Riverdale is coming to the small screen on The CW tonight in the US, following tomorrow in the UK on Netflix, so we decided to delve into the comic book archive and find out some interesting and shocking facts about the Archie Comics that the new television series is based on. Read on to discover five of those facts we bet you never knew before…
Riverdale / Credit: The CW
5. Archie was once a superhero
Though you can’t look at any television guide or movie line-up nowadays without seeing a whole plethora of superhero entries, this isn’t a new trend by any means, especially when it comes to the world of comic books. Though Archie Comics wasn’t about superheroes in any way, shape or form (and broke the mould in that regard), there was a time in 1966 when lead character Archie became a superhero called Captain Pureheart. Able to fly and with super-human strength, Archie joined his superhero friends; Jughead as Captain Hero and Betty as Superteen to battle against villains in some hilarious battles. Exploding bubble gum and bad breath were just two of the strange weapons in Captain Pureheart’s arsenal. Unfortunately, the character never caught on and a lack of sales meant that the series was cancelled before it could really shine.
4. Gay character Kevin Keller made comic book history
Back in 2010, Archie Comics finally introduced their first gay character in Kevin Keller, created by Dan Parent. The issue that saw his debut, Veronica 202 sold out almost immediately, with the company then forced to order their first reprint EVER. Due to his incredible popularity, Kevin was then given his own series in 2011, again seeing him make history as the first gay male with a solo comic book series in mainstream comics. Kevin is set to appear in Riverdale at some point.
3. Animated Archie TV shows never did well
Six animated Archie television series have come to the small screen over the years, with various takes on the characters bringing a whole menagerie of ideas and personality to TVs. Unfortunately, not one of the series ever really took off. In 2013 a new animated series called ‘It’s Archie’ was announced by producers MoonScoop. Set to feature 52 episodes, the series never saw the light of day and no new information has since been released. Let’s hope Riverdale can fare better!
2. An Archie TV movie exists
If you’ve ever wondered just what might have happened to Archie in his adult years, then look no further than Archie: To Riverdale And Back Again. This TV movie aired on NBC in 1990, featuring Christopher Rich as the lead character who went to his 15-year high school reunion, running into the rest of the fan-favourite gang. Now with a new fiancée, viewers were teased throughout; would Archie do the unthinkable and finally choose between Betty and Veronica? Don’t bother finding out; it’s probably better to imagine this movie never happened.
1. There were alternative Archie’s Christian comics
Al Hartley, an artist for Archie Comics got permission in 1973 to start a series involving the fan-favourite Archie Comics characters published by Spire Christian Comics. They were of course hugely religious and saw the characters open a Christian bookstore, convince others to become a Christian and basically preach their way through 49 issues. It was hard to get through a single page of these comic books without noticing the blatant attempts at keeping or steering their readers on the ‘path to God’. No shame in such a thing of course, but definitely not a series we’d see rise to prominence in the modern day.
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Riverdale comes to The CW in the US tonight (January 26) and debuts in the UK on Netflix the day after.
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