Archie Comics have announced, via The Hollywood Reporter, a thematic sequel to “Archie 1941,” called “Archie 1955.” The series will be written by the returning duo of Brian Augustyn and Mark Waid, with artist Tom Grummett (“The Adventures of Superman”) pencilling the artwork and Bob Smith inking. The first issue will have a cover by Audrey Mok (“Josie and the Pussycats”), with variants being provided by Jinky Coronado (“Banzai Girl”), Francesco Francavilla (“The Black Beetle”), Aaron Lopresti (“Death of Hawkman”) and Pete Woods (“Archie”).
The series will see Riverdale displaced into the middle of the 1950s with Archie, Betty and Veronica being caught up in the beginning of the rock’n’roll movement and chart “Archie’s arc from meteoric rise to the stratosphere and back again.” With the series only being displaced into the 1950s, Archie and company will still be in their late teens, rather than being fourteen years older, as a sequel to “Archie 1941” would suggest.
Augustyn described how the series will feature “laughs and tears, music and drama, and all the pals and gals” and detailed how the era has a personal connection to him, with rock’n’roll being the “soundtrack of [his] life.” Waid echoed these sentiments, stating that he has been a “rock-origins aficionado [his] entire life” having grown up in Tupelo, Mississippi. Grummett stated that it will be a “kick to explore” the inhabitants of Riverdale “at the very birth of rock ‘n roll.”
“Archie 1955” #1 will be released on September 18. You can check out the variant covers and preview pages for the series here.
