Archie#1

Cover: Fiona Staples

Archie #1

Sep 2015 · Archie · 3.99 USD

📊 ~101,488 copies sold its debut month

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★ Key event — Archie Andrews★ Key event — Veronica Lodge

About this Issue

Archie #1 (2015) ended the original series' uninterrupted run of more than 660 issues — the longest such streak of any North American monthly comic without a reboot — and launched the 'New Riverdale' publishing initiative, a line-wide continuity refresh that brought serialized storytelling to characters who had existed almost entirely in episodic, status-quo-locked stories for over seven decades. Writer Mark Waid and artist Fiona Staples replaced the publisher's long-established house style with a cinematic visual language and emotionally grounded character work, giving the Archie cast genuine psychological interiority for the first time in the flagship title. The issue's central hook — a mysterious 'lipstick incident' that shattered Archie and Betty's relationship before page one — introduced ongoing serialized drama to a franchise historically defined by its narrative reset button, paving the way for the CW's Riverdale television series and a generation of Archie readers who came of age with emotionally complex teen fiction. IGN named the relaunched title its Best New Comic Series of 2015, and the book charted at #7 in overall comics sales for its debut month.

Contains 2 stories

Untitled Teen story

22 pp · Teen

Trevor SmithMariaSheila

In a Riverdale buzzing with rumors after Archie and Betty’s breakup, Kevin and his friends launch a scheme to reunite them by pushing the duo as Homecoming King and Queen—only for Jughead to quietly derail the plan with his usual irreverence.

Untitled Humor story

6 pp · Humor, Teen

Gramps Andrews

Archie, ever eager to impress, brags to Betty—his new neighbor—that he can do anything. When she later spots a carnival act needing a tightrope walker, she remembers his claim and, with a smirk, suggests Archie for the job.

ComicBooks.com Value

Our Model is In Beta

Raw (NM) $6

CGC 9.8 $54

CGC 9.6 $39

CGC 9.4 $24*

CGC 9.2 $21*

CGC 9.0 $20*

CGC 8.5 $20*

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CGC 8.0 $20*

CGC 7.5 $20*

CGC 7.0 $20*

CGC 6.5 $20*

CGC 6.0 $20*

CGC 5.5 $20*

CGC 5.0 $20*

CGC 4.5 $20*

CGC 4.0 $20*

CGC 3.5 $20*

CGC 3.0 $20*

CGC 2.5 $20*

* estimate — limited direct-sales data at this grade

Our model’s value — refined as new sales data arrives · CGC census counts shown where available

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History

Archie Comics CEO Jon Goldwater announced the relaunch in December 2014, framing it as preparation for the character's 75th anniversary and a response to what he publicly called a 'dusty, irrelevant and watered-down' brand. Waid — a multiple Eisner Award winner known for his acclaimed runs on The Flash, Daredevil, and Kingdom Come — was paired with Fiona Staples, co-creator and artist of Image Comics' Saga, who redesigned the entire cast in her distinctive naturalistic style rather than conforming to Archie's traditional house aesthetic; Staples confirmed she would pencil only the first three issues so as not to disrupt her Saga schedule. The creative team's mandate, per Goldwater, was to tell Archie's origin story for the first time in a modern, serialized format, and the issue shipped on July 8, 2015 — selling out at the Diamond distributor level two days before it reached store shelves.

Trivia · 8 facts

First appearances (New Riverdale continuity): Archie Andrews, Betty Cooper, Jughead Jones, Kevin Keller, Reggie Mantle, Fred Andrews, Dilton Doiley, Raj Patel, and Waldo Weatherbee all debut in this rebooted universe in issue #1.
Written by Mark Waid; interior art and main cover by Fiona Staples. Released July 8, 2015 by Archie Comic Publications.
The issue launched the 'New Riverdale' publishing initiative, Archie Comics' first line-wide continuity reboot, which subsequently spawned companion titles including Jughead (October 2015), Betty and Veronica, Josie and the Pussycats, and Reggie and Me.
The story introduces the 'lipstick incident' — the never-fully-explained breakup between Archie and Betty — as the serialized mystery driving the opening arc, a structural departure from the franchise's decades-long episodic, status-quo-reset format.
The issue includes a backup reprint of Archie's original debut story from Pep Comics #22 (1941), contextualizing the new continuity against the character's Golden Age origins.
Fiona Staples drew only issues #1–3 of the relaunched series before returning full-time to Saga; Annie Wu drew issue #4 and Veronica Fish became the regular series artist starting with issue #5.
The issue shipped with more than 20 cover variants including retailer exclusives by J. Scott Campbell, Francesco Francavilla, Cameron Stewart, Terry Moore, Jae Lee, Chip Zdarsky, and others; two additional covers were exclusive to the Archie Comics booth at San Diego Comic-Con 2015.
In 2016, Archie Comics released a special Free Comic Book Day edition reprinting issue #1 alongside a sample of Jughead #1, and a direct-market-only 80-page Collector's Edition collected the first three issues of the new series.