As revealed via Syfy Wire, Gotham’s Caped Crusader is set to meet Riverdale’s most desired bachelor in Archie Meets Batman ’66 #1. Written by Jeff Parker and Michael Moreci, with pencils by Dan Parent, inks by J. Bone, and colors by Kelly FitzPatrick, this epic crossover hits shelves on July 18, 2018.
This new series will see Archie Andrews and the rest of the Riverdale gang cross paths with the famous Batman ’66 iteration of Bruce Wayne portrayed by the late Adam West on the hit 1960s television show. Alongside West’s Batman was Burt Ward as Robin, the Boy Wonder. Syfy offered an exclusive look at the cover to Archie Meets Batman ’66 #1, by Mike Allred, as well as an interview with Parent and Syfy Wire’s Mike Avila.
“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. “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.”
Archie Meets Batman ’66 #1 will feature 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.
The Dark Knight is not the first comic character to venture into Riverdale, as Archie previously met the Punisher back in 1984. More recently, Harley Quinn and Poison Ivy enjoyed a crossover with Betty and Veronica.
DC SVP of editorial strategy and administration Hank Kanalz, revealed that they “considered many different combinations for this next pairing between DC Universe and Archie characters” before deciding on Batman and Archie.
“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,” quipped Parker.
Archie Meets Batman ”66 #1 arrives in comic shops on July 18.
