Archie Comics Is Officially Switching Genres This Week

Published Nov 3, 2026, 2:14 PM EST Ambrose Tardive is an editor on ScreenRant's Comics team. Over the past two years, he has developed into the internet's foremost authority on The Far Side. Outside of his work for ScreenRant, Ambrose works as an Adjunct English Instructor. Sign in to your ScreenRant account Archie Comics is sending its hero on an unexpected odyssey in a brand-new ongoing series. Archie Andrews is about to be about as far outside his comfort zone of teenage life in Riverdale as he can get. He's about to go on a journey to hell and back, and in between, he's going to be traveling through time and fighting demonic entities, as his eponymous franchise blends supernatural and sci-fi elements in Archie in Hell, from a genre-defying creative team. For viewers who stuck with the Archie TV adaptation Riverdale through to the very end, this might feel like déjà vu all over again. For plenty of people, though, it is still a record scratch moment. "Archie in where?" But it is true. And the premise of Archie in Hell is even wilder than the attention-grabbing title. Coming from publisher Oni Press, Archie in Hell debuts on November 4, 2026. Oni has released details on two subsequent issues, to be released in December and January. (More on that shortly.) Beyond that, the promise is of a continuing series, suggesting that hell is just the starting point for what author Patrick Horvath and artist Tyler Crook are going to put Archie through before he makes it home. If he makes it home. Warning! Spoilers and speculation ahead for Archie in Hell! Archie Fights Demons & Travels Through Time In His Wildest Adventure Yet A demon-worshipping cult is going to sacrifice Archie to summon their evil lord. Then a coven of witches gets involved, dramatically complicating matters. Oni Press has given those details away about Archie in Hell #1. Fans can read between the lines of the issue's official synopsis when it says "the consequences will be cosmic" when Archie's sacrifice is interrupted, leading the character to "find himself damned to something far worse than Hell’s inner circle." Especially when it goes on to call Archie "unstuck in time," taking a cue from Kurt Vonnegut's Slaughterhouse-Five. The synopsis for Archie in Hell #2 gives away even more, revealing he has been sent back in time to "a dark reflection of the year 1690." It also implies that whether Archie is or isn't, in fact, dead at the hands of the cultists might be an open question looming over the series' early issues. The preview for Archie in Hell #3 confirms he'll be staying in 1690 for a while, in an arc that is giving major Widow's Bay vibes. That is a lot to give away to readers ahead of a big new title's debut, but in the case of Archie in Hell, this suggests something: confidence. It feels like Oni Press is confident that the series has so many shocks and surprises in store that it is going to become a sensation as the series gets going. And Oni should feel good about Archie in Hell's prospects, given its creators' impressive resumes. "Archie In Hell" Author Patrick Horvath Is A Modern Horror Maestro Patrick Horvath is responsible for the mindbending Beneath the Trees Where Nobody Sees series, which has been described as "Dexter meets Animal Crossing." Beneath the Trees is must-read modern horror in its own right, and now Horvath is teaming with award-winning artist Tyler Crook to break all the same rules with the Archie in Hell series. It is poised to be a major comic book story unfolding in 2027, and possibly beyond, and should be expected to break new ground for the franchise, even if Archie Comics has dabbled in horror and sci-fi before. Right now, though, that all depends on how readers respond to the first issue of the ambitious new Oni Press title. Archie in Hell #1 drops this week from Oni Press. Writer Bob Montana, John L. Goldwater Penciler Various Inker Various Colorist Various Letterer Various Publisher(s) Archie Comic Publications