With the Archie series celebrating the 650th issue, the makers have come up with the idea of doing an Archies World Tour titled ‘Rockin’ the World Part One- Bollywood Love!’ through the series. In this excerpted interview by the Times of India with Archie Comics CEO Jon Goldwater and writer/artist Dan Parent we find out more about the upcoming storyline.
Could you tell us how the idea of involving Bollywood in Archie Comics came about? Why India as the first stop?
Jon Goldwater: Archie is very popular in India and it’s a place we love. It’s an exciting place and a place that Archie has always embraced. Raj Patel is one of my favorite characters and India is so important to the future of Archie that it was a natural to embrace India as the first stop.
Dan Parent: I liked the idea of starting the tour in India because we have a large fanbase there, and I thought the beautiful backdrop of India would make a nice starting point.
Could you tell us a little about the storyline?
Dan Parent: The storyline generally revolves around a world tour featuring musical bands that have apppeared in Archie Comics. Most famously The Archies and Josie and the Pussycats. Archie’s friend Raj Patel is filming a documentary about the tour. Of course there is romantic conflicts between Archie and Valerie. And Archie and Betty and Veronica. And Archie’s new friend Amisha Mehta.
Do you watch Indian films?
Jon Goldwater: I have watched Indian films and I enjoy them very much. I think they are very well done and all the actors in the films are very appealing and good characters.
Have you ever thought of making a film of the famous series of Archie comics?
Jon Goldwater: We are going to be making a movie with Warner Bros based on the Archie characters. We are currently writing the script and we hope to release it worldwide as soon as we possibly can.
Romance is an intergral part of Bollywood, how easy or difficult is it to showcase the affection through comic characters?
Jon Goldwater: It’s very easy. As a matter of fact romance is at the heart of what Archie is all about. Archie is a hopeless romantic and cannot decide between Betty or Veronica. It makes for fun storytelling and allows us to show the romantic side of Archie’s character.
Tell us more about the tour.
Dan Parent: The tour also features most of the characters from the Archie universe that we’ve seen in recent years, including Sabrina the Teenage Witch and Katy Keene. There are also special guest stars at the end which we can’t quite reveal yet!!!!
