Archie's Dark Circle Line: Dark Heroes Return

This January, following their continuing success with their more mature-skewing hits Afterlife With Archie and Chilling Adventures of Sabrina, Archie Comics will debut their new line of super hero comics in their Dark Circle line. Following in the grand tradition of Archie’s classic Red Circle hero books, their Dark Circle titles will skew a bit more mature, with the involvement of some of comics’ most talented writers and artists.

 This month, Alex Segura, editor of Archie Comics’ Dark Circle Comics line, spoke exclusively with PREVIEWSworld about the upcoming Dark Circle line, and the first title to be offered, The Black Hood, as well as the rest of the line and its direction in the months ahead…

PREVIEWSworld: What sparked the idea to create a new line of superhero comics at Archie Comics?

Alex Segura: Heroes like The Shield, The Fox, and The Black Hood go back to the Golden Age of comics. Archie is one of the few companies that have a library of amazing superhero concepts that haven’t really been fully explored, aside from a few re-launches over the last few decades. These characters and concepts are really strong, and cover a wide array of genres, from classic superhero action to crime/noir to horror. It seemed like an obvious thing to revisit them. That being said, we didn’t want it to feel like just another reboot, which was a big reason why we rebranded the line to be "Dark Circle Comics." These are new takes on these characters and concepts by some of the best talent in comics, with a definite eye toward telling compelling, serialized fiction in a creator-driven, cinematic and literary way. We’re less interested in bogging readers down in continuity, checklists or history, though we will be mindful of what’s come before. The goal, first and foremost, is to tell a great story featuring some amazing characters.

PREVIEWSworld: The Black Hood features a police officer who becomes a vigilante, taking the law into his own hands. How is this version of the character different from any previous iteration we may have seen before?

Alex Segura: Previous iterations of the Hood were very rooted in the world of super heroics, capes, etc. This one is a down-and-dirty crime book. You won’t see any super powers and you won’t see any costumes beyond the hood our hero puts on near the end of the first issue. This is a book for fans of The Wire, Fatale, Boardwalk Empire and The Shield. Writer Duane Swierczynski, who is also a best-selling crime novelist, is really cutting loose on this in a way he’s never had the chance to before, and it’s been great to watch. The fact that we have Michael Gaydos, who in my mind drew one of the most definitive crime comics ever in Alias, onboard is a real victory—and he brings the story to life in an unforgiving way we’d only imagined. This book is going to be a treat.

PREVIEWSworld: The Fox is making a transition from Red Circle to Dark Circle. Is it possible we may see other Red Circle characters appear in the Dark Circle titles?

Alex Segura: I think anything’s possible. At this point, “Fox Hunt”—the first arc of the new The Fox ongoing series—is about turning up the volume from the first mini-series and showing how the Fox fits into the Dark Circle universe. Dean Haspiel is really pushing the envelope here and bringing his indie, DIY aesthetic front and center for this story, with script by the incomparable Mark Waid. A lot of people have said this, especially FOX editor Paul Kaminski, but it bears repeating, The Fox is “super heroes on acid.” If that sounds awesome to you, don’t miss the book!

PREVIEWSworld: The writers for The Shield, Chuck Wendig and Adam Christopher, are primarily known for their work in prose novels. What makes them a good fit for the character and universe?

Alex Segura: With Duane and Dean and also Chuck and Adam, we were looking for voices that while maybe familiar with comics as a medium, were going to approach the story from a fresh and unexpected way. We don’t want these books to read like one of many—they should be energizing books that challenge the reader’s preconceived notions of what these characters are. With The Shield in particular, Chuck and Adam rebuilt the character from the ground up—and the end result is a very modern, engaging and interesting new addition to the Dark Circle mythos. Chuck and Adam know story, conflict and world-building, and that’s what we wanted when we reached out to them—we wanted people who were intent on creating a world around this new character as opposed to just tacking her onto a pre-existing continuity.

PREVIEWSworld: The Dark Circle books seem to each have unique artistic styles, yet exist within the same shared universe. Was it challenging to have each book possess individual artistic flavors while also keeping a sense of a shared universe intact?

Alex Segura: I’m not as concerned with keeping a sense of a shared universe—that should be clear when you read the books. I am, however, most interested in making each of these books stand out on their own, and feel unique, interesting and, most importantly, be addictively entertaining. A “universe” is a big place, and I think we can safely say they all reside in the same space—what’s going to keep people coming back is the quality of the individual stories and how well they drive people to get the next issue. And we realize that it’s a bit of a climb for people to take a risk, from retailers to customers, so we’re pulling out all the stops to ensure that retailers feel confident ordering these books and fans are willing to add them to their pull lists. Story first. The universe-building and cross-pollination comes after.

PREVIEWSworld: The Dark Circle books exist within a shared universe but seem to have separate storylines. Do fans have to read all three titles to follow the story?

Alex Segura: We’re not forcing people to read every book to understand a greater story—it’s not a crossover. Each book will have its own tone, flavor and direction, and they will complement each other in unexpected ways. But not everyone that watches Homeland watches The Americans watches Sons of Anarchy and so on. At the same time, you can’t argue they’re all great shows with clear visions and great teams. That’s what we strive for with each of the Dark Circle titles—to make great comics. The rest will follow.

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