Archie was also, of course, the last holdout at newsstands. They switched to a new newsstand distributor back in 2024 as well: a company called a360media. A360 primarily distributes, well, magazine-sized magazines (and plenty of puzzle books), so that might also be the reason, or part of the reason, for the change to digests.
However, a deeper dive into the recent changes via Riverdale Reviewed reveals an even more significant shift: Archie Comics is producing almost zero new content. The latest digest format will only contain reprinted material. The company also seems to have recently embraced facsimile editions, reprinting famous older issues, such as Sabrina’s debut in 1962. Occasionally, there’s a gimmicky crossover like the recent Kevin Smith-penned Archie Meets Jay & Silent Bob.
But all the creative flowering we were seeing at Archie a decade ago? The New Archie relaunch with creators like Mark Waid, Fiona Staples, Chip Zdarsky, Erica Henderson, and J. Bone? Creative experiments like The Chilling Adventures of Sabrina and Archie: The Married Life? All gone. It is disheartening, to say the least. It was exciting to see such a venerable publisher, with seemingly old-fashioned characters, trying something new.
Now, though, a quick look at the solicits for the first quarter of the year shows almost nothing coming up from Archie and very little of it is new. In January, a new K-Pop Demon Hunters-inspired Valentine’s Day one-shot, and nothing else. In February, a new one-shot space adventure, a facsimile edition of Veronica #23, and a reprint-only digest. In March, a “jumbo” 85th anniversary celebration ($14.99 for 112 pages, shorter than the old digests used to be), a facsimile edition of Betty and Me #1, and a one-shot collection of (reprinted) Betty and Veronica pinups—so no new content at all.
But before you sound the death knell for the Riverdale gang, there are a couple of recent and very surprising announcements to take into consideration.
First, Archie will apparently be partnering with Oni Press to publish a new line of comics: Archie, Sabrina the Teenage Witch, and Archie in Hell. This is evocative of the 2015 New Riverdale relaunch I mentioned, which is exciting, except… Archie Comics does not publish it. Which is weird. It’s as if Image announced a new line of Spider-Man comics—interesting, but bizarre, and makes me wonder how broke Archie Comics is. The launch also isn’t until the fall of this year. That’s timed to coincide with the 85th anniversary of Archie’s debut, which makes sense, but is also an awful long time for the brand to limp along in the meantime. (Not to mention Oni has also had its own recent-ish issues, with a controversial merger with Lion Forge in 2022 that led to significant layoffs and allegations of not paying royalties.)
Second, Disney+ has announced it will revive the truly bonkers Riverdale franchise with an adaptation of the zombie comic Afterlife with Archie. It remains to be seen whether and when this will manifest, but a new cult phenomenon TV show can only help the struggling brand to survive.
And I do want the brand to survive. As I said, Archie comics were among the first I ever read. They’re also one of the oldest publishers in the game, dating back to 1939 (yeah, that “85th anniversary” stuff is a little bit of a fib, and I’d bet money they celebrated the same anniversary in 2024), with some of the most iconic characters in the medium. The Archie gang and the Archie company may not look the same in the years to come as they have in the past, but maybe that’s no bad thing. Some creative evolution is always necessary, and I’ll definitely be checking out those Oni Press comics when they hit the stands.
But I’ll miss the old digests, just the same.