Archie vs. Predator

Archie vs. Predator

A cover to issue #1. The Predator's head looms over Archie and his friends as they prepare to swim.

Cover of Archie vs. Predator #1. Art by Fernando Ruiz.
Publication information
Publisher Dark Horse Comics
Archie Comics
Format Limited series
Genre
Publication date April – July 2015
Number of issues 4
Main character(s) Archie Andrews
Predator
Creative team
Writer(s) Alex de Campi
Artist(s) Fernando Ruiz
Penciller(s) Fernado Ruiz
Inker(s) Rick Koslowski
Letterer(s) John Workman
Colorist(s) Jason Millet
Collected editions
Archie vs Predator ISBN 1616558059

Archie vs. Predator is a four-issue limited series comic book and intercompany crossover written by Alex de Campi, drawn by Fernando Ruiz. It was published in the United States by Dark Horse Comics and Archie Comics in 2015. The single issues were released between April and July, and a hardcover collection went on sale in November.

Following in a long tradition of all-American teenager Archie Andrews meeting unusual celebrities and pop culture icons, this comic shows him meeting the galaxy's deadliest hunter, the Predator. The idea was first suggested in the Archie office and then proposed to Dark Horse, who holds the license to the Predator character. The companies paired de Campi, a horror writer at Dark Horse, with Ruiz, a regular Archie artist. When the comic was announced, many media outlets noted in their headlines that the new title was not a joke.

The book received positive review from critics, who enjoyed the strange matchup and dark humor. The miniseries was the bestselling book for both publishers during its release and won a Ghastly Award for Best Limited Series.

Publication history

Development

Following the success of the Archie meets Glee and Archie meets KISS,[1] the Archie Creative Summit held in March 2014 included a brainstorming session for new crossovers. Godzilla and Friday the 13th were considered, but the Predator received the most support. Fernando Ruiz, who was later chosen to draw the comic, was present at the summit and liked the premise, but did not believe it would actually be made.[2]

After Archie proposed the crossover, Dark Horse approached Alex de Campi to write based on her work on the horror comic Grindhouse.[1][3] The project was originally title Archie meets Predator, but it was changed to vs. because the people involved in production kept calling it that unintentionally, and to parody the Alien vs. Predator franchise.[4]

To prepare for the project, de Campi read over 4000 pages of Archie comics.[5] She drew inspiration for the story from the 1940s era of Archie, when Betty and Veronica had "more edge."[6] Her scripts were subject to notes and tweaks from Archie and Fox, but de Campi described both licensors as "extremely mellow, pleasant and easy to work with."[5] She expected some of the notes, such as being told “Alex, you can't make jokes about child predation in an Archie book”.[4] Other times, she was surprised when she did not receive notes, like her use of Emojis for the Predator's speech.[4] In one case, editorial pushback led her to rewrite a story arc, and she was much happier with the final version.[4] She was pleased when she got to add depth to Dilton Doiley, a character she feels is often overlooked in regular Archie comics.[1][5][7]

Archie Comics and Dark Horse Comics jointly announced Archie vs. Predator and the creative team at the 2014 New York Comic Con.[8] Soon after, many media outlets carrying the news used a headline indicating it was not a joke.[9][10][11] Series editor Brendan Wright described it as his "most nutso project,"[12] and Jon Goldwater, Archie Comics Publisher and Co-CEO, said the comic followed the tradition of other unusual crossovers like Archie Meets the Punisher.[8]

Publication

A promotional minicomic was released a couple months prior to the first issue. It featured eight pages from the first issue and some of Ruiz's character designs, including some of his initial, more lifelike Predator sketches.[2]

The four issues were published monthly beginning April 15, 2015 and ending July 22, 2015.[13][14] Each issue included a one-page, humorous bonus strip written by de Campi featuring crossovers of other Archie and Dark Horse characters: Sabrina Meets Hellboy (art by Robert Hack), little Mask and his pals (art by Art Baltazar), Jughead Meets MIND MGMT: "S" is for Sleeper (art by Matt Kindt), and Josie and the Pussycats Meet Finder (art by Carla Speed McNeil).[15]

A 128-page hardcover collecting the series was released November 4, 2015.[16]

Plot

Archie and his friends take a Spring Break trip to Los Perdidos Resort, and a Predator touches down in a nearby jungle. Betty discovers an ancient Colombian shrine and attracts the attention of the Predator, who follows her home to Riverdale.[17]

The Predator attacks, targeting Veronica and killing several people. Kevin Keller, a friend with military experience, organizes and protects Archie and his friends. Betty takes a picture of the creature and Kevin's father, a US Military General, identifies it as a teenager from a race of nearly unstoppable alien hunters. Jughead is used as bait to lure the Predator, but the trap fails and the Predator kills the majority of the kids.[18]

Jughead regroups with his remaining friends. Some members of the group decide to split up in hopes the Predator will continue to pursue Veronica, allowing them to escape. Dilton, Archie, Betty, Veronica, and Jughead stay behind. The Predator attacks again, killing Dilton and Jughead and critically wounding Archie.[19]

Betty and Veronica take refuge at Lodge Manor, where they hook Archie to an experimental healing machine. When the Predator attempts to break their barricade, Archie is killed, Veronica is knocked unconscious, and Betty's left hand is cut off. The Predator shows regret and reveals he was motivated by a crush on Betty. Betty uses the opportunity to wound the Predator. Veronica awakens to find Betty using the face and body reconstruction system on the healing machine to transform the wounded Predator into Archie.[20]

Reception

The first issue was the bestselling issue for both publishers in April 2015, and the 74th best selling comic among other release that month.[21] Sales numbers fell just under 30% through the fourth issue, which was the 102nd best selling issue in July.[22] When the hardcover collection was released in November, it was the 36th best selling tradepaper back.[23]

The first issue garnered an average review rating of 7.9 out of 10 according to the review aggregator ComicBookRoundUp.[24] Writing for The Guardian, Graeme Virtue said the "appealingly strange" series fit with Archie Comics' reputation for pushing comics forward and praised it for remaining true to both properties.[25] The book's "deeply funny dark humor" was a selling point for Robin Parrish at Tech Times,[26] and IGN reviewer Jeff Lake described the first issue as "pretty darn great."[13] Comic Bastards' Dustin Cabeal described the miniseries as "a hoot."[14] The series won the 2015 Ghastly Award for Best Limited Series.[27]

References

  1. 1 2 3 Anderson, Derek (July 14, 2015), "Comic-Con 2015 Interview: Alex de Campi Talks Archie VS. Predator," Daily Dead (accessed March 4, 2016)
  2. 1 2 Sims, Chris (March 6, 2015), "‘I’m Drawing Archie Fighting A Freakin’ Predator': Fernando Ruiz Talks ‘Archie Vs Predator’," Comics Alliance (accessed March 4, 2016)
  3. ↑ Emm, Fox (January 7, 2016), "Exclusive Interview: Alex de Campi on Horror Comics," Wicked Horror (accessed March 4, 2016)
  4. 1 2 3 4 Siegel, Lucas (April 14, 2015), "Exclusive: Archie Vs. Predator's Alex de Campi Promises "Horribly Gory, Very Wrong, and Funny" Story," ComicBook.com (accessed March 4, 2016)
  5. 1 2 3 Sims, Chris (April 28, 2015), "They're all a little unbalanced: Alex de Campi talks 'Archie vs. Predator'," Comics Alliance (accessed March 4, 2016)
  6. ↑ Truitt, Brian (October 9, 2014), "Archie Meets Predator a mash-up for the ages", USA Today (accessed February 17, 2016)
  7. ↑ Moccio, Michael (July 15, 2015), "SDCC 2015: Archie vs. Predator Writer Alex de Campi on the Onslaught in Riverdale Archived March 10, 2016, at the Wayback Machine.," Entertainment Monthly (accessed March 4, 2016)
  8. 1 2 "Archie Comics And Dark Horse Unveil The Unthinkable: Archie Meets Predator". Archie Comics. October 9, 2014. Retrieved August 6, 2015.
  9. ↑ (October 9, 2014) "Archie vs. Predator ... No, Really," Newsarama (accessed March 2, 2016)
  10. ↑ Bonner, Jerry (January 14, 2015), "'Archie vs. Predator' Is a Real Thing and It's Coming Soon," Headlines and Global News (accessed March 2, 2016)
  11. ↑ MacDonald, Heidi (October 9, 2014), "Archie vs... Predator?," The Beat (accessed March 2, 2016)
  12. ↑ (September 1, 2015), "Brendan Wright, Editor Of Mind MGMT, Grindhouse, Archie vs Predator, leaves Dark Horse," Bleeding Cool News (accessed March 2, 2016)
  13. 1 2 Lake, Jeff (April 15, 2015). "Archie vs. Predator #1 Review". IGN. Retrieved November 9, 2015.
  14. 1 2 Cabeal, Dustin (July 22, 2015). "Review: Archie vs. Predator #4". Comic Bastards. Retrieved November 9, 2015.
  15. ↑ (November 5, 2015), "Is It Good? Archie vs. Predator HC Review – AiPT!," Adventures in Poor Taste (accessed May 25, 2016)
  16. ↑ Press Release, "Archie vs. Predator HC :: Profile :: Dark Horse Comics,", Dark Horse Comics (accessed February 18, 2016)
  17. ↑ Alex de Campi (w), Fernando Ruiz (a). "Part 1" Archie vs. Predator 1 (April 2015), Dark Horse Comics, Archie Comics
  18. ↑ Alex de Campi (w), Fernando Ruiz (a). "To Live and Die in a Small Town" Archie vs. Predator 2 (May 2015), Dark Horse Comics, Archie Comics
  19. ↑ Alex de Campi (w), Fernando Ruiz (a). "Part 3" Archie vs. Predator 3 (June 2015), Dark Horse Comics, Archie Comics
  20. ↑ Alex de Campi (w), Fernando Ruiz (a). "Guess Who's Coming To Dinner" Archie vs. Predator 4 (July 2015), Dark Horse Comics, Archie Comics
  21. ↑ by units sold, "Comic Book Sales Figures for April 2015," Comichron (accessed February 17, 2016)
  22. ↑ by units sold, "Comic Book Sales Figures for July 2015," Comichron (accessed February 17, 2016)
  23. ↑ by units sold, "Comic Book Sales Figures for November 2015," Comichron (accessed February 17, 2016)
  24. ↑ Based on 42 reviews from critics, "Archie vs. Predator #1 Reviews at ComicBookRoundUp.com", ComicBookRoundUp (accessed February 16, 2016)
  25. ↑ Virtue, Grame (April 18, 2015), "Archie Vs Predator, Convergence, The Infinite Loop: the month in comics," The Guardian (accessed March 2, 2016)
  26. ↑ Parrish, Robin (April 15, 2015), "New Comic Book Day April 15, 2015: Archie Battles Predator And DC's 'Convergence' Continues, Tech Times (accessed March 2, 2016)
  27. ↑ (March 2016), "2015 Ghastly Award Winners," Ghastly Awards (accessed March 8, 2016)

External links

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