Posted By Dan Greenfield on Nov 6, 2024 | 1 comment

EXCLUSIVE FIRST LOOK: Christmas cheer for a good cause…

I know I’ve told this story before but here goes again: Back in the 1980s, I went to the Kubert School in Dover, N.J., for weekend classes. I found out very quickly that I had neither the talent nor the dedication required to be a comics illustrator. The end result was that it made me respect and admire artists that much more, because I understood that drawing is hard. Really hard.

Because of that experience, I’ve also long had a soft spot for the Kubert School — founded by the great Joe Kubert as the Joe Kubert School of Cartoon and Graphic Art — and its many big-name graduates, such as Amanda Conner and Lee Weeks.

So when I found out that Archie Comics was joining forces with the school for a special benefit variant cover, I was all in for an EXCLUSIVE FIRST LOOK at the art:

The cover, by student Audrey Cardenas, is for Dec. 4’s Archie Christmas Spectacular one-shot.

“It has been an awesome experience working on the cover for this special comic,” Cardenas said. “Getting to draw the classic Archie characters professionally was a lot of fun and a huge privilege. I want to thank Archie Comics and the Kubert School for this opportunity in my career. This will certainly be a memorable comic for me, my family, and all the readers!”

The exclusive variant will be up for sale Dec. 4 at the school’s store, with some copies available at Madison, N.J.’s Dewey’s Comic City, which is owned by Anthony Marques, president of the Kubert School. It’ll be $10, with half the proceeds going toward a special scholarship at the school. It’s limited to 250 copies. (As it happens, I was living in Madison during my aborted stint at the school. Small world!)

“This has been such an incredible partnership with Archie; not only with the exclusive cover, but also (the school’s) Victor Gorelick Memorial Scholarship in the amount of $5,000,” Marques said. “Archie is clearly investing in the future of comics and we are so proud to walk with them as we all work to create a bright future for comics.”

Other students submitted cover ideas and they’ll be featured in a gallery in the issue.

“All three finalists brought forth incredible, professional pieces that made it very difficult to choose,” Marques said. “Audrey’s cover had such a great energy that all of us–myself and the judges from Archie–all gravitated towards.”

The issue, which features a new story starring Sabrina’s rival Amber Nightstone, boasts a regular cover by Archie stalwart Dan Parent.

“The Kubert School and Archie have had a long relationship; many of our artists went and taught at the school and I’m an alum myself,” said Archie Editor-in-Chief Mike Pellerito. “Anthony and I both wear many hats; me at Archie and as co-owner of a comic shop, Anthony as president of the Joe Kubert School, owner/operator of Dewey’s Comic City, and a freelance artist. Our retailer-exclusive variant program has been making money for artists and stores, with creative, fun artwork on low-run collectible comics, and we thought bringing that to the Kubert School would be a great opportunity to help lift all boats.”

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MORE

— FIRST LOOK: ARCHIE COMICS’ Classic-Style Solicitations For DECEMBER. Click here.

— Introducing MURDER HORNET — Archie Comics’ Newest Supervillain. Click here.