The latest Archie Comics crossover will bring a new threat to Riverdale, as Dynamite Entertainment, Archie Comics and STUDIOCANAL announce Archie vs. The Terminator, a five-issue miniseries launching in October. The series brings a teenage John Connor to Riverdale High, which can only mean a relentless Terminator is not far behind.
Written by Rory McConville, who wrote Dynamite’s The Terminator: Metal, the series pairs the wholesome world of Archie Andrews with the deadly future war between humanity and Skynet from the Terminator film franchise. The father-and-daughter team of Steven Butler and Lily Butler, who combined have drawn countless Archie Comics stories, will provide art for the miniseries.
“Archie crossovers hold a very special place in comics, so I’m thrilled to be writing the gang’s first (maybe last?!) encounter with The Terminator,” McConville said. “Enrolling John Connor at Riverdale High felt like the perfect way to bring these two iconic franchises together and I can’t wait for readers to see what we have in store.”
According to the publisher, John Connor enrolls at Riverdale High, turning Archie, Betty, Veronica, Jughead and the rest of the gang into targets in a crossover that promises equal parts humor, action and science-fiction mayhem.
“When I got the invite to draw the Archie vs. The Terminator mini-series, I was deeply honored and excited at the same time,” Steven Butler said. “I’ve always loved most the Archie stories that put the gang into some sort of overwhelming peril that they had to try to get themselves out of and now this mini-series gives us the opportunity to tell that kind of story I love so much. The icing on the cake is the fact that I get to work with my daughter Lily on this project.”
Here’s a look at some of the character designs:
“This story marks my first time working for Dynamite, and working on a full miniseries,” Lily Butler added. “I’m super excited to be working on characters that I’m very familiar with like the Archie crew and other characters that are new to me. I think we’re working up a really cool project and I’m excited for everyone to see!”
Each issue will feature covers by Francesco Francavilla, Robert Hack, Björn Barends and Bill Galvan, while the debut issue will also be available in a mystery blind bag edition containing randomly packed variant covers.
Archie vs. The Terminator follows last year’s Archie x Army of Darkness, which was also published by Dynamite The first issue arrives in October.