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Should Archie Comics Have Cancelled Their Kickstarter? [Reader Poll]

By | May 22nd, 2015
Posted in News | 4 Comments

Last week, there was a whirlwind of activity surrounding Archie Comics. On May 11, Archie announced a new Kickstarter to help fund three new titles: “Betty and Veronica” by Adam Hughes, “Judghead” by Chip Zdarsky and a yet-unnamed artist, and “Life of Kevin” by Dan Parent and J. Bone. These all will take place in the new Archie universe, alongside “Archie” by Mark Waid and Fiona Staples, due this summer. The Kickstarter came under a fair amount of criticism and controversy for a number of issues, but the two overwhelming questions asked dealt with the finances.

First of all, where was this money going? There was no breakdown of funds listed on the Kickstarter page, and it was unclear how the money would be allocated once collected. The $350,000 price tag seemed quite high to many, and without knowing where exactly the money was going, people were less willing to participate. Archie, to their credit, explained that they had recently made a deal to sell their digests in Walmart and Target stores, and had to lay out a sizable amount of money to make that happen, and that this Kickstarter was to be able to do both things at once: establish these new books and get their digests into the big box stores.

But the second issue was one of need. Sure, Archie (as they reminded us many times throughout this process) are not DC or Marvel, but they are a publisher with 75 years of publishing history, and have launched many new titles over the past few years: why, now, did they suddenly need help to do so?

The scrutiny appeared to be too much, and on May 15, Archie cancelled the Kickstarter, and stated that all three books would still happen, but would be delayed, with the books being rolled out in a staggered fashion.

So, did Archie make the right decision? Or should they have pushed forward with the Kickstarter? Vote in our poll below, and then sound off in the comments!

Should Archie Comics Have Cancelled Their Kickstarter?



Brian Salvatore

Brian Salvatore is an editor, podcaster, reviewer, writer at large, and general task master at Multiversity. When not writing, he can be found playing music, hanging out with his kids, or playing music with his kids. He also has a dog named Lola, a rowboat, and once met Jimmy Carter. Feel free to email him about good beer, the New York Mets, or the best way to make Chicken Parmagiana (add a thin slice of prosciutto under the cheese).

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