Sabrina #1, the upcoming title from Oni Press’ Archie line-up, is joining Marvel’s Midnight Universe titles for their big midnight release party. Retailers can start selling the title at 12:01 a.m. on Oct. 7, alongside Midnight X-Men, Midnight Fantastic Four and Midnight Spider-Man.
Marvel announced their midnight release party initiative to retailers earlier this month, along with other promotional efforts for retailers like posters, ashcan editions, glow-in-the-dark stickers and a light-up “Midnight” LED sign. Oni followed today with their own promotional offers, like an open-order variant cover available to retailers hosting a midnight party, featuring art by Chloe Brailsford:
And like Marvel, Oni will offer additional “deep discounts” on the main cover for the first issue to retailers:
There’s nothing like staying up late to be “the first” to get your hands on something, especially a new comic, so I’m all for these types of events. And the new Sabrina comic should fit right in with the Midnight Universe titles, as both are taking new approaches to classic characters.
“I read a lot of Sabrina comics as I prepared to write this book. I mean, a lot,” writer Corinna Bechko told me. “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.”
Here’s a look inside:
And Oni wasn’t kidding when they said Oct. 7 would be a big release day for comics. In addition to the Midnight Universe books and Sabrina, there are several other titles landing that day that would fit right in with a midnight release — including DC’s Demon and Jonah Hex titles, Hellboy in Hell: Nothing But Blood #1, Ahoy’s new Toxic Avenger title and Vampirella vs. Darkstalkers, among others. So hopefully other publishers will jump on this, too.