Riverdale gets Dickensian for Archie's Holiday Magic

Archie's Holiday Magic
Archie's Holiday Magic (Image credit: Gretel Lusky (Archie Comics))

The Riverdale gang will get a tour of their past, present, and future in a Hallmark Channel-esque anthology titled Archie's Christmas Magic. Debuting December 8 (just in time for the holidays), Archie's Christmas Magic will be taking the classic formula of Charles Dickens' The Christmas Carol and fitting it into Riverdale lore - with Archie filling the role of Ebenezer Scrooge.

Archie's Holiday Magic (Image credit: Gary Erskine (Archie Comics))

"We were definitely inspired by the Archie reboot series from Mark Waid and Fiona Staples, and feel-good Hallmark movies for this fun and heartwarming anthology,” Archie Comics' senior director of editorial Jamie L. Rotante says in the announcement. "We think it's a perfect way to celebrate 80 years of Archie by taking a trip through different eras of Archie's life as he ultimately rediscovers the importance of friendship and community during the holiday season.”

Friendship? Sure. Community? Yeah. But it all begins with Archie's love life, and him trying to decide who to ask to be his date to Riverdale's annual Snow Ball - Betty or Veronica? That decision is what beckons an as-yet-unnamed spiritual guide to reconsider his choices and the entire idea of the holidays.

Archie's Holiday Magic will feature three individual stories for the various sections. The creative teams are:

  • Writer Micol Ostow and Gretel Lusky
  • Writer Michael Northrop and Arielle Jovellanos
  • Writer J. Torres and Dan Schoening

Colorist Matt Herms and letterer Jack Morelli will be working on all three stories.

Here are some concept sketches from the artists:

Archie's Holiday Magic (Image credit: Gretel Lusky (Archie Comics))

"I'm so thrilled to be working with the creative team on this book!" says Rotante. "Micol has such a knack for the characters' modern-day voices, while J. Torres is a master of sentimental storytelling, especially involving the younger versions of the characters. It has also been a bucket list of mine to work with Michael Northrop, and his comedic voice works so well in this future scenario.

"We've also got three amazing artists contributing to this project. Gretel, Arielle, and Dan all have beautiful, animated styles that fit  perfectly to each era in Archie's life and I'm so excited for Archie fans to see their art for the first time here."  

Archie's Holiday Magic goes on sale on December 8.

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Chris Arrant

Chris Arrant covered comic book news for Newsarama from 2003 to 2022 (and as editor/senior editor from 2015 to 2022) and has also written for USA Today, Life, Entertainment Weekly, Publisher's Weekly, Marvel Entertainment, TOKYOPOP, AdHouse Books, Cartoon Brew, Bleeding Cool, Comic Shop News, and CBR. He is the author of the book Modern: Masters Cliff Chiang, co-authored Art of Spider-Man Classic, and contributed to Dark Horse/Bedside Press' anthology Pros and (Comic) Cons. He has acted as a judge for the Will Eisner Comic Industry Awards, the Harvey Awards, and the Stan Lee Awards. Chris is a member of the American Library Association's Graphic Novel & Comics Round Table. (He/him)