Vancouver Sun

Archie meets his end

Behind- the- scenes turmoil at comic book empire

- With files from The Associated Press

Beloved comic book character Archie Andrews has died of a circulatio­n related illness. He was 63. Born in Riverdale, Andrews was the son of John Goldwater, a publishing executive, and Bob Montana, a cartoonist. Most recently, he had been working on getting his high school diploma.

He is survived by Betty Cooper and Veronica Lodge, with whom he enjoyed an alternativ­e lifestyle.

It’s no joke that the impending death of the red- headed rapscallio­n has sent tremors through the comic book world.

The publishers of Archie Comics say the freckle- faced protagonis­t will heroically sacrifice himself saving the life of a friend in a July instalment of Life with Archie, a comic book series that tells the story of grown- up renditions of Archie and his Riverdale gang.

But fear not. Archie will live on as his teenage self in another comic universe.

The demise comes at a tumultuous time for the comic book publisher as two sides fight for control of the wisecracki­ng character. Archie Comics CEO Jon Goldwater, the son of Archie creator John Goldwater, told CNN the idea was to paint a more complete picture of the character.

“Life With Archie is Archie’s future — it gives readers a look into what his life would be like after high school and college, which has never really been explored,” he told CNN.

“We’ve been building up to this moment since we launched Life with Archie five years ago and knew that any book that was telling the story of Archie’s life as an adult had to also show his final moment.”

 ?? ARCHIE COMICS ?? The Life with Archie series plans to kill off its main character.
ARCHIE COMICS The Life with Archie series plans to kill off its main character.

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