Archie Comics Puts Main Archie Title on Surprise Hiatus, Ending 78-Year Run

After a 78-year-run, Archie Comics' flagship title, Archie, is going on hiatus. The most recent issue of the series, Archie #713 went on sale July 29th and since that time there have been no additional issues announced or solicited, marking the first time since 1942 that the book has not continuously published.

According to Newsarama, no future issues of Archie are planned "at least through the end of November" as plans for the Archie title have been a bit in flux as a result of the coronavirus pandemic. Prior to COVID-19 there was a planned two-month break -- Archie #713 was originally expected to publish on April 22nd with a break in May and June but the pandemic shifted that issue to July.

But while nearly every corner of the comics world was impacted when the industry functionally shutdown in March, most titles across publishers have started coming back or are already back in a regular publication pattern. In the case of Archie, that planned two-month break is now significantly longer and it sounds like even a late November return isn't quite set in stone just yet.

It's that uncertainty that leaves a lot of questions, but when it comes to Archie's eventual return, fans will certainly be eagerly awaiting what happens next to Riverdale's favorite redhead. While the issue did resolve the Archie and Katy Keene miniseries running within the Archie title, Archie #713 left things with a bit of a cliffhanger when Katy decided to leave Archie behind to stay in New York for her career, devastating Archie. However, Archie isn't left to be sad for too long. Josie McCoy of Josie and the Pussycats messages Archie and asks if he'd like to collaborate with her on music, thus setting up for the title's next chapter – whenever that happens to arrive.

First published in the winter of 1942, Archie ran continuously until 2015. At that time, the series was relaunched as part of a reboot of the Archie universe complete with new character design and a new #1. However, the series reverted back to legacy numbering in 2018, thus maintaining the run.

For now, fans will just have to wait and see when and if Archie will return.

Are you surprised by Archie's surprise hiatus? Let us know your thoughts in the comment section!