Archie is Mr. Justice! But in the appropriately titled Archie is Mr. Justice #2 from Archie Comics, Veronica is The Visionary, either an anti-hero or a villain, depending on how you look at things. And as you might imagine, that complicates the classic dynamics, considerably.
“It’s the Archie triangle, but super-powered!” writer Amanda Deibert told Comic Book Club over email. “Archie and Veronica are both grappling with who they are as humans and as heroes . . . and also where the way they feel about each other fits into that complicated world. This is a struggle for any classic superhero but also very much the Archie love dilemma.”
With the book on stands now, we discussed these riffs on the characters, playing on some very real issues from the world outside, and passing this Archie Premium title from one team to the next with Deibert and artist Brent Schoonover.
Comic Book Club: You’ve found a nice riff on the classic Betty/Archie/Veronica triangle here… What went into making that work, with the superhero context?
Amanda Deibert: Thank you! It was great to play with their personalities and the way they all work well together and against each other in a whole new way. The superhero element takes who they are and ramps it up, so we get to watch that struggle intensify in a larger-than-life way. They all care deeply about each other . . . and are also uniquely set up to hurt each other. In this case, that gets a bit literal and physical, too.
Brent Schoonover: This was my favorite part. It reminded me of classic superhero stuff, like Peter Parker trying to balance his life between Gwen and Mary Jane and still trying to be Spider-Man, but now one of the ladies becomes a superhero, too. I really enjoyed bringing that classic superhero approach to Riverdale. I think it fit in well and I could totally see these characters continuing on in a superhero love triangle.
What was important to include in Veronica’s superhero/villain identity?
Deibert: Ronnie is not someone who will stand in the background of someone else’s story. If superhero action’s happening in Riverdale, you better believe she will be part of it. So, I wanted to show her taking the initiative and creating her own idea of a hero . . . and to be sure we had a hero who was strong, stylish, and very much front and center. I thought it was fun to let Archie meet his match in her.
Schoonover: I think her personality really needed to show through the costume; it needed to be stylish. While I loved that this approach in the storytelling felt classic, I did not think that would work for her costume. Veronica is always moving forward in her style and looks, so you need to honor that. There’s no way she’d be wearing a mask, so the glasses were a good way to conceal her looks but still look cool.



You’re also very clearly riffing on Superman here (sorry to bring up another publisher). What’s your take on the Mr. Justice/Visionary/Archie triangle?
Deibert: It’s the Archie triangle, but super-powered! Archie and Veronica are both grappling with who they are as humans and as heroes . . . and also where the way they feel about each other fits into that complicated world. This is a struggle for any classic superhero but also very much the Archie love dilemma.
Schoonover: I think it’s just the classic dilemma of conflicting moral compasses. Those characters and books got a lot of mileage for many years playing with that issue and it creates wonderful drama. Every time we might make some progress either between Archie/Veronica or Mr. Justice/Visionary, there is something that gets between them or makes them think maybe they are just destined to always be at odds.
The whole conflict of corporations versus small-town folks is very present right now. What was important to get across here?
Deibert: I wanted to show that this is a real struggle that hits real people. Archie and Veronica aren’t just putting on cool suits and flying around . . . there are huge stakes and people’s lives hang in the balance. I wanted to show Ronnie’s conflicting feelings; everything she does comes from a good and earnest place, but sometimes she isn’t aware of how that plays out for people living around her.
Schoonover: It’s only one panel, but the panel of the Riverdale citizens getting on Lodge buses to leave town really hits how deeply this is affecting the town and the people. We have the homeless family scene and the angry protestors at the fashion show, but for me, that one panel really hits home that this is getting out of hand, and something needs to be done.
One of the neat things about this project is the hand-off from one creative team to another – what did the issue one team pass along to you? And what did you hand off to the issue three team?
Deibert: Well, the one thing I had the most fun with was referencing another story in the photos. Everyone is tangled together and is part of every story, so we are building off the collective in a super fun way with these. I LOVE seeing what everyone has done. You’ll certainly see more of what is going on with Betty soon . . .
Schoonover: For me, [issue #1 artist] Mike Norton set the tone of balancing the emotional scenes with the superhero action. I love Mike and have known him for a long time. I think he’s one of the best and most versatile artists in the business and his superhero work is extremely underrated. So, for me it was really just about taking what he did and trying my best to keep that feel going; make the small moments feel important while making the action scenes feel big and dynamic. As for what we left the next team in issue three, I think we left them with some intrigue about what is going on with Betty as well as the mysterious Kid Wicked.
Archie is Mr. Justice #2 is on sale now.



Comic Book Club Live Info:
Discover more from Comic Book Club
Subscribe to get the latest posts sent to your email.