Archie Andrews is back and the redhead and always grinning charmer of Riverdale has gone through a major makeover. The beloved character was shot dead 7 months ago in what was thought to be the last of his presence in the comic book world. But, everyone’s favourite teen icon has been brought back to life thanks to Mark Waid and Fiona Staples.
The 75 year old comic book character which made its debut in the new look at the annual Comic Con event in San Diego has seen Archie don the new look which goes well with today’s age. In his skinny jeans, white t-shirt, blue jacket and haircut that seems to be Justin Bieber inspired.
“It was clear to me that Archie was moving down the path of irrelevancy,” says Archie Comics CEO Jon Goldwater, and son of the man who created the first Archie in 1941. “I really wanted to aim for the comic book shops and the real comic book reader and do a complete relaunch of Archie.”
Mark Waid is known for his work on titles from Marvel and DC comics like Superman, The Flash, The Hulk and X-Men among many others. With a career spanning over 30 years, Waid has had over 100 comics to his credit. Fiona Staples, on the other hand has been responsible for the illustrations for the reboot. She is best known for her work in science fiction fantasy Saga.
Archie has been known to have introduced a lot of different tone over the years other than usual Archie romcom comics. Be it Zombie apocalypse or the introduction of the first LGBT character in the Archie gang or the parallel series ‘Life With Archie’ where the storyline about what would Archie’s life be like depending on whether he married Betty or Veronica.
The comic-book company has also commissioned a redesign of Betty and Jughead. Betty now dons ripped jeans, while Jughead now has a hip fashion taste and wears trendy clothes.