Li'l Jinx is a familiar name to old-school Archie Comics fans, and the character is back in November's The Archies #2 -- except she's grown up, and now a rock star fronting her own band.
The Archies ongoing series launched earlier this month as part of Archie Comics' continued modernization of its classic concepts, this time taking the garage band formed by Archie, Betty, Veronica, Jughead and Reggie and looking at their journey in a (slightly) more realistic context. Real-life bands have already been confirmed to appear -- Chvrches in December's issue #3, The Monkees in issue #4, with more to come -- but #2 sees the debut of the Jinx and the Little Miss Steps, described as a "Le Tigre meets Helium" act consisting of Jinx and classic Li'l Jinx supporting characters Charley Hawse, Greg, Gigi, Roz and Mort.
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The classic Li'l Jinx is a young, mischievous girl created by Joe Edwards in 1947. She starred in her own series -- published by Archie Comics but separate from the adventures of the Riverdale gang -- in both the '50s and the '70s, and is likely most recognizable to today's fans from reprints of her comics in the Archie digests. In 2012, Archie published new stories featuring the character as a teen, and this latest reinvention gives her not only a full-fledged musical career, but integrates her directly with the iconic Archie cast.
With The Archies #2 on sale early next month, CBR talked with newly announced Archie Comics Co-President Alex Segura, the co-writer of the series alongside Matthew Rosenberg, and artist Joe Eisma about updating Li'l Jinx, other musical eras the series may explore, the importance of humor and whether Veronica might be a secret metalhead.
CBR: Alex, Joe, let's talk about the reintroduction here of Li'l Jinx -- well, actually just Jinx, as I think she's older than the Archies. What can you say about the decision to bring the character into this series -- and making her, and her supporting cast (Charley Hawse!), part of a Le Tigre-meets-Helium band?
Alex Segura: From a logistical standpoint, we knew going in that we weren’t going to have a guest band until #3, so it was a question of, “How do we make this issue meaningful to fans?” I think one of the coolest part of Mark Waid’s Archie run, and the “new” Archie books in general has been how they update and tweak pre-existing characters. We want The Archies to not only be a celebration of the core five and their interactions with real bands, but also a way to showcase the vast library of characters Archie has -- like Bingo, Sam and the Bingos, and now, Jinx and the Little Miss Steps. It just seemed like a cool opportunity to reintroduce readers to a character that’s been a big part of Archie’s publishing history in a cool and memorable way.
Going back to Jinx for a second, though, I loved the idea of making her this powerful, energetic and no-BS Kathleen Hanna type -- it just clicked in my brain when we were trying to figure out how to bring her into the new Archie world. It's my favorite part of the issue.
Joe, what went into redesigning Jinx as a rock and roll frontwoman?
Joe Eisma: This is a pretty radical reinterpretation of her, and based on Alex and Matt's description of her in the script, I saw her in the Shirley Manson and Siouxsie Sioux school of rock and roll frontwomen. She's confident, she's tough and she could probably mop the floor with the Archies.
In a short amount of time, we've now seen That Wilkin Boy and Li'l Jinx reintroduced via The Archies -- are there more classic Archie Comics concepts that could find a home in this series?
Segura: Totally. I have a running list, and I know we’re building toward a pretty significant moment for the Archies that involves a major element of Archie history.
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One thing that's striking to me about the series so far is that, in keeping spirit with what we've seen from Archie in the past few years, it's distinctly modern but there are still discernible elements of a more traditional Archie feel, mainly in the humor. For the three of you, how important is the humor in this book specifically?
Segura: Humor is supremely important. We want the book to be engaging, heartfelt and also not afraid to be dramatic, but to me, the best Archie stories are about friendship and fun, so I know that’s a big part of how I approach each script. Matt and I want the stories to be meaningful and engaging, but also laugh out loud funny, too. I think the best word is “light.” The Archies will never be dark and brooding, there are other places where you can get those kind of stories. This is a fun book that features five of the most iconic characters in comics playing music with real bands. It’s like ice cream. Sometimes-meaningful ice cream.
Eisma: Humor has always been a big influence on me, and when I started working with Archie, it was a chance to really bring those facets of my style out. For our story, there's the highs and lows of being in a band, but I don't think we can lose sight of the fact that Archie is kind of a goof, and Jughead has a black hole in his stomach, Veronica is out of her element, and so on. It balances out the drama they go through.
Recently, it was announced that The Monkees would guest star in The Archies #4, which certainly feels like a perfect pairing. Since the series evidently now allows for time travel, what other eras would you like to see The Archies in?
Segura: I’d tap on the brakes a bit before announcing there’s time travel! We have a pretty neat way to explain how the Monkees and Archies meet, and it’s unlike anything we’ve done before. And, Matt and I know, since we’ve had a hand in KISS and Ramones (individually and together).
There’s no magic spell and no time machine, but the story does feature the kids meeting the Monkees in the '60s. But, yeah, in terms of other eras -- I’d love to see The Archies return to the early days of punk/new wave or hang with Elvis in the '50s. The possibilities are endless.
Eisma: The '80s would be fun -- have them be at the forefront of new wave. And I mean, come on, the hairstyles and fashion alone would make it worthwhile!
Thus far, we've got a very contemporary band in Chvrches in issue #3, and a classic act in The Monkees in #4 -- what are you looking towards next, in terms of bands -- and genres -- that readers will see in the book?
Segura: I think you’ll see a nice mix of modern, current bands and established, more old-school acts -- we want to cast as wide a net as possible while still keeping it fun for us. The trick of the series is that we have to weave each guest appearance into the overall storyline, whereas with past crossovers we could start from scratch and didn’t really have to worry about subplots or consistency. It’s made this series a lot of fun and adds more weight, I think, to each encounter. It also helps that Matt, Joe and [colorist] Matt Herms and I can really build a strong working relationship and momentum -- like a real band!
Joe, what's it been like for you in getting to bring the likenesses of these real and recognizable people into the world of The Archies?
Eisma: I think if you ask any artist, they will tell you that likenesses are one of the toughest things to draw. It's tough to do, but I try not to get too hung up on it, otherwise the issues would never get done! I tend to fall back on caricature, where you capture the essence of someone through exaggeration.
A fun part of the series thus far is to see the individual members of The Archies showing off their musical tastes with band t-shirts -- Reggie representing Blur, Archie and the Talking Heads, Betty and Paramore. How clear of an idea do you have of each cast member's favorite acts?
Segura: I wish I could say Matt and I have a giant whiteboard with that mapped out, but it’s mostly instinctual. It felt right that, for example, CHVRCHES were Betty’s favorite band, or that The Monkees were a group Jughead dug. We mostly base the preferences on character, which has worked out really well so far.
Eisma: Reggie just kind of fell into being a Britpop fan, it seems! Alex and I are fans of those bands, so I think I subconsciously worked that in there, and it just ended up on Reggie. Otherwise, I think he'd just be obsessed with himself. I think Veronica might be a secret metalhead.
The Archies #2 is scheduled for release on Nov. 8 from Archie Comics.
