Holy Riverdale, Batman! Gotham's Caped Crusader is coming to the pages of Archie Comics to powwow with Archie Andrews and the gang in Archie Meets Batman 66 #1.
Written by Jeff Parker and Michael Moreci, with art by Dan Parent, the comic will find Archie crossing paths with Batman '66, the iteration of Bruce Wayne made famous by the late Adam West on the 1960s TV show. At his side is Robin, the Boy Wonder, originally played by Burt Ward.
>"Jeff Parker has a wonderful history with Batman '66 and is a writer I've wanted to work with since I got to Archie, and pairing him with Michael Moreci, someone who has a great track record and the right sensibility for this book, made a lot of sense," said Archie Comics co-president Alex Segura in a statement to SYFY WIRE. "On the art side, there's no one else we'd rather see drawing this than Dan Parent — who's a superstar artist and an Archie legend. Watching his work with finisher J. Bone come in has been a highlight for everyone. This is going to be a memorable book."
There will also be two variant covers from Derek Charm, Francesco Francavilla, Sandy Jarrell (with Kelly Fitzpatrick colors), Dan Parent (with J. Bone inks, Tito Pena colors), and Ty Templeton.
They're not the first comic book characters to visit the Archie universe, though: Harley Quinn and Poison Ivy already enjoyed a run-in with Betty and Veronica in 2017. And back in 1984, Archie even met the Punisher.
According to DC SVP of editorial strategy and administration, Hank Kanalz, they "considered many different combinations for this next pairing between DC Universe and Archie characters" before settling on the Batman-Archie team-up.
Parker certainly knew the many fun possibilities, quipping: “Look, we all want to know what Jughead and The Joker make of each other, and we want to see the romance dynamics of Riverdale High thrown completely out of gear by bringing in Dick Grayson and Barbara Gordon. And will Pop Tate get ahead of this and start selling Bat Burgers? It’s very cool to work with a heavy hitting team of top talent. Michael and I synched up immediately with plotting, and Dan and J. Bone are the exact right cartoonists to make a mash-up like this really work. We are all wearing matching R letterman jackets while working on this, by the way.”
Nigga it’s not desperation DC just likes fun crossovers.
Austin Butler
This is adorable
Daniel Ward
So the 66 universe includes: Batman 66 TV Superman (cameo) Adams Family (cameo) Wonder Woman 77 Bionic Woman Green Hornet The Avengers Man from Uncle Archie
Anyone I’m missing?
Carter James
So at what point will WB just straight up buy Archie Comics and merge it with DC?
Owen Robinson
Archie/Watchmen crossover when?
Mason Cooper
The Shadow was mentioned in one of the crossovers, though I can't remember which one. Also >TV Superman (cameo) Where did this happen?
Camden Butler
>Anyone I’m missing? After their Batman '66 crossover, Dynamite did "Green Hornet '66 Meets The Spirit", so I guess that counts.
