Archie had something of a creative renaissance when the publisher launched Afterlife with Archie in October of 2013 with Archie Creative Chief Officer Roberto Aguirre-Sacasa (Spider-Man) on writing duties and Francesco Francavilla (Batwoman) on art. However, fan haven’t seen a new issue of the series since May. Only eight installments of the series launched between 2013 and 2015– with no issues seeing print so far in 2016.

Then, Archie launched an excellent Chilling Adventures of Sabrina comic book in 2014 that only shipped four issues the last being in July written by Aguirre-Sacasa and drawn by Robert Hack (The Black Hood) if these comic books weren’t crafted with such immense quality fans would disregard this aspect of the publisher’s output.

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Thankfully, Archie is coming to the rescue this Summer according to a story reported on from Vulture. Aguirre-Sacasa filled fans with delays citing the upcoming CW television series Riverdale as the strain on his time;

After a too long delay, Archie Horror is back from near-death, with a new issue of Afterlife with Archie and a new issue of Chilling Adventures of Sabrina. With follow-up issues already in process! There’s no excuse for late books, just apologies. It’s been a humbling — and busy — few months. I’ve been working on our soon-to-be filmed television pilot Riverdale, which will bring our favorite characters to life for the first time in … decades, maybe? Again, that’s not an excuse, just something that’s been taking up a lot of time and energy. But … we’re back! And, as always, Francesco Francavilla and Robert Hack are doing the work of their careers. We know how much these books mean to you — so thank you, thank you, thank you for sticking with us through thick and thin. You’re the best fans in the world, is the truth, and hopefully we can serve you on a more consistent schedule over the next few months.

Drum roll please…Afterlife with Archie is returning with issue #9 on June 1, Chilling Adventures of Sabrina is returning May 18 with issue #5.

Archie caught fire in the industry for taking an American icon and cementing him in classic horror tropes, creating a cognitive dissonance in those who read and enjoyed the comic. Sabrina does much of the same, introducing a fan-favorite to the occult. Here’s a preview of both upcoming issues via Vulture.

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6 COMMENTS

  1. I love Afterlife, but can’t get past the art on Sabrina. Fans of Sabrina, tell me, is it a good read despite that??

  2. @Al@ Well I actually DO enjoy the art on Sabrina but I also think the story is killer. This is easily in my top three monthlies. Glad to hear these books are getting back on track and I hope they STAY there!

  3. So glad to hear Sabrina is back. I have been waiting for ages for issue 5. Let’s just make it a bimonthly title and then we will have a regular flow. My retaile rnever received issue #3 so resolliciting the previous ones would also be a nice move.

  4. From an article published in May 2015

    ““I could give you a dozen excuses, and none of them are really good. We really really wanted to launch the book at New York Comic-Con because it was close to Halloween. In retrospect, we should’ve delayed the launch to get a few issues in the can,” says Aguirre-Sacasa. “there’s no excuse, and there will never be a delay like there was been between Sabrina 1 and 2. Like, never. We are very, very lucky that we have an incredibly passionate and understanding fan base that is eager for the book.

    So, in May, the creator says “there’s no excuse, and there will never be a delay like there was been between Sabrina 1 and 2. Like, never. ” And the next issue came out in June/July last year, and we have seen nothing since.

    NOW, the creator says “It’s been a humbling — and busy — few months. I’ve been working on our soon-to-be filmed television pilot Riverdale, which will bring our favorite characters to life for the first time in … decades, maybe? Again, that’s not an excuse, just something that’s been taking up a lot of time and energy..”

    So, last time we had the ‘excuse and apology’. This time we have the ‘no excuses just an apolgy’.

    He then goes on to say that the fans are the best. Are we? If this is how ‘the best’ fans are treated, I’d hate to see how everyone else is treated.

    And if we are ‘the best’, why do we get treated like this from a creator/a company that claims to want our business ?

    As much as I like both series, I don’t think I can support a book/title/company that doesn’t seem to care about its fans at all. There has been ZERO word from the company on their Facebook page about what was going on, despite MONTHS of people writing and asking.

    Sad customer service all around.

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