Archie Comics has announced that they will be offering several new holiday-themed anthologies from all-star creative terms per their panel at New York Comic Con on Thursday.
The first of these, Chilling Adventures of Sorcery, is a horror anthology title set to be released this October and featuring stories by creators including Amy Chu, Elliot Rahal, and Francesco Francavilla.
Chilling Adventures of Sorcery is a classic title that has been revived many times over throughout Archie Comics’ multi-decade history, and new head of editorial Jamie L Rotante says that this new relaunch will pay homage to the legacy of the series.
“I’m incredibly excited for this to be my first title as head of the editorial, and we really hope this has something for everyone.”
The series will feature stories that explore different styles and subgenera of horror and utilize a rotating roster of the Archie Stable of Characters. One story written by Amy Chu and featuring a variant cover by Francavilla is described as “Jughead meets the Twilight Zone.”
“I grew up reading Archie Comics so this is absolutely a bucket list item for me. And Jughead was always my favorite character,” she said of the upcoming story. Chu also explained the collaborative nature of the anthology, which is unusual for other comics anthologies.
“It was nice to be able to riff off each other since that doesn’t typically happen.”
The company also announced a second-holiday anthology titled “Archie’s Holiday Magic Special” to be released in December.
The series will take inspiration from seminal holiday works such as Christmas Carol and It’s a Wonderful Life. The plot follows Archie and his usual cast of characters through his past, present, and future during the Christmas season.
“Archie has a rich history and tradition of great holiday offerings, so following up Halloween with Christmas right afterwards just made a lot of sense for us,” said Rotante about the new initiative.
The series will not just be focused on Christmas, but will also be inclusive of all holidays during the season including Hanukkah and Kwanzaa.
Lastly, the panel teased an Archie Valentine’s Day themed anthology but did not provide any art samples and further plot details.
Rotante pointed out that Archie Comics has a rich history of dealing in the romance genre, especially in the current day and age when fans are so connected online and love to ship characters.
“These characters love dating each other, and they’re not going to stop anytime soon.”
Full information and creative teams available on archiecomics.com
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