Projet avorté de Paul Kupperberg, The Riverdale Chronicles repose sur une idée simple : dans le grenier, Archie retrouve le journal de sa famille, dont la présence à Riverdale remonte à 1750.
À l’époque, Kupperberg est scénariste de la série Life With Archie. Il propose l’idée (sous la forme du scénario complet du premier épisode et de quelques dessins signés Jason Armstrong) à Victor Gorelick, qui est intéressé, mais l’éditeur n’a pas encore pour habitude de publier de nombreuses déclinaisons de son catalogue, et le projet en reste là, au point de sombrer dans les limbes.
The Riverdale Chronicles, Archie. I liked this idea so much I wrote the entire 24-page script for the first issue on spec and coerced artist Jason Armstrong to make some sketches. The idea was simple: While cleaning out the attic, Archie finds the Andrews Family Journal, dating back to the first Andrews to settle Riverdale in the 1750s. In it, he finds a fascinating family history, as well as some family mysteries. The first story arc is set in the opening days of the Revolutionary War and finds Archie and the gang (or the ancestors thereof) playing their roles in American, and Riverdale, history.
I was still writing Life With Archie in 2011 when I pitched this idea to my editor, the late Victor Gorelick. He loved the idea (enough to see that I got paid for my spec script) but never closed the deal; I think at the time when this sort of thing was still new to them, they felt one ongoing series was enough for Archie to bear. And, by the time they were comfortable with the concept, they’d already moved beyond the semi-serious tone rendered in the cartoon style and were on to the horror phase of their evolution.
Jim