The Death of Archie

Coming soon to "Life with Archie". The Alex Ross variant cover is creepy. [Link]

What is assuredly the weirdest sentence I’ll have written in all my years at this website: Archie Andrews will heroically sacrifice his life to save that of a deae friend in the penultimate issue of Life With Archie in July. 

Written by Paul Kupperberg with art by Pat & Tim Kennedy and Fernando Ruiz, Life With Archie #36 will depict the title character’s death and come with a plethora of variant covers by some of our favorite artists like Francesco Francavilla, Fiona Staples, Ramón Pérez, Walt Simonson, Jill Thompson, Mike Allred, Cliff Chiang, Adam Hughes, Tommy Lee Edwards and Alex Ross.

The series has explored the lives of the Riverdale characters as they extend into a possible future, with notable storylines including Archie marrying Veronica Lodge, an alternate timeline in which Archie marries Betty Cooper, the marriage of U.S. soldier Kevin Keller to a male partner, and Cheryl Blossom suffering from breast cancer.

“We’ve been building up to this moment since we launched Life With Archie five years ago, and knew that any book that was telling the story of Archie’s life as an adult had to also show his final moment,” said Archie Comics Publisher/Co-CEO Jon Goldwater in a press release. “Archie has and always will represent the best in all of us—he’s a hero, good-hearted, humble and inherently honorable. This story is going to inspire a wide range of reactions because we all feel so close to Archie. Fans will laugh, cry, jump off the edge of their seats and hopefully understand why this comic will go down as one of the most important moments in Archie’s entire history. It’s the biggest story we’ve ever done, and we’re supremely proud of it.”

Issue #37 will take place a year hence, with the surviving Riverdale gang dealing with the loss of their friend and honoring his legacy.