Riverdale's zombies will now seek brains at a newstand near you, with an Afterlife With Archie magazine.
In the year since Afterlife with Archiewas first released, the comic has become a massive critical and financial success for Archie Comics, helping them not only tap into the zombie zeitgeist but also managing to penetrate the consciousness of readers who hadn't thought about Riverdale in ages.
It is wonderful.
This is thanks to the, well, haunting writing of series mastermind Roberto Aguirre-Sacasa and the peerless art of Francesco Francavilla -- arguably the finest team currently working in comics. So while fans cross their fingers for an announcement that the long-in-development Archiemovie will actually be based on these zombie stories, the company is moving ahead with their plans on building up the Afterlife with Archie franchise by releasing a monthly magazine. FromThe Hollywood Reporter:
Each issue of the 48-page Afterlife with Archie Magazine will reprint the main story from an issue of the Afterlifecomic, accompanied by all-new special features (including a preview of Aguirre-Sacasa’s new Sabrina series in the November issue). The magazine will retail for $4.99, with the first issue available on newsstands in early October, with comic store distribution available October 22.
“Afterlifeexists because Francesco drew a magazine cover — his zombie variant for Life with Archie— so to have Afterlifereprinted in this format is just great and feels like a homecoming of sorts,” Aguirre-Sacasa told THRvia email. “It places Afterlifein the proud traditions of horror magazines like Creepyand Eerie. And the larger format makes Francesco’s art look that much more spectacular. This is a truly thrilling development.”
While the comic version of Afterlife with Archie will continue on as normal, the new magazine version will fill the void left by the demise of Life with Archie: The Married Life, which ended its run with Archie's high-profile death in July. Will hardcore readers pick up material that has been and will continue to be available in trade paperbacks when the special features sound similiar to material that is already available through the Afterlife with Archie app? That remains to be seen, and it seems as if Archie is using the magazine format as a platform to grab the attention of new readers. Given Afterlife with Archie's constant high quality, you can't help Archie for being proud of their flagship horror title. But whether or not it will thrive as a large-format magazine is something that right now feels as uncertain as Riverdale's fate.
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