Comic-book favorite Archie Andrews is coming back to life — as a Justin Bieber lookalike.
The newest Archie comic, Archie #1, was unveiled in San Diego at Comic-Con on Wednesday. The character’s reincarnation has a trendier haircut, wears skinny jeans and sends text messages, according to Bloomberg.
The redheaded charmer has graced the pages of comic books for 75 years, but needed to be brought into the 21st century, Jon Goldwater, the chief executive officer of Archie Comics, said, who made the decision to kill off the character last year.
“It was clear to me that Archie was moving down the path of irrelevancy,” Goldwater told Bloomberg.
Now, Bloomberg says, Archie #1 includes video games and social apps and a more diverse student body at Riverdale High.
The comic-book company also commissioned a redesign of Archie’s sidekicks, Betty and Jughead. Betty dons ripped jeans and a range of facial expressions, unlike her earlier character, while Jughead now has more angular features and wears trendy black hightops.
Comic-book sales rose by 7% in the U.S. in the last year. Goldwater says Archie Comics has already benefited from this trend and from the character’s overhaul — revenue figures for Archie #1 are the highest he’d seen in six years, Bloomberg reports.
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