Lena Dunham's Archie Comics Project: First Details Revealed

Details are coming out about Girls creator Lena Dunham's upcoming Archie Comics project, announced last night but buried deep in a New York Times article about the hiring of screenwriter and Dunham friend Roberto Aguirre-Sacasa as Archie's new Chief Creative Officer. The four-issue miniseries, due out in 2015, will apparently focus on the girls of Riverdale--perhaps not surprising, considering the recent focus on Betty and Veronica as drivers of surprising story developments. "Everyone at Archie is thrilled Lena's coming aboard to write this story, and I can tell you, it's going to be fantastic," Aguirre-Sacasa said in a statement. "Lena's take on the Archie gang is funny and real and contemporary. It's a stunning fit, and I know fans will be excited to read it. I am!"

It's also, unlike Aguirre-Sacasa's Afterlife With Archie, set in the continuity of the mainline Archie Comics stories. "We sent her a box of tons of Archie books, she devoured them all, and maybe a week or two later came back with her pitch," Aguirre-Sacasa told CBR. "I'm not going to spoil it, but it's really, really funny. It's incredibly contemporary. It's a classic Archie story, with a definitely unique, Lena spin, and it's going to be set in Archie continuity." Dunham, whose signature HBO series took home the Golden Globe in 2013 for both Best Television Series -- Musical or Comedy, and Dunham herself picking up Best Actress -- Television Series Musical or Comedy, will host Saturday Night Live this weekend. The first piece of promotional art, created by Archie's prolific Dan Parent, is modeled (at least apparently, from the image at right) after one of the earliest promotional images for Girls.