Diary of a Girl Next Door

What do you think of when you hear, or read, "Archie, Betty, Veronica, Jughead and the gang from Riverdale?" Archie Comics of course! People have been following the comic book adventures of these characters created by John L. Goldwater since their first appearance in Pep Comics #22 on December 22, 1941.  After 73 years of focusing on portraying the adventures of the teenagers from Riverdale in the pages of comic books, publisher Archie Comics is expanding their story telling to prose for the first time with its new book Diary of a Girl Next Door.

The format of this book is very similar to the popular children/tween book Diary of a Wimpy Kid, but instead of told from a geeky boy's point of view it portrays the challenges of being a teenager from the perspective of an overachieving girl, to be specific the town of Riverdale's famous over-achieving teen Betty Cooper.  While this is written from a girl's point of view, like Wimpy Kid it is a book that will be of interest to either sex to read telling funny tales of growing up supplemented with hand-drawn sketches to help tell the story.  The book is written as if it was Betty's diary notations about how crazy a teen girl's life can be and filled with sketches she drew while jotting down her thoughts about the freshman year of high school.  Diary of a Girl Next Door is filled with BMX stunts, heroic dog training, espionage, archaeology, and a handful of Yeti to boot that will bring a smile to the faces of both children and parents who pick up this book.

Here's a glimpse at this story that takes readers through the 720-day sprint that is known as the Freshman Year of High School:

 

You can pick up Diary of a Girl Next Door from your local bookstore or online by CLICKING HERE.  Betty's diary entries are penned by an Archie Comics fan-favorite cartoonist, Tania del Rio, who is best known for crafting a manga-inspired comic of Sabrina the Teenage Witch.  Long-time Archie Comics artist Bill Galvan is the hand behind the drawings for Betty's doodles that fill her diary.  These two talents combine for a creative romp of twists and turns that is the maze of high school that everyone has to find their own way through.

DISCLAIMER:  I received a complimentary digital download of Diary of a Girl Next Door from Archie Comics to review for this post.  A Geek Daddy Blog was granted permission by Archie Comics to post the images shown in this post.  Archie Comics retains copyright on these images and they should not be displayed or printed without the company's expressed permission.

Iconic Comic Book Character is Killed Off

For the last few years Archie Comics has been chronicling the grown-up years of Archie Andrews and his gang of high school buddies from the town of Riverdale as they take on the challenges of marriage, careers, and other difficulties that go with being an "adult" in a monthly comic book series titled LIFE WITH ARCHIE.  People have been following the fictional adventures of Archie and his teenage friends (Betty Cooper, Veronica Lodge, Reggie Mantle, and Jughead Jones) since their first story was printed in 1941's Pep Comics #22 and continued throughout the last 73 years in a variety of publications.  This Wednesday, Archie Comics will be wrapping up the run of its LIFE WITH ARCHIE series in a dramatic way by killing off one of its iconic characters.  In the July 16, 2014 edition of LIFE WITH ARCHIE, Archie Andrews is killed off!

When Archie Andrews intervenes in an assassination attempt against his politician friend Kevin Keller, Archie Comics' first openly gay character, in LIFE WITH ARCHIE #36 the famous freckle faced red headed character who inspired the creation of Richie Cunningham on "Happy Days" and has been entertaining fans for decades in his own comic book publications meets his demise marking the conclusion of a series which focused on a grown-up rendition of the gang from Riverdale taking place in today's modern times.

In the LIFE WITH ARCHIE series, Kevin Keller is a married military veteran and newly elected senator who is pushing for gun control after his husband becomes involved in a shooting.  The openly gay character first appeared in the Archie Comics series VERONICA in 2010. In addition to appearing in LIFE WITH ARCHIE, the character also has his own self titled comic book and appears in the horror series AFTERLIFE WITH ARCHIE.

Archie's final moments will be the focus of LIFE WITH ARCHIE #36 and the series will conclude in August with LIFE OF ARCHIE #37 which will take place a year after the iconic comic book character's death with his friends gathering to reflect on and honor Andrews' legacy.  So who shot Archie?  You'll have to pick up the comic book to find out!

There will a few different variant covers to choose from for both LIFE WITH ARCHIE #36 and #37 retailing for $4.99 each.  There will also be a double-sized issue that combines both #36 & #37 selling for $9.99.

LIFE WITH ARCHIE #36

 

 

LIFE WITH ARCHIE #37

 

 

 

 

Archie Comics has gone on the record to say that Archie's death is not meant as a publicity stunt but rather meant to be a lesson on gun violence and a demonstration of the publisher's commitment to diversity in its publications' characters.  Archie Andrews will continue to live on in other Archie Comic series that focus more on the teenage Riverdale cast of characters now and in the future.

You can pick up these comic books at your local comic book store or online directly from the Archie Comics by CLICKING HERE.