You can never say never in this business!
In recent posts, I’ve hinted at a new ultra-top secret very special project that I couldn’t talk about, but now at long last, I’ve been cleared to share this with the World…
Here are my pencils to a few pages for a brand NEW Archie story. This is my very FIRST Archie story in almost TWO years!
Entitled “Kindness Works,” this ten-page story involves a new girl at Riverdale High who is special in a unique way. This new girl, Scarlett, is autistic and as far as I know, she’s the very first autistic character in the Archie Universe! If I’m wrong about that, please let me know in the comments below. It turns out that Scarlett already has some history with the Archie gang. Will they be able to accept her again? This is a very special story touching on the very relevant issues of kindness, diversity, friendship, and inclusion. I hope everyone will check it out.
The story was written by Ray Felix. As you can see, I handle the pencils. Dheeraj Kumar Mishra is the inker and colorist. Andrew Thomas did the lettering. Andrew has also lettered some of our Die Kitty Die stories. I’m happy to have him on board for this one too!
This very special story is currently available digitally only. If anyone is interested in purchasing it, they may do so by contacting Archie Comics Co-CEO, Nancy Silberkleit, directly at the following email:
The story is 1.99.
Now I’m sure some of you are wondering how this came about and how I came to be involved in a brand new Archie project. It actually was very easy! One day, a couple of months ago, Archie Comics Co-CEO Nancy Silberkleit called me up and we talked for a while. Nancy was very kind and complimentary of my past work for Archie Comics. She asked me if I would draw this story and I said yes. It was as easy as that!
Will there be more Archie stories for me? I had a very positive time working with Nancy on this one so I’ll consider any projects she wants to send my way. It was nice revisiting these characters again after so long of a time! Not only did I get to draw the Archie characters again, but this story gave me the opportunity to include the Little Archie gang, personal favorites of mine! Long-time sharp-eyed followers of my work will see from one of these pages that I also wasted no time in squeezing in one of my notorious Cosmo the Merry Martian cameos. I even got another favorite of mine, Superduck, in there! Plus it’s always fun creating new characters. I hope everyone will give Scarlett a chance and take to her as much as I have. She got lots of potential and I’d love to see her come back again.
What do you think about my return to Archie? Please let me know in the comments below!
Thanks, Everybody!
