RIVERDALE BURNS AS ONI PRESS UNLEASHES THE FIRST SCORCHING COVERS FOR ARCHIE IN HELL #1

Patrick Horvath and Tyler Crook drag Archie Andrews through cult rituals, ancient curses, cosmic horror, and something even worse than Hell this November

Riverdale has survived killers, zombies, witches, vampires, and enough teenage relationship drama to qualify as its own supernatural emergency. This November, however, Oni Press and Archie Comics are opening the gates to something even more diabolical.

Oni Press has revealed the first wave of covers for Archie in Hell #1, the infernal new ongoing series from writer Patrick Horvath and artist Tyler Crook. Launching during Archie Andrews’ 85th anniversary celebration, the series promises to take America’s favorite redheaded teenager into the darkest, bloodiest, and most unpredictable corner of Riverdale yet.

Forget missed dates at Pop’s. Archie has cultists trying to sacrifice him, witches battling for his soul, ancient evil crawling through the town’s history, and he is probably still going to be late for school. That is one brutal semester, fam.

Every small town has secrets, but Riverdale has apparently been hiding a full-blown demonic conspiracy beneath the milkshakes and football games. An ancient order of cultists has spent generations infiltrating the town, manipulating its residents, and preparing a human sacrifice capable of bringing a demon lord into the mortal world. After centuries of planning, the cabal finally identifies the last piece needed to complete its ritual: hometown football champion, eternal optimist, and all-around good guy Archie Andrews. The cult believes Archie is the perfect sacrifice. Unfortunately for them, they are not the only supernatural force operating inside Riverdale.

Actual witches walk the town’s streets, and when the coven discovers what the cult has planned, the final stages of Archie’s ritual sacrifice erupt into a supernatural war. The collision between cult magic and witchcraft sends consequences rippling across time, space, and the fabric of reality itself. Archie does not simply end up trapped in Hell. He becomes unstuck from time, bound to a horrifying curse, and condemned to something that may be even worse than the deepest corner of the underworld. Still late for class, though. Some problems refuse to die.

Archie in Hell #1 is written by multiple Eisner Award nominee Patrick Horvath, the creator behind Beneath the Trees Where Nobody Sees. Horvath is joined by Russ Manning Award winner Tyler Crook, the acclaimed artist of Harrow County and Out of Alcatraz, who handles the interior artwork and main cover. Together, Horvath and Crook are building a new piece of Archie horror mythology that stretches from 1690 to the present day. The story digs into Riverdale’s buried history while placing Archie at the center of a curse that refuses to remain confined to one lifetime, one reality, or one plane of existence.

Oni Press Editor in Chief Sierra Hahn made it clear that this trip to Riverdale will not resemble the Archie stories sitting on anybody’s grandmother’s bookshelf.

“Archie in Hell by Horvath and Crook really puts our favorite Archie characters through their paces, missed dates, ritual sacrifice, and a hero forced to confront the darkest annals of Riverdale’s past now caught in a demonic grip,” Hahn said. “This world is equal parts familiar, shocking, gruesome, and fun. This isn’t your grandma’s Riverdale.”

She is not playing around. When “missed dates” and “ritual sacrifice” appear in the same sentence, Riverdale has officially gone off the rails and driven straight into a lake of fire.

The first issue will arrive with a suitably wicked collection of covers from an impressive lineup of artists. Tyler Crook provides the main cover, bringing the same eerie atmosphere and detailed storytelling found throughout the issue’s interiors. Writer Patrick Horvath also contributes a cover, which will be available as a standard edition and an $8.99 foil variant.

The remaining variants come from Paul Azaceta, Jesse Lonergan, Kano, longtime Archie Comics artist Dan Parent, Mirka Andolfo, and Mahmud Asrar. Each artist brings a different flavor of horror, humor, and supernatural chaos to Riverdale’s descent into damnation. Seeing Dan Parent, an artist so deeply connected to Archie’s classic visual identity, participating in a project this twisted adds another layer of fun. It creates a bridge between the Riverdale readers recognize and the cursed nightmare Horvath and Crook are preparing to unleash.

The full cover lineup includes work by:

Tyler Crook
Patrick Horvath
Paul Azaceta
Jesse Lonergan
Kano
Dan Parent
Mirka Andolfo
Mahmud Asrar

With talent like this attached, collectors may want to make space in the long boxes now. Once the foil, horror, classic Archie, and prestige variants start hitting shelves, wallets are about to experience their own personal circle of Hell. Archie in Hell is part of a much larger publishing initiative between Oni Press and Archie Comics, one designed to reintroduce Riverdale through ambitious, creator-driven series.

The new line begins in September with Archie #1, written by Ben H. Winters and illustrated by Fábio Moon, with covers by Stuart Immonen. The series follows 17-year-old Archie Andrews as he navigates the familiar warmth, oddball personalities, and endless surprises of Riverdale.

Archie’s latest adventure begins during a local film festival that turns the entire town upside down. Beneath the celebration sits a mysterious paradox that only Jughead Jones may be able to unravel, connecting Riverdale’s past, present, and future in ways nobody expects. The issue will also include puzzles, pinups, surprises, and several seemingly separate mysteries linked to one larger puzzle. Oni Press is not simply rebooting Archie and calling it a day. The publisher is treating Riverdale like a massive storytelling playground where different genres, timelines, and creative voices can collide.

The line expands in October with Sabrina the Teenage Witch #1 from writer Corinna Bechko and artist Kano. Still processing the revelation of her magical birthright, Sabrina Spellman must learn how to control her developing powers while dealing with the everyday chaos of being 16. Homework, social pressure, family secrets, and spellcasting are already enough to keep anybody busy, but Salem makes matters worse by dropping a mythical trickster directly onto Sabrina’s doorstep. With Halloween approaching, Sabrina’s magical and ordinary lives begin smashing together like two pumpkins tossed off a Brooklyn rooftop. Keeping her powers secret becomes almost impossible as supernatural trouble spreads through her world, forcing her to decide what kind of witch she wants to become.

Between Archie in September, Sabrina the Teenage Witch in October, and Archie in Hell in November, Oni Press and Archie Comics are building momentum one month at a time. Each series offers a different entry point into Riverdale while remaining connected through the larger celebration of Archie’s 85th anniversary.

Archie Andrews has always represented optimism, friendship, perseverance, and the belief that things will somehow work out by the final page. Archie in Hell appears ready to test every piece of that identity. What happens when the eternal good guy is placed inside a nightmare with no obvious escape? How does Archie remain Archie when he is ripped out of time, cursed by ancient forces, and forced to confront horrors buried beneath Riverdale’s friendly surface?

Horvath and Crook have a strong setup for something much bigger than a simple horror remix. Beneath the demons, blood, and witchcraft sits an opportunity to explore why Archie’s goodness has survived for 85 years and whether that goodness can endure when the universe itself seems determined to break him.

Oni Press and Archie Comics are promising the most malevolent and merciless Archie story ever published. Considering everything this kid has survived across multiple timelines, alternate worlds, and horror universes, that is one serious threat.

Archie in Hell #1 arrives in comic shops this November with covers by Tyler Crook, Patrick Horvath, Paul Azaceta, Jesse Lonergan, Kano, Dan Parent, Mirka Andolfo, and Mahmud Asrar.

Riverdale is damned. The cult is ready. The witches are coming.

Archie Andrews is about to have one hell of a bad day.