A cult, a coven, and America’s most wholesome redhead caught in the middle — the Afterlife with Archie tradition roars back to life this November.
Archie returns to Riverdale
Riverdale has never been safe. We know this by now. But Archie in Hell #1 looks ready to make every past horror that’s crept through that town look like a malt-shop misunderstanding — and it’s coming from a creative team that has no business being this stacked.
Here’s the setup, and it’s a doozy. Patrick Horvath (multiple Eisner nominee, Beneath the Trees Where Nobody Sees) and Tyler Crook (Russ Manning winner, Harrow County, Out of Alcatraz) are launching an infernal new ongoing series in the bloodstained lineage of Afterlife with Archie. The premise leans hard into the “every small town has a secret” idea — except Riverdale’s secret is an absolute doozy. An ancient order of cultists has quietly wormed its way into the townsfolk, and they’ve spent a century plotting to drag a demon lord into our mortal plane through human sacrifice.
Their final target? Hometown football champ and all-around good egg Archie Andrews. Of course.
But here’s the twist that makes this concept sing: the cult never counted on actual witches walking Riverdale’s streets. When cabal and coven collide in the final stages of Archie’s ritual sacrifice, the fallout goes cosmic. Unstuck from time and space, Archie is bound to a terrible curse, and even worse… He’s late for school.
Horvath and Crook are billing this as the most malevolently merciless Archie tale ever told, and given who’s holding the pens, I believe them.
The Covers (and There Are… A Lot)
Archie Comics is going all-in on the variant game here, so clear some space on your pull list. Tyler Crook handles Cover A, with Horvath himself on B, Paul Azaceta on C, and Jesse Lonergan on D. There’s a blank sketch E for the artists in the room, plus a pair of $8.99 foil variants from Crook and Horvath.
Then it gets ratio-heavy: a Kano teaser (1:10), a Dan Parent legacy variant (1:20) — a lovely bit of classic-Archie DNA sneaking into this nightmare — Mirka Andolfo at 1:50, Mahmud Asrar at 1:100, and a Jesse Lonergan black-and-white at 1:250 for the true completionists.
The Details
Archie in Hell #1 Written by Patrick Horvath · Art by Tyler Crook $4.99 | 32 pgs. | Full Color On sale November 4, 2026 · FOC: September 28, 2026 | Published by Oni Press
Something wicked this way comes — and for once, I’m rooting for it. Mark that FOC date, because you’ll want to lock in whichever cover speaks to your dark little heart before it’s gone.
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