Sorry kids, Archie is gonna die.
Archie Comics announced Tuesday that the comic series “Life with Archie” will conclude with the death of Archie Andrews.
“Life with Archie” is a comic book series that depicts the Archie characters in the future after high school.
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Come issue 36, which hits newstands July 16, Archie will die sacrificing his own life to save the life of a friend. Fortunately, he’s not completely killed off, Archie will live on in other Archie Comic titles taking place during his high school years.
CNN spoke with Archie Comics CEO Jon Goldwater — the son of Archie creator John Goldwater — about this dramatic development in comic book history.
“First and foremost, like with anything we do at Archie, we want to tell a great, memorable story,” Goldwater explained. “That being said, this story in particular is of the utmost importance to us as a company and as a keeper of the Archie brand We want to not only show how Archie’s life ends, but also what he means to the world around him. We want to celebrate his life. After the events of “Life With Archie” #36, fans will leap forward a year to see the aftermath, and how his friends have moved on since his surprising death.”
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Goldwater insists this is not a publicity stunt for Archie Comics.
“It’s not about the attention-grab of the death but about telling a great, evocative story that reminds people why this character is important to the fabric of pop culture — and showing how heroic a normal guy like Archie can be, and how important it is to realize that. This isn’t a story we’re going to retcon a few weeks from now. This happened. This is the conclusion to the “Life With Archie” story and timeline, and it will allow us as a company and the world to take a moment to look at Archie’s life as a whole and recognize him as one of the most important characters — not in just comics — but in popular culture.”
See the gory aftermath of Archie’s death below:
