''Archie Meets the Punisher'' or ''The Punisher Meets Archie'' is a

one-shot One shot may refer to: Film and television * One-shot film, a feature film shot in one long take with no edits, or manufactured to look like so * ''One Shot'' (2005 film), a Sri Lankan action film directed by Ranjan Ramanayake * ''One Shot'' (2 ...

comic book and

intercompany crossover In comic books, an intercompany crossover (also called cross-company or company crossover) is a comic or series of comics in which characters, that at the time of publication are the property or licensed property of one publisher, meet character ...

written by

Batton Lash Batton Lash (October 29, 1953 – January 12, 2019) was an American comics creator who came to prominence as part of the 1990s self-publishing boom. He is best known for the series ''Wolff and Byrd, Counselors of the Macabre'' (a.k.a. ''Supernatur ...

with art by

Stan Goldberg Stan Goldberg (May 5, 1932 – August 31, 2014) was an American comic book artist, best known for his work with Archie Comics and as a Marvel Comics colorist who in the 1960s helped design the original color schemes of Spider-Man, the Fantastic F ...

John Buscema John Buscema (; ; born Giovanni Natale Buscema, December 11, 1927 – January 10, 2002)Social Se ...

, and Tom Palmer. It was published jointly by

Archie Comics Archie Comic Publications, Inc., is an American comic book publisher headquartered in Pelham, New York.Marvel Comics Marvel Comics is an American comic book publishing, publisher and the flagship property of Marvel Entertainment, a divsion of The Walt Disney Company since September 1, 2009. Evolving from Timely Comics in 1939, ''Magazine Management/Atlas Co ...

in June 1994. In the story, the murderous vigilante

Punisher The Punisher (Francis "Frank" Castle, born Castiglione) is an antihero appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics. The character was created by writer Gerry Conway and artists John Romita Sr. and Ross Andru. The Punisher made ...

mistakes all-American teenager

Archie Andrews Archibald "Archie" Andrews, created in 1941 by publisher John L. Goldwater and artist Bob Montana in collaboration with writer Vic Bloom,

for a criminal he is hunting. When he realizes his error, he works with Archie to rescue Archie's girlfriend

Veronica Lodge Veronica Cecilia Lodge is one of the main characters in the Archie Comics franchise, and is the keyboardist and one of the three vocalists of rock band The Archies. She is from New York but currently resides in the town of Riverdale (Archie Com ...

, who has been kidnapped by the criminal. Despite being a humorous intercompany crossover, the comic was said to take place in the mainstream Marvel Universe by the

Official Handbook of the Marvel Universe The ''Official Handbook of the Marvel Universe'' is an encyclopedic guide which details the fictional universe featured in Marvel Comics publications. The original 15-volume series was published in comic book format in 1982, followed by sporadic u ...

. Lash developed the plot based on a suggestion from Archie editor

Victor Gorelick Victor Gorelick (April 5, 1941 – February 8, 2020) was an American comic book editor and executive. Working in a variety of roles for Archie Comics for over 60 years, he rose to the position of editor-in-chief. Career After studying at the Sch ...

. The script was written with the intention of remaining true to the spirit of both characters rather than focus only on Archie's humor or Punisher's action. Gorelick submitted the proposal to Marvel editors for review, and they agreed to move forward with the project. To help preserve the different tones, Archie artist Goldberg and Marvel artist Buscema worked together on the pencil artwork with each only drawing characters and settings for their respective company. Palmer provided

inks Ink is a gel, sol, or solution that contains at least one colorant, such as a dye or pigment, and is used to color a surface to produce an image, text, or design. Ink is used for drawing or writing with a pen, brush, reed pen, or quill. Thicke ...

for both artists to help smooth the differences between their styles. The comic book was kept secret inside both companies until it was announced at a press function shortly before its publication. Two versions were printed, one by each company. The versions had different cover art and the publishing company put the name of their character first in the title. Although news outlets and critics initially believed the announcement was a joke, ''Archie Meets the Punisher'' received mostly positive responses. Many critics praised the odd pairing as an interesting

narrative hook A narrative hook (or just hook) is a literary technique in the opening of a story that "hooks" the reader's attention so that they will keep on reading. The "opening" may consist of several paragraphs for a short story, or several pages for a novel, ...

. Because of its success, Marvel participated in more crossovers with other publishing companies and Archie began a tradition of meeting unexpected guest stars such as

Kiss A kiss is the touch or pressing of one's lips against another person or an object. Cultural connotations of kissing vary widely. Depending on the culture and context, a kiss can express sentiments of love, passion, romance, sexual attraction, ...

Sharknado ''Sharknado'' is a 2013 American made-for-television science fiction comedy disaster film directed by Anthony C. Ferrante. It tells about a waterspout that lifts sharks out of the ocean and deposits them in Los Angeles. It is the first install ...

, and the

Predator Predation is a biological interaction where one organism, the predator, kills and eats another organism, its prey. It is one of a family of common feeding behaviours that includes parasitism and micropredation (which usually do not kill th ...

Publication history

Background

All-American teenager

Archie Andrews Archibald "Archie" Andrews, created in 1941 by publisher John L. Goldwater and artist Bob Montana in collaboration with writer Vic Bloom,

first appeared in a backup feature in the adventure comic ''

Pep Comics ''Pep Comics'' is the name of an American comic book anthology series published by the Archie Comics predecessor MLJ Magazines Inc. (commonly known as MLJ Comics) during the 1930s and 1940s period known as the Golden Age of Comic Books. The titl ...

'' #22, published by

MLJ Magazines Archie Comic Publications, Inc., is an American comic book publisher headquartered in Pelham, New York. Archie was popular enough to receive a dedicated monthly comic series less than a year after his debut. This started a trend of teen humor comic books and the publisher renamed itself after the character in 1947. By the early 1950s, the character's appeal warranted seven concurrent monthly comic titles. Over the next four decades, Archie Comics Publications rarely published material outside the teen humor genre, and most of its attempts to do so were short-lived and commercially unsuccessful. By the 1990s, Archie had a strong presence in magazine outlets such as supermarkets, but was struggling in comic specialty shops where the clientele was more interested in adventure stories. The murderous vigilante

first appeared as an antagonist in ''The Amazing Spider-Man'' #129, published by

Marvel Comics Marvel Comics is an American comic book publishing, publisher and the flagship property of Marvel Entertainment, a divsion of The Walt Disney Company since September 1, 2009. Evolving from Timely Comics in 1939, ''Magazine Management/Atlas Co ...

in February 1974. Fans found the character interesting and he continued to guest star in other Marvel comics. In 1987, Marvel gave him an

ongoing series In comics, an ongoing series is a series that runs indefinitely. This is in contrast to limited series (a series intended to end after a certain number of issues thus limited), a one shot (a comic book which is not a part of an ongoing series), ...

, ''

The Punisher The Punisher (Francis "Frank" Castle, born Castiglione) is an antihero appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics. The character was created by writer Gerry Conway and artists John Romita Sr. and Ross Andru. The Punisher made ...

'', which became one of Marvel's biggest successes of the decade. By the mid-1990s, Punisher had become one of Marvel's most popular characters and was appearing in three concurrent monthly comic titles.

Development

During the 1990s,

s were a popular trend in the

American comic book An American comic book is a thin periodical originating in the United States, on average 32 pages, containing comics. While the form originated in 1933, American comic books first gained popularity after the 1938 publication of ''Action Comics'' ...

industry and management at Archie Comics wanted to participate to raise its visibility in specialty comic shops and boost sales. During a lunch in

San Diego San Diego ( , ; ) is a city on the Pacific Ocean coast of Southern California located immediately adjacent to the Mexico–United States border. With a 2020 population of 1,386,932, it is the List of United States cities by population, eigh ...

, top Archie editor

discussed possibilities with writers

and

David Scroggy David Scroggy (born December 19, 1951Scroggy entry
''Who's Who of American Comic Books: 1928–19 ...

. After considering crossovers with

Superman Superman is a superhero who appears in American comic books published by DC Comics. The character was created by writer Jerry Siegel and artist Joe Shuster, and debuted in the comic book ''Action Comics'' #1 (cover-dated June 1938 and publi ...

's friend

Jimmy Olsen Jimmy Olsen is a fictional character appearing in American comic books published by DC Comics. Olsen is most often portrayed as a young photojournalist working for the ''Daily Planet''. He is close friends with Lois Lane and Clark Kent, and has ...

Spider-Man Spider-Man is a superhero appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics. Created by writer-editor Stan Lee and artist Steve Ditko, he first appeared in the anthology comic book '' Amazing Fantasy'' #15 (August 1962) in the ...

, Gorelick mentioned Punisher as a joke. Lash immediately saw potential in the idea and gave a rough explanation for how it would work. Gorelick liked the pitch and asked for a formal proposal. Lash did not think Gorelick's interest was sincere and forgot about it until he received a follow-up phone call sometime later asking if the proposal was ready. The origin of the concept is unclear. In 1994, ''

Hero Illustrated ''Hero Illustrated'' was a comic book-themed magazine published in the early to mid-1990s in the United States. Columnists included Andy Mangels, and Frank Kurtz was at one time a managing editor. The journal won the 1995 Eisner Award for Best Co ...

'' reported the idea was first proposed by a fan at the

San Diego Comic-Con San Diego Comic-Con International is a comic book convention and nonprofit multi-genre entertainment event held annually in San Diego, California since 1970. The name, as given on its website, is Comic-Con International: San Diego; but it is co ...

. Other sources, such as the 2013 book ''Icons of the American Comic Book'', have said it was inspired by a gag on the cover of an issue of the trade publication ''

The Comics Journal ''The Comics Journal'', often abbreviated ''TCJ'', is an American magazine of news and criticism pertaining to comic books, comic strips and graphic novels. Known for its lengthy interviews with comic creators, pointed editorials and scathing re ...

''. ''

Comic Book Resources ''Comic Book Resources'', also known by the initialism CBR, is a website dedicated to the coverage of comic book–related news and discussion. History Comic Book Resources was founded by Jonah Weiland in 1995 as a development of the Kingdom Co ...

'' calls this a legend and claims a meeting between Archie and Punisher was a long-running joke between Gorelick and his friend

Tom DeFalco Tom DeFalco (born June 26, 1950) is an American comic book writer and editor well known for his association with Marvel Comics, with long runs on ''Amazing Spider-Man'', ''Thor'', and ''Fantastic Four''. Career While in college, DeFalco "wrote fo ...

, Marvel's editor-in-chief. In his introduction to the comic book, Gorelick claims to have pitched a different version of the story to Archie publishers Richard Goldwater and Michael Skilberkleit prior to mentioning the idea to Lash. Reed Tucker wrote in his 2017 book ''Slugfest'' that it was conceived by Gorelick and ''Punisher'' editor Dan Daley. Lash gives credit for the idea solely to Gorelick. StanGoldberg11

Lash's original outline was about one page long. Prior to this comic book, Lash had not written either character, and was not a fan of Punisher. He modeled it on the 1948 film ''

Abbott and Costello Meet Frankenstein ''Abbott and Costello Meet Frankenstein'' is a 1948 American horror comedy film directed by Charles Barton (director), Charles Barton. The film features Count Dracula (Bela Lugosi) who has become partners with Dr. Sandra Mornay (Lenore Aubert), a ...

'', which he felt was true to the spirit of the

comedy team A double act (also known as a comedy duo) is a form of comedy originating in the British music hall tradition, and American vaudeville, in which two comedians perform together as a single act. Pairings are typically long-term, in some cases fo ...

and the horror creatures it featured. Gorelick sent the proposal to DeFalco, who shared it with Daley and

Mark Gruenwald Mark Eugene Gruenwald (; June 18, 1953 – August 12, 1996) was an American comic book writer, editor, and occasional penciler known for his long association with Marvel Comics. Biography Early career Gruenwald got his start in comics fa ...

, another editor. It was Marvel's first intercompany crossover in years. Fearing the project might be derailed if too many people learned about it, only seven people at Marvel were told about the crossover, which was referred to internally as "Project A". It was formally announced at a press function at the

Empire Diner The Empire Diner is a restaurant in New York City that launched a vogue for upscale retro diners, and whose art deco exterior became an iconic image in numerous films and television programs. It is located at the corner of Tenth Avenue and 22nd ...

in New York City shortly before publication. The novelty of the unlikely crossover drew attention from general news media, and

NPR National Public Radio (NPR, stylized in all lowercase) is an American privately and state funded nonprofit media organization headquartered in Washington, D.C., with its NPR West headquarters in Culver City, California. It differs from other ...

aired an interview between ''

Weekend Edition ''Weekend Edition'' is a set of American radio news magazine programs produced and distributed by National Public Radio (NPR). It is the weekend counterpart to the NPR radio program ''Morning Edition''. It consists of ''Weekend Edition Saturday'' ...

'' host

Scott Simon Scott Simon (born March 16, 1952) is an American journalist and the host of ''Weekend Edition Saturday'' on NPR. Early life Simon was born in Chicago, Illinois, the son of comedian Ernie Simon and actress Patricia Lyons. ...

and Lash on Saturday, July 9, 1994 discussing the project. The artwork was split between regular ''Archie''

penciller A penciller (or penciler) is an artist who works on the creation of comic books, graphic novels, and similar visual art forms, with a focus on the initial pencil illustrations, usually in collaboration with other artists, who provide inks, colors ...

and longtime Marvel artist

John Buscema John Buscema (; ; born Giovanni Natale Buscema, December 11, 1927 – January 10, 2002)Social Se ...

. Each artist was responsible for drawing the characters and backgrounds associated with their company's intellectual property, ensuring the characters' appearances remained true to their traditional styles. Tom Palmer did the

inking Inking may refer to: *Inking (attack), act of throwing ink on other person *Inking, a defensive activity of certain cephalopods and sea hares * Inking (comic book production) *Pen computing Pen computing refers to any computer user-interface using ...

for both artists to prevent the two styles from clashing. Goldberg liked the art arrangement because he had always been a fan of Buscema. The only editorial interference came from Gorelick, who objected to Punisher shooting a thug during a school dance. The scene was changed to have Punisher hit the thug with a cake. The story was the first time drugs were mentioned in an Archie comic.

Publication

In June 1994, two versions of the comic book were published with an August

cover date The cover date of a periodical publication is the date displayed on the cover, which is not necessarily the true date of publication (the on-sale date or release date); later cover dates are common in magazine and comic book publishing. More unusu ...

. One was published by Archie with cover copy reading ''Archie Meets the Punisher'' and a $2.95 retail price. The other, published by Marvel, was titled ''The Punisher Meets Archie''. The Marvel version featured a cover enhanced with a die-cut window and a design that paid

homage Homage (Old English) or Hommage (French) may refer to: History *Homage (feudal) /ˈhɒmɪdʒ/, the medieval oath of allegiance *Commendation ceremony, medieval homage ceremony Arts *Homage (arts) /oʊˈmɑʒ/, an allusion or imitation by one arti ...

to the cover of ''Amazing Spider-Man'' #129. It had a retail price of $3.95. Both versions contained the same 48-page interior story and were ad-free except for two subscription offers, one from each company. The Marvel edition also included the pencil artwork for the Archie edition and a bonus pin-up image of Punisher and Archie.

Plot

When a drug smuggler known as "Red" becomes a fugitive after agreeing to

turn state's evidence A criminal turns state's evidence by admitting guilt and testifying as a witness for the state against their associate(s) or accomplice(s), often in exchange for leniency in sentencing or immunity from prosecution.Howard Abadinsky, ''Organized C ...

to the United States government, the government asks Punisher to locate and return him alive. Red escapes from Punisher in New York City, fleeing to Riverdale, where he adopts a new alias and uses his legitimate business interests to take shelter at the home of wealthy industrialist

Hiram Lodge Hiram P. Lodge is a fictional character in the Archie Comics. He is married to Hermione Lodge and they have a daughter, Veronica Lodge. He is an industrialist and the CEO of his multi-billion-dollar company, Lodge Industries. Hiram himself is a m ...

, who is unaware of Red's criminal history. Red draws the attention of Hiram's teenage daughter Veronica because his appearance is very similar to her frequent suitor, Archie Andrews. To get back at Archie for accidentally ruining their date to the school dance that night, Veronica asks Red to take her instead. Meanwhile, Punisher and his partner

Microchip An integrated circuit or monolithic integrated circuit (also referred to as an IC, a chip, or a microchip) is a set of electronic circuits on one small flat piece (or "chip") of semiconductor material, usually silicon. Large numbers of tiny ...

track Red to Riverdale and are cynical about the town's innocent demeanor. They see Archie with his friend

Jughead Jones Forsythe Pendleton "Jughead" Jones III is one of the fictional characters created by Bob Montana and John L. Goldwater in Archie Comics who first appeared in the first Archie story, from ''Pep Comics'' #22 (December 1941). He is the drummer of th ...

in an ice cream shop and believe him to be Red. While they are observing him, some thugs from New York arrive and make the same mistake. The thugs know about Red's deal with the government and intend to kill him before he can testify. They abduct Archie and Jughead, prompting a car chase as Punisher attempts to rescue "Red". After a car wreck, Punisher quickly realizes his error and lets Archie go. Punisher and Microchip continue to secretly monitor Archie, hoping the remaining thugs will make the same mistake and come into the open. As Red and Veronica arrive at the school dance, Red is recognized by a stage worker and low-level drug dealer, who, hoping to improve his standing among the

cartel A cartel is a group of independent market participants who collude with each other in order to improve their profits and dominate the market. Cartels are usually associations in the same sphere of business, and thus an alliance of rivals. Mos ...

, calls them and tells them where to find Red. Punisher and Microchip, who have been monitoring the cartel, also head for the dance. Meanwhile, Archie is told Veronica went to the dance with someone who looks like him, and realizing that she is with a criminal, he too goes to the dance. Punisher sneaks into the school and realizes Riverdale truly is as innocent as it appears. Determined to prevent it from being corrupted by Red or other forces, he disguises himself as a chaperone and, while looking for Red, identifies the thugs, who have dressed like caterers. As Archie arrives, the thugs mistake him for Red again and move in to kill him. Punisher uses non-lethal methods to disarm and incapacitate them and clears the misunderstanding with Archie, but Red escapes with Veronica as a hostage. Red forces Veronica to call her father for ransom, but she takes the opportunity to use code words to let Archie know that she's being held in a specific warehouse. Archie and his friends accompany Punisher to rescue her. At the warehouse, Punisher reveals to Red that the informant who called the cartel to the dance has agreed to testify and Red is no longer needed alive. During the subsequent scuffle, Red accidentally triggers the automatic doors that open the warehouse roof and gets his foot tangled in a rope attached to a large parade balloon. As the balloon floats away with Red attached, Punisher considers killing him, but does not. Before leaving Riverdale for

Gotham City Gotham City ( ), or simply Gotham, is a fictional city appearing in American comic books published by DC Comics, best known as the home of the superhero Batman and his allies and foes. Created by writer Bill Finger and artist Bob Kane, the cit ...

the next morning, Punisher and Microchip say goodbye to Archie and his friends.

Critical reception

Many people thought the crossover was a joke when it was first announced, but it was surprisingly successful. Most critics cited contrasting characters as an appealing element, with ''Pop Matters'' calling the combination a "captivating storytelling device" that made for a "remarkable Punisher story and a fitting Archie story". That sentiment was shared by ''Hero Illustrated'' and ''Comic Book Resources'', with the latter going on to call the portrayal of Riverdale as a "bastion of innocence" that needed Punisher's non-lethal protection "brilliant". The combination of artwork by Goldberg and Buscema heightened "the clashing sensibilities and themes" for ''Pop Matters'', concluding its review by calling ''Archie Meets the Punisher'' "the best crossover in the history of the comic medium". ''Critical Blast'' found some parts of the story to be "surprisingly serious", but ''Comic Book Resources'' thought the constant slapstick comedy prevented the comic from being anything but a novelty.

Legacy

Since ''Archie Meets the Punisher'', the Archie characters have had a tradition of

team-up In superhero comic books, a team-up is a fictional crossover where two or more superheroes or superhero teams who usually do not appear together work together on a shared goal. Overview The first team-up between characters published in different c ...

s with characters from other

fictional universe A fictional universe, or fictional world, is a self-consistent setting with events, and often other elements, that differ from the real world. It may also be called an imagined, constructed, or fictional realm (or world). Fictional universes may ...

s, such as ''Archie Meets

KISS A kiss is the touch or pressing of one's lips against another person or an object. Cultural connotations of kissing vary widely. Depending on the culture and context, a kiss can express sentiments of love, passion, romance, sexual attraction, ...

'' (2012), ''Archie Meets

Glee Glee means delight, a form of happiness. Glee may also refer to: * Glee (music), a type of English choral music * ''Glee'' (TV series), an American musical comedy-drama TV series, and related media created by Ryan Murphy * ''Glee'' (Bran Van 30 ...

'' (2013), and '' Archie vs. Sharknado'' (2015). Aguirre-Sacasa, Roberto (introduction). ''Geek.com'' felt that ''Archie Meets the Punisher'' was the gold standard for unlikely crossovers until being replaced by ''

Archie vs. Predator ''Archie vs. Predator'' is a comic book and intercompany crossover, written by Alex de Campi and drawn by Fernando Ruiz. It was originally published as a four-issue limited series in the United States by Dark Horse Comics and Archie Comics in 20 ...

'' in 2015. Marvel also continued with intercompany crossovers, starting with a meeting between Punisher and the

DC Comics DC Comics, Inc. (doing business as DC) is an American comic book publisher and the flagship unit of DC Entertainment, a subsidiary of Warner Bros. Discovery. DC Comics is one of the largest and oldest American comic book companies, with thei ...

character

Batman Batman is a superhero appearing in American comic books published by DC Comics. The character was created by artist Bob Kane and writer Bill Finger, and debuted in Detective Comics 27, the 27th issue of the comic book ''Detective Comics'' on ...

in August 1994. In 2017, Tucker said that ''Archie Meets the Punisher'' remained one of Marvel's most left-field books. The story continued to surprise readers decades after it was published. As late as 2015, young fans and fans new to comics would still ask Lash if the comic really existed.

Notes

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Punisher Meets Archie, The Archie Comics titles 1994 comics debuts 1994 comics endings Intercompany crossovers Punisher titles Marvel Comics one-shots Superhero crossover fiction