Put some horror into your holidays with Archie’s ‘Happy Horror Days’ one-shot

Frank Tieri, Joe Eisma, Joanne Starer and more put the ‘ho, ho, ho’ into horror this December.

The Archie Horror line returns with a vengeance this fall, starting this week with Chilling Adventures Presents . . . Weirder Mysteries and continuing on into October with several new titles. But if you think you’ll be safe after Oct. 31, think again — Archie has announced Happy Horror Days, a one-shot holiday special that will add a bit of fright to your holiday festivities.

The one-shot will feature three stories, including a new Jughead: The Hunger tale by Frank Tieri and Joe Eisma, a Sheila Wu story by Joanne Starer and Butch Mapa, and a Sugar Plum story by Joe Corallo and Patrick Piazzalunga.

“In ”Twas the Night Before the Hunger,’ X-Mas turns into an X-Massacre when Jughead finds himself up against none other than a pissed off Krampus one fine Christmas morn. It’s a nice little tale of ho-ho-horror where we may see more than just Christmas cookies and hamburgers getting eaten,” Tieri said about his and Eisma’s story, which returns to the world where Jughead is a werewolf.

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Segura + Hart + Eisma make a ‘Blood Oath’ for Comixology Originals

The digital series arrives on the platform next week.

Novelists Alex Segura and Rob Hart have come together to write Blood Oath, a new miniseries that debuts from Comixology Originals on Aug. 30. They’ll be joined by artist Joe Eisma, colorist Hilary Jenkins and letterer Jim Campbell, all under the watchful eye of editor Heather Antos.

Blood Oath is set during Prohibition in 1922 and will feature a woman who runs a “secret business” who crosses paths with the mafia and their “sinister partner.”

Blood Oath is a blend of some of our favorite things, in terms of story and genre – historical fiction, the early days of organized crime, and horror – all things we wanted to explore, and they blended together perfectly to ask a key question: what if there was a secret, monstrous crime family that’s been part of the underworld for decades?” Segura said.

Segura, of course, is no stranger to comics, having worked in the industry for more than two decades and having written comics like The Dusk, The Black Ghost and many more. (He also has a Spider-Verse novel coming out, which was announced today). Hart’s new to comics, but has written several novels like The Paradox Hotel and The Warehouse. He and Segura have also collaborated before, teaming their two literary characters, Ash McKenna and Pete Fernandez, together in a short story called “Bad Beat.”

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AfterShock plans to ruin your childhood with ‘Tales of Mother F. Goose’

The one-shot by Frank Tieri and Joe Eisma mashes up fairy tales with a mobster murder mystery.

Writer Frank Tieri, artist Joe Eisma, colorist Matt Herms and letterer Carlos M. Mangual are teaming up to put a new spin on some really old classics.

Tales of Mother F. Goose, a prestige format one-shot, will continue the fairy-tales-meet-gangster-movie world set up in AfterShock’s Shock anthology and the upcoming AfterDark Halloween special.

“Basically both these projects expand on the world we set up in ‘Little Red Hood’ — and they do it through the mob boss who is essentially the glue that holds all this shit together, Don Francesco Orca, our Mother F. Goose. (Orca means Goose in Italian. And yeah, his name is Francesco. What did ya think the F stood for? ;))” Tieri said.

It’s a world where the Three Little Pigs own a casino, Little Miss Muffet is a cop and The Three Blind Mice are assassins.

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Artists take the #SixFanarts Challenge

Melissa Capriglione kicked off a fun, art-filled meme in March — and the participants grew from there.

Way back in mid-March — which feels like a million years ago at this point, but was really just a few weeks back — Falconhyrste creator Melissa Capriglione kicked off a fun exercise that would turn into a widespread meme for artists across social media: The #SixFanarts Challenge.

What started has a simple tweet has blossomed into a fun and welcome distraction during these difficult times. And it’s pretty easy to participate: artists just ask their social media followers to throw out character names, and the artist draws six of them on a grid that Capriglione has provided.

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Exclusive Preview: ‘Riverdale Season 3’ #4

Check out pages from the hit TV show tie-in comic by Micol Ostow, Joe Eisma and Thomas Pitilli.

Calling The CW’s Riverdale a guilty pleasure implies that I feel guilty about watching it, which I don’t — it’s crazy bonkers fun, featuring a great cast and surprising twists. Some weeks I consider giving up all of this (motions at Smash Pages) and just starting a Riverdale recap/fan fiction site to satisfy my cravings for more.

If you feel the same way, then maybe you’re wondering how you can fill the void between now and next fall, when the new season returns and we find out what the heck happens on Spring Break? Luckily Archie Comics has been publishing comic book tie-ins to the show each season, with two more issues still to go on Season 3. Courtesy of Archie, we’re pleased to present an exclusive preview of issue #4, which arrives in stores June 26. It features two different stories, both written by Micol Ostow and drawn by artists Thomas Pitilli and Joe Eisma respectively. We’ve got pages from both.

Check it out below:

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Archie & friends rock out in ‘The Archies’ #1 [Preview]

Archie, Jughead and the rest of the band hit the road to rock your socks off — and meet other bands.

After a series of successful music-oriented one-shots, Alex Segura and Matt Rosenberg have teamed up with Joe Eisma and Matt Herms for The Archies, an ongoing series featuring Archie Andrews and friends as musicians.

The series will show what happens when Archie, Jughead, Betty & Veronica, and Reggie leave Riverdale as they begin their first tour across the country, where they’ll meet other bands along the way — like CHVRCHES, who will appear in the second issue.

Solicitation text, a preview and cover art for the first issue can be found below.

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Extended engagement: Archie launches ongoing ‘The Archies’ series

Alex Segura, Matt Rosenberg and Joe Eisma send The Archies on tour, where they’ll meet more real-life bands.

After meeting Kiss and the Ramones, not to mention getting their own one-shot, The Archies will hit the road in a new ongoing series by Alex Segura, Matt Rosenberg and Joe Eisma.

The series will show what happens when Archie, Jughead, Betty & Veronica, and Reggie leave Riverdale as they begin their first tour across the country, where they’ll meet other bands along the way.

“When we jammed on The Archies One-Shot, it was always in the hopes of having the book become an ongoing, so it was great to see the positive response that made it possible,” Segura, who also serves as Senior Vice President of Publicity and Marketing for Archie Comics, said in a press release. “Adding real bands in the mix gives the series a must-read twist and opens the door for Matt, Joe and I to get our favorite bands into Riverdale.”

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