[3] The company's many titles feature the fictional teenagers Archie Andrews, Jughead Jones, Betty Cooper, Veronica Lodge, Reggie Mantle, Sabrina Spellman, Josie and the Pussycats and Katy Keene.

The initial Archie characters were created in 1941 by publisher John L. Goldwater and artist Bob Montana,[4] in collaboration with writer Vic Bloom.

[5] With the creation of Archie, publisher John Goldwater hoped to appeal to fans of the Andy Hardy films starring Mickey Rooney.

Teenaged Archibald "Chick" Andrews debuted with Betty Cooper and Jughead Jones in Pep Comics #22 (Dec. 1941), in a story by writer Vic Bloom and artist Bob Montana.

[21][22] In 1992, Archie partnered with Sega to create a four-part Sonic the Hedgehog comic book miniseries based on the video game series of the same name.

[25] On April 4, 2003, Dad's Garage Theatre Company in Atlanta was scheduled to debut a new play by Roberto Aguirre-Sacasa, Archie's Weird Fantasy, which depicted Riverdale's most famous resident coming out of the closet and moving to New York.

Dad's Garage artistic director Sean Daniels said, "The play was to depict Archie and his pals from Riverdale growing up, coming out and facing censorship.

[citation needed] Beginning in 2010, the company partnered with Random House Publisher Services for its bookstore distribution which included trade paperbacks, original graphic novels and additional book formats.

[32] The character was created out of a conversation between Goldwater and longtime Archie Comics writer-artist Dan Parent during the company's first creative summit, about bringing more diversity to Riverdale.

[35] A bimonthly Kevin Keller series launched with writer-artist Parent in early 2012 received a GLAAD award for Outstanding Comic Book the following year.

[37] In April 2011, Archie Comics became the first mainstream comic-book publisher to make its entire line available digitally on the same day as the print release.

[40] The series adapted the Archie characters into a world with adult themes and horror tropes including zombies, the occult, demons, and Cthulhu.

[41] The success of Afterlife with Archie led to a second horror series, Chilling Adventures of Sabrina, which launched in October 2014 from Aguirre-Sacasa and artist Robert Hack.

[47] The new imprint focuses on self-contained stories featuring the superheroes from the Red Circle library while exploring the crime, horror, and adventure genres.

[48] Dark Circle Comics debuted with The Black Hood #1 (Feb. 2015) by writer Duane Swierczynski and artist Michael Gaydos in February 2015.

The mature-readers title introduced policer officer Gregory Hettinger, the new Black Hood, who struggles with an addiction to painkillers as a result of a shooting outside a school in Philadelphia.

[56] The new series would be a modern take on the Archie characters by writer Mark Waid and artist Fiona Staples, featuring serialized storylines.

[59] The first title in the company's "New Riverdale" universe, Archie was released with a July 2015 cover date and came in at #7 for comic book sales for the month.

[11] MLJ's Golden Age heroes also included the Black Hood, who also appeared in pulp magazines[70][71] and a radio show;[71][72] and the Wizard, who shared a title with the Shield.

"[9] This imprint shift soon brought the company its first super hero team book similar to Marvel's Avengers with the Mighty Crusaders.

[9] With the conversion of Archie's Red Circle Comics from horror to superheroes in the 1980s, the Mighty Crusaders,[75] Black Hood, the Comet, the Fly and two versions of the Shield had their own titles.

Archie planned to publish superheroes again in the late 1980s with an imprint called Spectrum Comics, featuring a number of high-profile talents, including Steve Englehart, Jim Valentino, Marv Wolfman, Michael Bair, Kelley Jones, and Rob Liefeld.

The United States Postal Service included Archie in a set of five 44-cent commemorative postage stamps on the theme "Sunday Funnies", issued July 16, 2010.

Although it lasted only for a single season, it aired in reruns for the next decade, and was followed by several spin-off programs, which used segments from this original Archie show and new material.

Unlike Archie and Sabrina, Josie's show was produced by Hanna-Barbera Productions, the company behind such animated hits as Yogi Bear, The Flintstones, The Jetsons, and Scooby-Doo, Where Are You?.

It would feature Archie, Betty, Veronica, Jughead, Cheryl, Toni, Sweetpea, Fangs, Reggie, Kevin, Josie & the Pussycats, and all of the parents.

[85][86] In addition to the series offering a bold, subversive take on the gang, Aguirre-Sacasa has described Riverdale as "Archie meets Twin Peaks".

[92] In January 2018, it was announced that Kiernan Shipka has signed on to play the lead role of Sabrina Spellman,[93] and CW president Mark Pedowitz noted that, "at the moment, there is no discussion about crossing over" with Riverdale.

"[103] By January 2019, The CW issued a pilot order for the series stating that the plot will: "[follow] the lives and loves of four iconic Archie Comics characters — including fashion legend-to-be Katy Keene — as they chase their twenty-something dreams in New York City.

[113] An Indian feature film adaptation of The Archies, directed by Zoya Akhtar, was in production for Netflix, with release planned for late 2023.