Archie at 65: No retirement in sight
By Tina Benitez -- Playthings, 4/1/2006
Changes are in store for the kids of Riverdale High as Archie Comics, Mamaroneck, N.Y., celebrates its namesake series' 65th anniversary this year.
The comics were first published in January 1941 by MLJ Comics (later known as Archie Comics), a publisher named after its founders, Morris Coyne, Louis Silberkleit and John L. Goldwater.
For 2006, lead characters Archie, Betty, Veronica, Jughead and Reggie will be created in bust form from Diamond Select Toys, Timonium, Md. The initial assortment includes 17 designs and will be available in August.
In addition to Diamond's collectibles, a new line of apparel will be available as well as a feature length movie, a TV series and a reality show that will chronicle the Search for Betty and Veronica, or at least two girls that look like them. And don't forget Broadway: there's interest in an Archie musical, Archie Comics says. Details will be announced later this year.
But what would Archie be without the comic books? Characters without a back story, mostly, so Archie will continue releasing compilations of stories from the property's 40s heyday through the 1990s, as well as more Archie and Friends titles beginning this spring.
Michael Silberkleit, Archie Comics chairman and publisher, tells Playthings that plans call for moving more into the graphic novel field for the property since they have decades worth of material to work with for the compilations.
“Even if you don't read it now, something always sticks in your head about Archie,” he says.
