Smash Pages Q&A | The writers of Oni’s new Archie Comics line on Riverdale, reinvention + why these characters endure

This fall, Oni Press and Archie Comics will launch a new publishing partnership timed to the 85th anniversary of Archie’s first appearance, beginning with Ben H. Winters and Fábio Moon’s Archie #1, followed in October by Corinna Bechko and Kano’s Sabrina the Teenage Witch #1, and then in November by Patrick Horvath and Tyler Crook’s Archie in Hell #1.

Each title is taking a distinct approach to Riverdale, with Winters and Moon leaning into slice-of-life teenage drama, Bechko and Kano exploring a magical coming-of-age story, and Horvath and Crook bringing their horror sensibilities to a cursed version of Archie.

I chatted with the three writers of the new titles about tackling these characters, what has to stay the same and what they felt free to reinvent. In addition, we’re happy to share a first look at the character designs for Archie and Sabrina the Teenage Witch by Moon and Kano.

Let’s start with hopefully an easy one — what’s your first memory or experience with Archie and its books?

Corinna Bechko: I have a hard time remembering because it seems like they’ve always been around! I think I learned about Sabrina from the sitcom. She’s so much fun and can easily go from zany to serious, just like any teen girl. But make that girl magic, but with the same concerns as any girl, and now you’ve really got something. The possibilities for her character are endless, and, with Kano handling the art, she’s never looked so good! 

Ben H. Winters: I feel like I can vividly picture the digests on the table in the waiting room at a pediatrician’s office when I was a little guy. Like Corinna said, Archie is one of those things that’s just always been a part of the fabric. 

Patrick Horvath: Archie Digest comic in the checkout lane at a Hy-Vee grocery store in Burlington, Iowa, 1980-something. I’d seen them enough at that point that I already recognized Betty, Veronica, Archie and Jughead before I was even tall enough to reach one and open it up. 

Given Archie’s 85-year history, what did you feel needed to stay “sacred” about these characters as you approach your book, and what did you feel you could ignore or do away with (if anything)?

Corinna Bechko: I think the connection they have to each other is the important thing. For Sabrina, she’s got her aunts and her feline familiar Salem, so those are non-negotiable. They ground her even though their personalities have changed a bit over the years. And Sabrina herself needs to be a good person with an independent, mischievous streak who is navigating the crossroads of growing up with a unique talent. Otherwise, I think her superpower is her timelessness. 

Ben H. Winters: There are fundamental aspects of these characters you don’t want to mess with, not because they’re “sacred” per se, but because they are the shorthand that both writer and audience understand–they set the table for the new stories. So, like, Jughead is always going to love his hamburgers, Moose is always going to be big and not-brilliant, Veronica is always going to be well-off (unless you’re doing a bit where her father loses everything and has to work for Pop’s at the diner, and… hang on, I gotta go write this down…)

Patrick Horvath: Completely agree with Corinna and Ben. The fundamental aspects of these characters are very much a part of who they are deep down, along with the unique ways they all connect with each other. There’s a lot of fun to be had pushing and pulling at those elements, but I feel like they have to be in place for it all to work. 

Riverdale has been reinterpreted many times, from the Archie comics of the 1960s to the CW show to the horror era. How did you want your version of Riverdale to feel different from what’s come before?

Corinna Bechko: Despite the ability of these characters to be endlessly reinterpreted, I believe there really is something different about our particular point in time. It feels like we are all at an inflection point, so I wanted Sabrina’s reality to reflect that, too. A lot of her stories will revolve around how we interpret what is real, and how we ground ourselves when things feel out of control. Of course, everyone feels a bit like that as a teen, but most of us don’t also run the risk of opening portals to other dimensions when we get upset. It’s not easy to be a teen witch!

Ben H. Winters: Well it’s gonna be different just by virtue of a different writer, whoever that is. I’m hoping that my own particular writerly inclinations–a certain slyness, emotional honesty, a twinge of the surreal— will be evident, without getting in the way. Mine is definitely a version of Riverdale where these are teenagers with an awareness that adulthood is coming, and I think that gives these stories a certain poignancy and charm.  

Patrick Horvath: To be totally honest, I’m relying a lot on the powers that be to steer me away from anything too similar to what’s come before, but I’m doing my damnedest to tell the best story I can with the experiment of taking these enduring characters and putting them through a traumatic meatgrinder of sorts. I think Corinna and Ben have hit the nail on the head though. It’s already going to be pretty different due to being true to our own voices and putting these stories together while living through one hell of a moment in modern history.

You’re each writing a comic with a very different tone: slice-of-life, magical coming-of-age, horror. How much conversation happened between the three of you and editorial about keeping those tones distinct while still feeling like they were still very “Archie”?

Corinna Bechko: We had a meeting early on to hash out how we would proceed so no one would cross into territory anyone else was already exploring, but really I think we all proceed from a basic understanding of how everything Archie should feel, and then tell our own stories. I feel extremely fortunate to be writing a book alongside Ben and Patrick because I can honestly say everything they write is an instant purchase for me. I can’t wait to read their takes on these characters.

Ben H. Winters: I’m refusing to talk to Corinna and Patrick because I know they’re so much smarter than me, and I’m worried I’ll end up throwing in the towel when I can’t keep up. So I’ve smashed my phone with a hammer and put OUT OF OFFICE on my email until the project is finished.

Patrick Horvath: Oh my goodness, BEN, please fix your phone so we can talk! Ha! 

It really does come down to starting from a shared sense of how these need to feel. I remember having a moment really early on and speaking with my editor Sierra Hahn about where Archie in Hell was going to fit in tonally with the other two, and in the conversation we came back to the notion that Archie is still very much Archie. It’s not a grittier character or anything. It’s still very much the sort of naïve, virtuous, well-intentioned, sorta-clumsy teen, and even if the world is on fire (or under the threat of annihilation via cosmic horror), there’s a belief that maybe we can still find a way to fix it.

Why do you think these characters still resonate with readers in 2026?

Corinna Bechko: Life looks different now than it did 85 years ago, but people are still people and the teen years are still a mix of wonder, terror, hope, and awkwardness. I don’t think that ever changes. Growing up is a process of discovery, and that makes for some darn good stories. 

Ben H. Winters: Because by some extraordinary cultural alchemy, these characters, Archie and Betty and Veronica and Reggie and all the rest of them, have taken on an almost totemic quality over time. People just look at them and understand on some deep level what they represent, same as Bart Simpson or Mickey Mouse.  

Patrick Horvath: Oh, yep, I’ll just double down on what both Corinna and Ben just said. Teens are evergreen, and these enduring characters and their personalities are what keep the ship afloat. 

Was there a specific Archie Comics era or storyline from the past that you found yourself returning to for inspiration?

Corinna Bechko: I read a lot of Sabrina comics as I prepared to write this book. I mean, a lot. There are charming stories in every era, but I gravitate to the ones that go a bit off the rails. Sabrina shrinking herself and her boyfriend enough for them to fit inside a toy race car to win at slot racing. Sabrina going into a magical dimension and making friends with a girl with one big eyeball instead of a head. I love that the world of Archie is elastic enough to encompass these moments right next to storylines about which shoes go with which dress. 

Ben H. Winters: Similarly, I plowed through years of comics and digests as I got into writing this. I’m a huge fan of all of the outlandish storylines, like where Archie goes to space, or Archie is a prehistoric caveman. And the core identity of each character is the same, even as the context is completely different. 

Patrick Horvath: I was a huge fan of Afterlife and Chilling Adventures, but in preparing for this I very much dove into dozens of the digests. A lot of it was just steeping myself in all of those core fundamentals.

Without spoiling anything, what’s a moment in your first issue you’re most excited for readers to get to?

Corinna Bechko: I hope the relationship between Sabrina and Salem will resonate with readers. And the way that Sabrina finds her first real magical solution to a supernatural problem. But really, I can’t wait for readers to see Kano’s take on the characters. I think they will fall in love! 

Ben H. Winters: We end on a back-of-the-book feature with Jughead that is a little odd, a little intriguing hopefully. It’s my attempt to crack open the boundaries of this world and see what lies beyond. Looking forward to seeing what people think! 

Patrick Horvath: Very excited for readers to see the scope of Archie’s journey that we’re setting the table for, and I cannot wait for everyone to see Tyler Crook’s amazing art on this book. It’s such an incredible treat to be working with him.