Archie Comics today announced a new horror anthology one-shot coming…just in time for Valentine’s Day! Like Jughead The Hunger or Afterlife With Archie, the new title will juxtapose Archie’s iconic all-ages characters with horror tropes, creating a combination that goes together like peanut butter and chocolate. Per a press release, the issue will center on Betty Cooper, known for 80 years as the girl next door with a ready solution for every problem, might have finally found her match in Chilling Adventures Presents Betty: the Final Girl, a one-shot anthology from the renowned Archie Horror imprint. A love letter to slasher movies and horror in general, the comic features two open-to-order covers by Laura Braga and Megan Hutchison celebrating the heroic final girl archetype.
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“When considering the covers for Betty: the Final Girl, we kept in mind the survival themes of fear and dread,” said Archie Comics Art Director Vincent Lovallo. “Laura hit the mark perfectly with the eerie atmosphere of the forest, the frightening figure in the distance, and a battle-bloodied Betty who’s prepared to face the unknown. And from Betty’s bewildered expression to the neon-like glow of the surrounding demons, Megan’s variant creates an air of uncertainty; which horrors are real and which are fake?!”
Betty: the Final Girl, with colors by Matt Herms and lettering by Jack Morelli, releases February 15 in comic shops nationwide and is available for pre-order now.
The slasher sub-genre’s most widely loved trope, the “final girl” is the clever survivor who carries a relentless plot across the finish line, taking it to the bad guy in the last scene. Writer Micol Ostow (Fear the Funhouse, Riverdale: The Ties That Bind) immediately turned to Betty when she thought of marrying the genre with Archie’s core cast of characters.
“I’m a die-hard horror fan, and I’ve been obsessed with how seamlessly Archie’s been able to integrate different styles, levels, and aesthetics of spookiness into their Archie Horror library,” Micol said. “And while I don’t have *one* favorite scary movie or book, I’ve always been a sucker for the ‘final girl’ trope. It hit me that Betty would make a fantastic final girl: blonde, kick-ass, capable!”
Micol’s framing story, “Rosemary’s Babysitter,” with art by Laura Braga (Blossoms 666), takes Betty and Veronica to a secluded mountaintop chalet for a weekend of skiing. When Betty is left alone, her mind begins to race and dangers appear around every darkened hallway and every creaky door. Each new fright introduces a new story starring a different girl from the Archie Comics roster: “Be Mine or Die” by Casey Gilley (Return of Chilling Adventures In Sorcery) and Natalie Nardozza (Gemini Crisis), and “Melody’s Next” by Sam Maggs (Critical Role) and Carola Borelli (Deadliest Bouquet).
“When Micol Ostow first pitched the idea of doing a ‘final girl’-style story with Betty as the eponymous final girl, I was immediately interested; the idea of a ‘final girl’ is so synonymous with horror that it would be silly NOT to do it,” said Archie Comics Senior Director of Editorial Jamie L. Rotante. “Every good teen/college horror flick utilizes that idea, so fitting it into the Archie universe was a lay-up. In keeping with our practice of horror anthologies, we also wanted to have there be more than one ‘final girl,’ so, the final girls of Betty, Brigitte, and Melody all came into play!”
You can check out the solicitation text for the issue below.
Veronica has invited Betty to her luxurious mountaintop chalet for a cozy weekend of skiing. But their girls weekend is interrupted when Archie shows up and whisks Veronica off on their own snowy romantic adventure. What could go wrong at a fancy remote cabin in the mountains all by herself? Betty’s mind races and she can’t tell fact from fiction as she suddenly realizes she might not be so alone. Is Betty believing too much in the horror movies she’s watched, or is someone (or something) really out to get her? Find out in this BRAND NEW horror anthology one-shot that’s equal parts Scream and When a Stranger Calls.
Script: Micol Ostow, Casey Gilly, Sam Maggs
Art: Laura Braga, Natalie Nardozza, Carola Borelli
Colors: Matt Herms
Letters: Jack Morelli
Cover: Laura Braga
Variant Cover: Megan Hutchison
On Sale Date: 2/15
32-page, full color comic
$3.99 U.S.
