Today, The Beat is proud to present a Wednesday miracle! In addition to an interview with Bite Sized Archie creators Ron Cacace and Vincent Lovallo, we also have an exclusive sneak peek of this week’s strip (#133) before it’s posted Thursday on TinyView and Friday on the internet at large.
The Beat caught up with Cacace and Lovallo over email. We asked all about the process of collecting BTS material for the collections, the reactions the strip has gotten, and about what Easter eggs have been their favorites to include in Bite Sized Archie (so far)!
AVERY KAPLAN: Has your friendship and/or working relationship changed since you started collaborating on Bite Sized Archie?
VINCENT LOVALLO: Ron and I hit it off when we first met over five years ago bonding over video games and anime, and we continue to have a great friendship and working relationship! I do feel like the way we collaborate on BITE SIZED has changed a bit over time. When we were starting out, we were still figuring out the structure, so both of us had a lot more questions about what worked and what didn’t in both script and art. After those first few months, we got into a great rhythm, and the process feels a lot quicker now.
RON CACACE: Vin and I hit it off pretty much immediately when I first started working at Archie back in 2014. Even though I’ve moved on from my full-time role, we’re still great friends and keep in touch regularly. After the first year of working together on BITE SIZED ARCHIE, I bought Vin a PlayStation 5 to thank him for all his hard work. It’s an absolute joy getting to work with such a talented and kind person.
KAPLAN: What’s the process like of submitting the piles of BTS material included in each Bite Sized Archie collection? Do you gather material for this during your regular work or all at once before pulling together the book?
LOVALLO: A bit of both. As we’re working on the strips, I’ll save all my layouts or other easter eggs into a folder so that when it’s time to focus on the collection, I can gather it all at once. The commentary itself is done once a first draft of the book is made. I find it makes the process easier to see it all laid out.
CACACE: The process varies! Sometimes I’ll include specific photo references in my scripts or tweet things out when the comic first runs. It was a lot easier getting the second collection together because Vin laid such great groundwork with the first!
KAPLAN: What kind of reactions have you gotten to the first Bite Sized Archie collection, or the strip in general? Has anyone been offended?
CACACE: I’ve never seen anyone take offense to anything we’ve done! I’m not sure if that’s a good thing or a bad thing. People that read the strip online for the first time often come to it with some preconceived notion of how Archie Comics are “supposed to be” so sometimes it takes a minute before it clicks with them that this is something new and different from what they’re used to. But I enjoy reading the feedback from fans, even the ones who don’t get our weird internet-poisoned jokes!
LOVALLO: We’ve heard so many great things from coworkers, friends, family, and of course fans! One reaction came from a fellow comic creator, and they stated how amazed they were that there are BTS pencil layouts for each strip. I’m so happy to know it was appreciated! I’m not sure if anyone has been offended by a strip, though I know there are some things we include that make people scratch their heads, like sentient cheeseburgers, for example.
KAPLAN: Did any of the comics in the collection present a challenge during the creative process? By contrast, did any come together unusually easily?
CACACE: We end the collection with a multi-part story, the first I ever wrote for BITE SIZED ARCHIE, so that was a big challenge! Instead of just having one joke told over four panels, I tasked myself with finding a way to tell a joke but also move an overarching story along. Now, you might be saying, isn’t that just telling a story? And I will say: yes, and writing is hard because I hate everything I write!
LOVALLO: I agree with Ron that having the connecting story at the end of this collection was challenging. I had a hard time making that adorable Burgo look menacing. Funnily enough, I recall Burgo’s first appearance was an easier strip to make because of how cute he was meant to look.
KAPLAN: Do you have a favorite strip in Going Viral or from Bite Sized Archie at large?
CACACE: We just published my new favorite, #132, which features the return of Sabrina the Burger Lady from the Ryan North / Derek Charm JUGHEAD run.
LOVALLO: I have a different answer for this question every time, haha. For GOING VIRAL, I’ll go with #82, “Scratch and Claw.” I used to love playing the claw machines at Playland amusement park or on the Atlantic City boardwalk as a kid, so drawing Archie giving the ol’ crane game a shot was a real treat. I even threw in some retro Archie characters as the plushie prizes!
KAPLAN: Is there any obscure Archie Comics reference you were particularly pleased to include? Are there any allusions you are still waiting for people to find?
LOVALLO: Yes! In that same strip (#82), in addition to the retro character cameos, I also added the name “Top Notch Prizes” to the front of the claw machine. TOP-NOTCH was an Archie Comics anthology series from before the company was called “Archie Comics”! I’m sure there may be other fun references that have yet to be found, but I’d rather leave the mysteries for fans to uncover.
CACACE: Vin is the master of the deep cut! He’s always pulling in classic character references and poses. I’m just glad I got to include Randolph the Anime Guy again.
KAPLAN: Have you been reading any other comics (from Archie or otherwise) lately? Do you have any favorites?
CACACE: I read (and collect) way too many comics. It’s a problem how many comics I have. My favorites right now are Adventures of Superman: Jon Kent, Nightwing, and anything and everything from Ed Brubaker and Sean Phillips. I also started reading That Texas Blood by Chris Condon and Jacob Philips recently. Great stuff!
LOVALLO: Naturally, I read all the new comics from Archie because of my job. It’s a great perk! On the classic side of things, I’m really excited for folks to read the latest ARCHIE AND FRIENDS: HOT SUMMER MOVIES and BETTY AND VERONICA FRIENDS FOREVER: BEACH PARTY comics this summer which are Indiana Jones and Barbie parodies! For the modern-style comics, CAMP PICKENS is everything you could want from a summer horror anthology, and following soon after, we’ll have a sci-fi horror one-shot called STRANGE SCIENCE to look forward to. As for non-Archie-related books, I’ve been keeping up with MY HERO ACADEMIA, and it’s getting bonkers!
KAPLAN: Can you give us any hints about what might be coming next from both of you, both in terms of Bite Sized Archie and beyond?
CACACE: For BITE SIZED, you can expect us to keep working on this until one of us decides it’s not fun anymore. When that happens, we’ll find something else to work together on, I’m sure of it. As for something beyond BSA… let’s just say I’ve got some stuff on my plate and can’t wait to digest it.
LOVALLO: So far, my hand hasn’t fallen off yet, so there’s still plenty of BITE SIZED shenanigans to come, and let’s just say the strip I’m working on now really ROCKS! Beyond that, you’ll just have to wait and see!
KAPLAN: Is there anything else you’d like me to include?
CACACE: If you buy our new book, we’ll love you forever. In a platonic sense.
LOVALLO: Pre-ordering our book will bring joy to our hearts! Additionally, I’ve been posting some “how to draw” tutorials on my Insta (Vinstergram23) recently, and I encourage everyone to try! I’d love to see everyone’s take on the BITE SIZED ARCHIE crew!
Preorder Bite Sized Archie: Going Viral today!
