Courtesy of Archie Comics, AIPT can share designs and commentary for Archie is Mr. Justice. Releasing its first issue on November 20, the comic reimagines flagship character Archie Andrews as a hero who has left his mark on Riverdale and gone away, leaving his friends to remember his selfless and incredible exploits.
Below, find commentary and art by Tim Seeley and Mike Norton!
“The gig of designing the initial concept for Mr. Justice was a bit of kismet,” writer Tim Seeley said. “I teach a cartooning class, and one of the designs I teach as an example of awesome cartooning is Archie. It’s instantly recognizable, it’s timeless, and it serves its function amazingly well. I was teaching that lesson the same day Archie asked about doing an Archie superhero design. I tried to extrapolate those instantly recognizable elements, and colors into a superhero concept. We settled on using stylized scales of justice as his superhero emblem, and kept much of the classic elements.”
Vincent Lovallo, Archie Comics Art Director, digs into the design:
“We explored a modern aesthetic in terms of character design, particularly when it came down to costumes. We worked closely with writer, Tim Seeley, who is also an accomplished artist, to draw up about a dozen or so designs for Archie as Mr. Justice. This helped lay the groundwork for Mike Norton, who continued working on designs for the extended cast.”
Jamie L. Rotante, Archie Comics Senior Director of Editorial, added, “ARCHIE IS MR. JUSTICE is one of our boldest initiatives to date: it’s not the Archie superhero story you might expect, instead it’s a brand new taken on a classic character in a way we’ve not yet explored, with Archie assuming the role of a hero that already exists within Archie’s vast library of characters.”
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