Archie’s been putting his tough choices off for too long. It’s finally time for Riverdale’s favorite son to decide between Betty and Veronica, and thankfully he’ll have a special guest writer to help make sure things go smoothly. Legendary comic scribe Tom King, along with artist Dan Parent, will step in for a full-length one-shot called Archie: The Decision, in which Archie finally makes his choice.
As you might expect for such a landmark moment in Riverdale’s history, The Decision will feature many of Archie Comics’ fan-favorite characters, from Josie and the Pussycats to Sabrina the Teenage Witch, all reacting to the decision and sharing their thoughts.
King’s reputation as a writer of the biggest, thinkiest superhero comics of the last decade tends to overshadow the consistent humor in his books. The writer of The Vision, Omega Men, Mister Miracle, Batman, and Supergirl: Woman of Tomorrow seems excited to fully embrace Archie-style comedy.
“As a massive Archie fan, this is just a pure joy project for me,” King told Polygon via email. “I wanted to do something zany and cool and screwball and hysterical and gorgeous and harebrained and maybe a little tiny itty-bitty bit profound as a tribute to my Golden and Silver Age Archie heroes — people like Dan DeCarlo, Harry Lucey, Bob Bolling, Bob Montana, and Samm Schwartz. And who better to do that with than the modern Archie maestro, Dan Parent, who inherited and brilliantly carried on the legacy of those giants. [The Decision] is an epic, riotous story featuring scores of Archie characters where Dan and I wrestle with the greatest dilemma in the near 85-year history of comics: Betty or Veronica!? I’m not sure we can solve it, but, like all of Riverdale, we’re going to have a ton of fun trying.”
Archie: The Decision hits shelves on Aug. 28, clocking in at a full 32 all-ages pages. Archie Comics has shared a sneak peek of the issue with Polygon, including a variant cover by Stephen Byrne and one page of the book itself, that you can check out below:
Image: Tom King, Dan Parent/Archie Comics
Image: Dan Parent, Rosario “Tito” Peña/Archie Comics
Image: Stephen Byrne/Archie Comics