Archie Comics Launching Horror Imprint; Teases Third Series to Join Afterlife and Sabrina
Debi Moore
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It’s been a good while since Archie Comics released a new issue of Afterlife with Archie (#7 came out in December 2014), and The Chilling Adventures of Sabrina has seemed stalled with nothing after #1 debuted in October of the same year, but things are about ramp up big time as a dedicated horror imprint is launching that will also include a mysterious third series.
Per EW, in the spring the publisher will release Afterlife with Archie #8 and The Chilling Adventures of Sabrina #2 under the new Archie Horror imprint. “It’s happening organically already,” said Archie Chief Creative Officer Roberto Aguirre-Sacasa. “You launch one book; it is what it is. You launch a companion book, and you think, ‘These seem to be speaking to each other…’ In-house we started referring to these books as the ‘Archie Horror’ books. We wanted to make it official, and when it started to look like Afterlife #8 and Sabrina #2 were going to be released around the same time, why don’t we formalize something that is already happening, which is the imprint.”
As for why there’s been such a drought since Sabrina #1 was released, Aguirre-Sacasa explained, “I could give you a dozen excuses, and none of them are really good. We really, really wanted to launch the book at New York Comic Con because it was close to Halloween. In retrospect, we should’ve delayed the launch to get a few issues in the can. There’s no excuse, and there will never be a delay like there was been between Sabrina 1 and 2. Like, never. We are very, very lucky that we have an incredibly passionate and understanding fan base that is eager for the book.”
As for what fans can expect once Sabrina does return, Aguirre-Sacasa teased, “It’s weird because in Afterlife there are dark, dark things—but it’s also funny! Its tongue is planted firmly in its cheek. But with Sabrina, it’s really, really dark and only getting darker. We’re halfway through Issue 3 now, and I would say it’s the darkest comic book I’ve written and the weirdest comic book I’ve written.”
And what about this unidentified third series heading our way? Aguirre-Sacasa dropped a few clues: “I can tell you that it will be centered around a major Archie character. She has appeared in one of our books before. And [it] will be in a genre we have not explored or even hinted at in Sabrina—in Afterlife, we’ve only hinted at it a tiny, tiny bit. And it will be set in the present.”
But enough about what we don’t know. Below you’ll find the cover for Afterlife with Archie #8—an homage to The Shining that will have its characters trapped in a hotel full of ghosts—by Francesco Francavilla. It’s due out May 6th. Also take a look at Robert Hack’s artwork for The Chilling Adventures of Sabrina #2—featuring the terrifying Madame Satan—arriving a few weeks sooner on April 15th. Be sure to visit EW to check out some preview pages from both.
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