Archie vs Predator

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Archie Comics puts Francesco Francavilla in the spotlight in new art compilation

Filed under: Backstage Pass, Comics & Books, Fantasy Realms, Retro Fix — Leave a comment

August 13, 2019

Review by C.J. Bunce

It’s not an overstatement to say Francesco Francavilla is the artist who brought Archie Comics back to life. At the very least he has turned a new generation of readers onto one of comicdom’s longest lasting titles. Along with Jon Goldwater and Alex Segura behind the scenes and writer Roberto Aguirre-Sacasa and later artist Robert Hack in the pages of the monthly books, it was Francavilla’s haunting, brand new look at Riverdale and its teen characters that kick-started reader interest in new titles and take another look at the classic stories, the ones with the traditional Dan DeCarlo look that 70 years of readers were familiar with. Francavilla, the Eisner Award-winning cover artist, is the focus of a new hardcover book Archie Comics is premiering this Wednesday. Featuring all of his Archie Comics standard covers and variants, plus selected interior artwork and cover artwork for books outside the Archie universe, The Archie Art of Francesco Francavilla is a must for collectors of his books and neo-pulp styled art prints.

In part because of his use of fantastic colors for his imagery, his designs seem to pop on every page. You’ll find his several covers for Afterlife with Archie, Chilling Adventures of Sabrina, Vampironica, Jughead the Hunger, Archie Meets Batman, Archie vs Sharknado, Archie vs Predator, Chilling Adventures in Sorcery, Riverdale, Life with Archie, Archie, Jughead, Betty & Veronica, and Josie and the Pussycats. Other pages highlight Francavilla’s style on the covers of New Crusaders, The Black Hood, and The Hangman. The Archie Art of Francesco Francavilla also includes some cover and page roughs–preliminary sketches used for approval and story breaking, all shown along with the final versions. You’ll also find exclusive cover art from convention-only covers and other variants.

Woule we have a Riverdale television series if not for Francavilla’s darker look at Archie? Probably not. Here is a first look at some advance preview pages of The Archie Art of Francesco Francavilla for borg readers courtesy of Archie Comics:

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The Predator returns for revenge against… Betty & Veronica?

Filed under: Comics & Books, Sci-Fi Café — Leave a comment

July 30, 2019

Review by C.J. Bunce

If you’re wondering who is the best current comic book interior artist, you only need to turn to the current issue of Archie Comics/Dark Horse Comics′ mash-up series, Archie vs. Predator II: Revenge Comes to Riverdale. Consistently Robert Hack is one of the industry’s best producing artists, and with this series he immerses readers into new territory where sci-fi meets small town America. And he’s a double threat–take a look at his incredible covers for Issues #1-3 above and below with co-creator Kelly Fitzpatrick (along with a nice variant cover from Francesco Francavilla).

Dark Horse Comics and Archie Comics have partnered again, bringing back writer Alex de Campi, who crafted the initial bestselling 2015 story (for both publishers) with artist Fernando Ruiz. Our preview below takes you right into the story where de Campi last left us. Something’s not quite right with Archie Andrews, and Betty and Veronica are attempting to track down a “Diagon Alley” of sorts called Memory Lane to get everyone back to where they are supposed to be. Funny and clever, it’s peppered with pop culture references, and some of Betty and Veronica’s best frenemy banter. Predator dogs! The Mars Curiosity rover!

Artists Rick Burchett, Derek Charm, Francesco Francavilla, Dan Parent, and Billy Tucci are providing some great cover variants for the series, too.

You won’t want to miss it. Here is a preview of the first issue of Archie vs. Predator II, plus a look at the variant covers, courtesy of Archie Comics:

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Tags: Alex de Campi, Archie Comics, Archie vs Predator, Archie vs Predator II, Archie vs Predator II preview, Archie vs Predator II review, Betty and Veronica, Billy Tucci, Curiosity Mars, Dan Parent, Derek Charm, Fernando Ruiz, Francesco Francavilla, Jack Morelli, Kelly Fitzpatrick, Predator, Rick Burchett, Robert Hack

Review–Archie vs. Predator, Sabrina Meets Hellboy, plus new horror imprint announced

Filed under: Comics & Books, Fantasy Realms, Movies, Retro Fix, Sci-Fi Café — 1 Comment

March 20, 2015

If you haven’t checked in with the 73-year-old perpetual teenager Archie Andrews in a while, well, you need to get caught up. If you don’t remember reading his comics as a kid, just think Happy Days for a minute. Archie is Richie Cunningham, the do-gooder who is popular with his friends. The suave Reggie Mantle is a ringer for Potsy Webber, and Ralph Malph is basically Jughead Jones. You could drop these guys in any school cafeteria in any decade since Archie was created back in 1941 and the words may be different but the conversations would be familiar. It’s each writer after writer over the years maintaining that accessibility to readers that keeps Archie fresh. With crossover deals with rights holders and publishers today, that means Archie gets to meet other property icons. Like the rock group KISS in Archie meets KISS, the Punisher in Archie Meets Punisher, or the kids from the TV show Glee in Archie Meets Glee. Next week, Archie goes sci-fi. Instead of a “meet” with the skull collecting alien from the Predator franchise, Dark Horse Comics and Archie Comics are releasing a four-issue series, Archie vs. Predator.

Taking Archie comics first into dark territory, and back into the hands of thousands of new readers, was the 2013 series Afterlife with Archie, a zombie story by Archie Comics’ now Chief Creative officer Roberto Aguirre-Sacasa and art by Francesco Francavilla (which we’ve raved about before plenty here at borg.com). But where Afterlife with Archie re-dresses the setting of Riverdale in a bleak zombie apocalypse, artist Fernando Ruiz has drawn Archie vs. Predator firmly in the more cartoony, more familiar Riverdale. And it’s that contrast between the classic cartoony and the shocking, and the outright bloody, where writer Alex de Campi takes Archie and friends into a completely new realm. Like the meet-ups at Big Al’s with the Happy Days kids, de Campi presents some current and believable banter between Archie, Jughead, Betty, Veronica, Reggie, and two new rich kids as they head South of the border for Spring Break. And don’t be surprised if the quirks and angst of the Riverdale kid remind you of the characters on the classic animated series Daria, but with a Scooby Doo and Buffy the Vampire Slayer twist.