AIPT Comics

Halloween horrors with ‘Archie in Hell’ creators Patrick Horvath and Tyler Crook

Episode Summary

Happy Halloween, comic book fans! This week, we're getting into the spooky spirit with two creators who know a thing or two about making readers uncomfortable: Patrick Horvath, the mind behind Beneath the Trees Where Nobody Sees, and Tyler Crook, the acclaimed artist of Harrow County and Out of Alcatraz. The two are teaming up for Archie in Hell, a new horror series from Oni Press that takes Riverdale's favorite redhead and throws him into a nightmare of ancient gods, occult conspiracies, and even a trip back to Puritan America in 1690.

Episode Notes

1. The Big Three

6–7 min

Cover the three most consequential stories of the week, ranking them and giving your personal reaction.

  1. Patrick Stewart has passed away
  2. February 2027 Marvel Midnight Universe title details revealed
  3. Fantagraphics announces ‘Visiting America,’ graphic memoir about British cartoonist’s 19 days in ICE detention

2. Rapid-fire reactions to three or four additional announcements.

3–4 min

  1. Tiny Onion announces ‘Humbucker,’ a music-fueled crime thriller from Eric Harburn and Simon Gane
  2. Exclusive Marvel preview: ‘Fugitive X-Force’ #1 brings back Freedom Force and a long-lost mutant
  3. BOOM! Studios announces slasher horror series ‘The Carvers’ for February 2027

3. What the Press Release Isn't Saying

3–4 min

Dig into one announcement and offer an editorial perspective that listeners won't necessarily get from reading the headline.

  1. DC extends 'Absolute Catwoman' to 12 issues, continuing Selina Kyle's story through 2027
    1. Absolute was in Rolling Stone Magazine

Our Top Books of the Week:

Dave:

  1. Universal Monsters: The Bride of Frankenstein Lives #1 (Kelly Thompson, Mattia de Iulis)
  2. Batman: Bad Seeds - Gotham General #1 (Greg Rucka, Rosa Ekedal, Steve Lieber)

Alex:

  1. Absolute Wonder Woman #25 (Kelly Thompson, Hayden Sherman)
  2. Fireborn #5 (Curt Pires, Timmy Heague, Franklin Jonas, Patrick Mulholland, Brian Andane)

Standout KAPOW moment of the week:

Alex: Satanic Panic #1 (Matt Miner, Clay McCormack)

Dave: Amazing Spider-Man #1002 (Pepe Larraz, Joe Kelly)

TOP BOOKS FOR NEXT WEEK

JUDGING BY THE COVER JR.

Archie in Hell - Patrick Horvath - Tyler Crooke (Issue #1 out November 4th) 

  1. Guys, welcome to the AIPT Comics podcast. To kick things off, this interview will be heard on Halloween day, but as of today, we’re just entering the spooky season, as two creators who work within the realms of horror, how do you celebrate Halloween at home?
  2. Archie has been put through the horror wringer plenty of times at this point, but Archie in Hell starts with perhaps the most wholesome version of Archie imaginable, collecting food for charity, and uses that goodness against him. Patrick, was the idea of Archie being targeted specifically because he’s such a good person the key that unlocked this story for you?
  3. AIPT: Solicit hounds will know this story jumps back in time to 1690, where Riverdale suddenly becomes this bleak Puritan community. What excited you both about taking characters and relationships we associate with this colorful, almost timeless American town and filtering them through that period of history?
  4. AIPT: Tyler, Riverdale has such an established visual language that readers can recognize these characters almost instantly. Once Archie lands in 1690, how do you preserve enough of that familiarity while making this version of Riverdale feel genuinely unsettling and historically removed from the place we know?
  5. AIPT: The first issue brings Sabrina into the story as someone who immediately understands that something much darker is happening. Archie horror has made her an incredibly useful bridge between everyday Riverdale and the supernatural. When you were building this story, how did you decide what Sabrina knows and how powerful she should be without letting her become an easy solution to Archie’s nightmare?
  6. AIPT: The Order of A’ldarax and the Elder Gods push this toward occult and cosmic horror, while 1690 Riverdale opens the door to religious paranoia, accusations, and fear of the devil. What kinds of horror were each of you most interested in playing with here, and are there horror movies, books, or comics that helped set the temperature for the series?
  7. AIPT: Patrick, Beneath the Trees Where Nobody Sees showed how effective horror can be when it invades a world that initially feels cozy and safe. Archie has that quality built into its DNA. Does horror become more potent for you when readers already have an emotional sense that this is a place where terrible things simply shouldn't happen?
  8. AIPT: The title makes a pretty enormous promise: Archie in Hell. Yet we're starting with cults, Elder Gods, time travel, and a very different Riverdale. Without giving away where you're ultimately taking us, how literally should readers be interpreting the word “Hell,” and just how bad can things get for Archie from here?
  9. AIPT: Since this is our Halloween episode, I have to end with something appropriately important: the Riverdale gang is trapped overnight in a genuinely haunted house. Who survives until morning, who makes the absolute worst horror-movie decision, and who turns out to be having way too much fun?