Ten years ago, Archie Comics announced the unprecedented: a complete continuity reboot of its beloved world of characters that would set the stage for years of fascinating comics relaunches (as well as their takeover of TV, between Riverdale, The Chilling Adventures of Sabrina, and the still-in-the-works Afterlife with Archie Disney+ show). A decade later, it’s trying again, but it’s not actually Archie Comics itself doing the trying this time.
Last night, in an unprecedented move, Archie Comics announced that it would be handing over the keys to Riverdale to Oni Press for a complete line-wide relaunch of several ongoing Archie titles. Set to begin in the fall of next year, the partnership will kick off with three ongoing monthly titles: Archie, by W. Maxwell Prince, Fábio Moon, and Nick Cagnetti—a new spin on classic Archie storytelling informed by Archie’s classic past and the 2015 reboot, as well as youth culture in the 2020s—Sabrina the Teenage Witch by Corinna Bechko and Kano—a similarly modern relaunch of the beloved young witch, although it’s unknown if it’ll lean as far into the horror vibes as Chilling Adventures—and Archie in Hell by Patrick Horvath and Tyler Crook—a full-on Archie horror comic series.
The monthly launches in late 2026 will be overseen by Oni Press editorial, with guidance from Archie Comics, and herald two further waves of releases: the first a series of reprints of Archie titles, classic and more recent, in a range of formats, including the traditional digest form; the second a new line of original graphic novels, set in their own continuity separate from the 2026 relaunch books, that will launch in 2027.
While all that sounds as similarly invigorating as the relaunch of 2015 was—modernized takes, new continuity, the opportunity to push the kinds of genre spaces Archie can play around in—it also raises a far more intriguing question: what is Archie Comics going to be doing if it’s not publishing new Archie titles or reprints of its classic work? Will Riverdale’s cast of characters now exist to be licensed out to other publishers for periods at a time, or will one of the most enduring comics universes ever come back to its creators for good?
Only time will tell. Oni is expected to share more about its plans for the new era of Archie Comics by mid-2026
Want more io9 news? Check out when to expect the latest Marvel, Star Wars, and Star Trek releases, what’s next for the DC Universe on film and TV, and everything you need to know about the future of Doctor Who.
Read the full article here
