Archie Andrews, arguably the most famous comic book character who isn’t a crime-fighting vigilante, needs some help. After dying last year and continuing to face a horde of zombies, things are getting a little tight for the teens of Riverdale. That’s why the Archie Comics gang has turned to Kickstarter in order to help expand the Archie Universe (the Archie-verse?) and help promote Mark Waid and Fiona Staples’ upcoming Archie reboot.
Specifically, the Kickstarter is trying to raise money to pay for three new series: Jughead (written by Chip Zdarsky), Betty And Veronica (written and drawn by Adam Hughes), and Life With Kevin (written and drawn by Dan Parent and inked by J. Bone). The first two should be familiar to anyone with a cursory knowledge of the Archie-verse (Jughead is Archie’s friend that loves food and wears a whoopee cap, Betty and Veronica are the best friends/enemies who are frequent love interests of Archie’s). The third one, though, will focus on the grown-up adventures of Kevin Keller, Archie Comics’ first openly gay character—a relatively recent addition to the universe, especially considering that most of these characters have been around for 75 years.
The Kickstarter project is trying to raise $350,000 by June 10. As of right now, it has raised just over $17,000 with 29 days still to go. Also, like all Kickstarters, this one has the usual array of rewards you can get for donating: For $1, the team will send you a “thank you” e-mail. For $5, they’ll send you a (presumably) nicer e-mail and print your name in an upcoming Archie comic. Jumping up to $10 will get you a digital copy of one of the new comics, $2,000 will get you a chance to visit the Archie Comics offices, and $9,995 will get you the opportunity to choose between pitching an Archie story of your own, a lifetime subscription to every Archie Comics title, an appearance in an Archie comic, or an appearance on the cover of Archie comic.