Comics
Archie Comics Jumps On The Zombie Bandwagon
The undead are coming to the humble town of Riverdale to wreak havoc on Archie and the gang in a new series titled Afterlife With Archie. With the popularity of zombies in pop culture, it was only a matter of time before Jughead went undead, though I’m not convinced this is anything other than a gimmick.
The series will be written by Roberto Aguirre-Sacasa who says it developed from asking questions such as, “What if the Archie characters found themselves in a Stephen King novel like The Stand or a Sam Raimi movie like The Evil Dead?” Check out more below.
Official Press Release:
Archie Comics, the leading mass market comic book publisher in the world and home to some of the most recognizable pop culture characters, is proud to announce a brand new ongoing series being added to Archie’s line-up entitled: AFTERLIFE WITH ARCHIE.
What if the zombie apocalypse began in Riverdale? This horror-infused comic answers that question when it kicks off in late 2013, spearheaded by one of Hollywood’s hottest writers, Roberto Aguirre-Sacasa, who will be fresh off the high profile crossover, ARCHIE MEETS GLEE.
AFTERLIFE WITH ARCHIE will provide readers with zombie-filled mayhem like only Archie can, taking the Riverdale gang where they’ve never been before – to the grave and back.
In addition to his Archie credits, Aguirre-Sacasa has made a name for himself in the world of television (writer/producer on GLEE), Broadway musicals (Spider-Man: Turn Off the Dark), and movies, penning the remake of Stephen King’s Carrie, which premieres this fall.
“Roberto’s a superstar writer,” said Archie Co-CEO Jon Goldwater. “Working with him on the upcoming AFTERLIFE WITH ARCHIE is the next step in the ever expanding Archie universe.”
“AFTERLIFE WITH ARCHIE combines two of my great passions: Archie comics and horror comics,” said Aguirre-Sacasa. “This series came out of conversations with Jon [Goldwater], asking questions like, ‘what if the Archie characters found themselves in a Stephen King novel like The Stand or a Sam Raimi movie like The Evil Dead?’ Could we pull that off, tonally? We’re really going for it. The first arc is called ‘Escape from Riverdale.’ The second arc is called, brace yourself, ‘Betty RIP.’ Of course, all the horror stuff will be balanced by elements that are quintessentially Archie.”
ABOUT ARCHIE COMICS:
Archie Comics is the leading mass market comic book publishers in the world and the home to a wide array of the most popular humor, action-adventure and superhero characters in entertainment, including Archie, Jughead, Betty and Veronica, Reggie, Kevin Keller, Josie and the Pussycats, Sabrina the Teenage Witch, the New Crusaders, Super Duck, Li’l Jinx and many more. Archie Comics have sold 2 billion comics worldwide and are published around the world in a number of languages. In addition to comics, Archie characters have been featured prominently in animation, television, film and music in various popular incarnations.
The supernatural world of Korean folk horror movie Exhuma grows larger with the arrival of prequel spinoff webtoon Maengjong this weekend, Variety reports today.
Naver Webtoon debuts Maengjong on May 30.
The series hails from Haemuri (Olgami) and will trace the high school origins of how shaman duo Hwarim and Bonggil, played by Kim Go-eun and Lee Do-hyun in the 2024 film, came together to face occultish threats.
The story is set to begin when “Hwarim, who has been concealing her identity following a childhood encounter with a snake spirit called Jin, crosses paths with Bonggil at their school.”
Variety notes that Exhuma director Jang Jae-hyun participated in the project’s early concept stage.
“We are presenting ‘Maengjong,’ a new series capturing the appeal of the horror-occult genre, ahead of the full summer season,” said Lee Jeong-geun, Naver Webtoon’s Korea webtoon content leader. “With the high school story of Hwarim and Bonggil, who left a strong impression in the film ‘Exhuma,’ enhanced by Haemuri’s characteristic tense direction, we expect it will be a welcome work for genre fans.”
“It is meaningful that the spin-off story of ‘Exhuma,’ loved by many audiences, expands by meeting the new grammar of webtoon,” said Lee Hyeon-jeong, managing director of the film business division at Showbox, which distributed the film. “We hope it will be a fresh experience for both film fans and webtoon readers.”
Exhuma was a breakout hit in 2024, becoming the first Korean occult film to surpass 10 million ticket buyers and the country’s highest-grossing film of the year. I wrote in my review that “the intricately woven Exhuma delivers one of the year’s biggest surprises in horror so far.”
The bond between Hwarim and Bonggil was one of the film’s highlights, making this prequel webtoon a must for fans.
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