Archie vs. Predator #1

History

The crossover concept was generated at Archie Comics' internal Creative Summit in March 2014, where it beat out competing pitches (including Archie Meets Godzilla and Archie Meets Friday the 13th) before being formally proposed to Dark Horse, which held the 20th Century Fox comic-book license for the Predator character. The project was publicly announced, along with its full creative team, at the 2014 New York Comic Con. Dark Horse tapped writer Alex de Campi based on her blending of humor and horror on the Grindhouse anthology and My Little Pony: Friends Forever; to prepare, de Campi read over 4,000 pages of Archie comics and drew particular inspiration from the more 'edgy' 1940s-era characterizations of Betty and Veronica. Ruiz was the first and only artist considered for pencils, and inker Rich Koslowski was chosen specifically for his previous collaboration with Ruiz on an Archie Thor parody; the project's title was changed from 'Archie Meets Predator' to 'Archie vs. Predator' organically, because everyone on the production kept calling it that anyway, and as a deliberate wink at the Alien vs. Predator franchise.

Trivia · 8 facts

• Published jointly by Dark Horse Comics and Archie Comic Publications; issue #1 cover-dated April 15, 2015, written by Alex de Campi and pencilled by Fernando Ruiz, with inks by Rich Koslowski, colors by Jason Millet, and letters by John Workman.
• Issue #1 shipped with multiple variant covers, including a regular cover by Fernando Ruiz/Rich Koslowski, an Eric Powell variant, and a Francesco Francavilla variant; additional store-exclusive and convention-exclusive covers also existed for issue #1 specifically.
• Each issue contained a one-page humorous backup strip written by de Campi crossing other Archie and Dark Horse properties: issue #1 featured 'Sabrina Meets Hellboy,' illustrated by Robert Hack.
• A promotional ashcan previewing eight pages of issue #1 plus Ruiz's early Predator character-design sketches (including more realistic initial designs) was distributed before the series launched.
• The series was simultaneously released digitally via Dark Horse Digital, making it one of only five Aliens/Predator-franchise comics ever to receive a digital release at that time.
• The series won the 2015 Ghastly Award for Best Limited Series.
• A 128-page hardcover collecting all four issues, bonus backup strips, variant cover gallery, and character concept art — with an introduction by Archie CCO Roberto Aguirre-Sacasa and an afterword by editor Brendan Wright — was released November 4, 2015; a softcover edition followed in August 2019.
• The success of the original series led directly to a sequel, Archie vs. Predator II (July 2019–January 2020), again written by de Campi and this time illustrated by Robert Hack.

Key issues in Archie vs. Predator

Other variants of Archie vs. Predator #1 (7)