The Associated Press reports on Afterlife With Archie; “I really view this as Archie’s ‘Walking Dead’”

The Associated Press reports on Afterlife With Archie; “I really view this as Archie’s ‘Walking Dead'”

The Associated Press has reported on Afterlife With Archie, Archie Comics’ first foray into the horror genre. The TEEN+ series is written by Roberto Aguirre-Sacasa (Stephen King’s The Stand) and illustrated by Francesco Francavilla (Guardians of the Galaxy), and sees Archie, Betty, Jughead, Veronica, as well as Sabrina the Teenage Witch, “enveloped in a panoply of incantations, elder gods, zombies and the undead.”

“It’s a hardcore horror book,” said Aguirre-Sacasa, a Harvey Award-winning writer who melded his personal interests and horror obsessions into influences for the book. “This is why I was meant to do comics.”

Archie Co-CEO/Publisher Jon Goldwater called the series a fresh opportunity to place Archie’s characters in a setting where there is no easy, happy ending with everyone feeling just fine.

“I really view this as Archie’s ‘Walking Dead,'” he said.

The monthly series is drawn by Francavilla with dark, ominous illustrations boasting artistic nooks and crannies.

“We are taking a series of characters known to be light-hearted and young adult-oriented and doing a horror comic with them, so the mood, atmosphere, and setting are very important to make this a believable horror and not a comedy horror,” the Eisner awarding-winning artist said.

The AP story has been picked up by numerous news and entertainment sites, including the Huffington Post, Washington Post, ABC News, Today, MSN, Sun Herald, Salon, Mass Live, The Star, Yahoo! News, CBC, Perth Now, Mississauga, Edmonton Journal, News.com.au, MetroNews, The StarPhoenix, Montreal Gazette, Dawn.com, Syracuse.com, and more.