Music has been a major part of Archie Comics for nearly its entire history, and given music’s importance in youth culture, it makes sense that it would be a constant in the lives of Riverdale’s teen characters. That connection to the music world became even stronger when The Archies’ “Sugar, Sugar” became a #1 single in 1969, and the Riverdale TV show regularly incorporates musical numbers to energize the story. The current The Archies comic by co-writers Alex Segura and Matthew Rosenberg and artist Joe Eisma is all about exploring band life and the difficulties of the music industry by following Archie and his friends on tour, and they’re meeting some famous faces as they play around the country.
This week’s The Archies #3 had a guest appearance from Chvrches, and The Monkees and Tegan & Sara are showing up in the next two issues. The book’s first arc ends with a legendary rock group when Blondie takes the reins of the band’s first recording session in March’s The Archie #6, and this exclusive first look at the issue’s covers has the Archie crew meeting Blondie frontwoman Debbie Harry. “Archie Comics have always been in the vanguard of pop culture,” says Blondie co-founder and guitarist Chris Stein. “I bet in 1939 parents were worried about them being bad influences on misspent youth.”
“Blondie have always been one of the best looking and best sounding bands in rock music,” says Joe Eisma. “I’m very excited for them to appear in The Archies—I can’t think of anything cooler than pairing Debbie Harry with Betty and Veronica!” Blondie’s cool factor has stayed strong for decades, and Alex Segura echoes his collaborator’s sentiments about the band appearing in their series. “What’s cooler than Blondie? Their music was formative for me in college, and no lead singer had the distant, smooth calm of Debbie Harry – with a ton of verve and a killer, unique voice. Getting the chance to write them, and showcase a band that’s still relevant and kicking butt is going to be a lot of fun, and a perfect way to close out the first year on the book.” Readers can witness this meeting of musical minds on March 28, and in the meanwhile, they can read an excerpt from this week’s issue to see the book’s first big guest star.