Written by Keryl Brown Ahmed with art by Siobhan, Archie Comics: Big Ethel Energy is the hit collaboration between WEBTOON and Archie Comics, starring the one and only Ethel Muggs. When Ethel returns to her hometown of Riverdale as a journalist to write a story about the town's history, she reconnects with her former high school classmates -- including Archie, Betty, Jughead, and Veronica. After a highly successful Season 1 that earned a Ringo Award nomination for Best Webcomic in 2022, Archie Comics: Big Ethel Energy Season 2 just debuted on the Webtoon platform.
In an exclusive interview, CBR sat down with Keryl Brown Ahmed and Siobhan to discuss the makings of their Webtoon x Archie Comics series and what fans can expect for Season 2. They walked fans through their creative process and revealed the inspiration behind the series and how the popular web comic relates to the rest of the Archie Universe. Along with the interview, Webtoon also provided images from Season 2 of Archie Comics: Big Ethel Energy.
CBR: What first drew you to digital comics? Did you ever expect to work with Archie Comics or Webtoon?
Siobhan: In terms of digital comics and web comics growing up, there's this one called Lackadaisy Cats that's getting an anime soon. It's an absolutely beautiful webcomic [that] inspired me to share my stuff online. In terms of Archie Comics, I was immediately drawn to the modern era, which is Fiona Staples and Audrey Mok's interpretation of the Archie World. It's just chefs-kiss-beautiful. I did not expect to work for Archie, and it's delightful to be working for them, especially with Keryl's great writing.
Keryl Brown Ahmed: I was brought onto this project primarily because of my love for and knowledge of Archie Comics. The digital element of it has been something fairly new to me and really exciting. It's a fun learning curve. I have been reading Archie Comics since I was a kid, and I've always been drawn to the format, the characters, and the vibe. When I was younger, Archie and print comics were being digitized. I felt like, "Oh, I wish there was a way to view this better on my screen." It was just the page as printed with the panels, which is hard to read on a small screen. So, it's awesome that we get to do the digital version because that's exactly what I was looking for.
What inspired the concept and creation of Archie Comics: Big Ethel Energy and the decision to star Ethel?
Ahmed: When I was asked to pitch something, I was encouraged to make it about whatever I wanted within the Archie Universe, and Riverdale was already a really hot show. Archie, Jughead, Betty, Veronica, the big four, were getting a lot of screen time and were really popular. Growing up, I always loved those four, and Jughead is one of my all-time favorite characters in any story. But I had a couple of favorite minor characters I always wanted to see more of. I thought that their stories were relatable. Ethel -- for instance -- I relate to her so much in so many ways, and I think the writer brain in me, even at an early age, was seeing all the possibilities of places her character could go. I saw it as an opportunity to work with a character that didn't have as much of a spotlight yet and bring in all of those ideas that I had felt inspired to dream up when I was younger.
How do you balance Archie Comics' legacy with your own unique story? How does Big Ethel Energy deviate from other Archie Comics content, including Riverdale?
Ahmed: I think that with our platform being digital comics and the first collaboration that Archie had on a digital platform, it gave us a great opportunity to do what we wanted without feeling too constrained by precedent. When I write, I'm utilizing characters, stories, and elements from the existing Archie cannon. That's very important to building Big Ethel Energy. In terms of any connection to Riverdale, the TV show, they're very different, and luckily, there's no pressure for us to overlap or converge. The beauty of the Archie Universe is that you can have different stories. There's a new series coming out where Betty is the final girl. Betty can be a final girl in one comic, Ethel's best friend in another, and dating Jughead on Riverdale, and they can all exist in the same time and space and be their own separate entities, which is really nice.
Can you walk me through your creative process to develop your unique art style, character design, and storytelling?
Ahmed: It starts with the script. First, I outline the season and do a treatment of the whole overarching thing. Then I go in episode by episode, and I write a script per episode that gets refined and rewritten with the help of our producers. Then I send that over to the art team. With the existing characters, there are certain traits we want to adhere to. But in terms of visual details, I try to leave it open-ended for Siobhan and the rest of the art team to go in and have fun and play with everything because it's fun for me to see what they come up with. It's better than I could have ever imagined designing myself. It's always a treat to see what Siobhan does.
Siobhan: When I first got the script, it was really about trying to process the writing into how to visualize that character. We also have years of reference with Archie already, so it was nice to have a first step into their design and elevate it for Keryl's interpretation. A lot of it was like, "How do I modernize a certain character, or how do I give them a defining trait that I think would be endearing?" I find Keryl's writing extremely endearing, and I wanted to embody that in characters, especially Moose, who's a himbo. I had to instill that himbo energy into him.
Redesigning Ethel was really enjoyable too. It was trying to make this modern woman, but I also love her buckteeth in her original design. I wanted to put that in the new one, so it was really important that I kept that but [didn't] make her goofy or anything. It was just a part of her in a way that was endearing.
Archie Comics: Big Ethel Energy was nominated for a Ringo Award for Best Webcomic in 2022. How do you feel about the series' success, and does it influence your approach to Season 2?
Ahmed: I feel so honored and humbled to be included in that category. Prior to being nominated for this, you always hear people nominated for awards saying it's an honor just to be in the category. There were so many amazing series on there, and it really was just such an honor to be included on that list and such a surprise. That's not something I've really been tracking, and it hadn't been on my radar, but it's nice to get that recognition from the community. In terms of moving forward into Season 2, I take it as a sign to keep doing what we're doing. Keep making it better and evolving, but clearly, we're doing something right.
Siobhan: I would say the same thing. It's very humbling and very sweet to have the nomination. For me, I'm just doing my best with the success. It's nice to be received that well, big or small.
Season 2 of Archie Comics: Big Ethel Energy just premiered on the Webtoon platform. What can readers expect from the new season? What are your hopes for the future of the series?
Ahmed: I was excited to get to explore some things that we opened up in Season 1 that may have seemed like the door shut on by the end of the season. The nice thing about having a second season is that you get to dive deeper into those emotions and the character arcs. It's a lot of fallout from things in Season 1 that [didn't] wrap up neatly. That's the thing with original Archie Comics -- they're like 6 pages in a digest, and I love that they're standalone stories. It taught me a lot about story structure. But the thing about webtoon format that's great is that you get to take it a lot further. It's been an honor to have readers come on this journey with us and trust us, and hopefully, they'll continue trusting us. I think they'll like what's in store for Season 2.
I learn from readers' comments, too. It's interesting to see how they respond to things, and sometimes, something I intend to come out one way on the digital page is received differently by readers. That helped me. Season 1 helped me realize I needed to think about the story from so many different perspectives, and so it is helpful to have the voices of the readers going while I am thinking about the story because it is for them. It's completely for them. I appreciate having their input there.
Siobhan: I'm really stoked to see the reactions.
Which Archie Comics character is your favorite or do you relate to the most?
Ahmed: Growing up, the three that I related to the most were Jughead, Ethel, and Dilton Doiley because I was a big-time nerd. Not like a cool nerd either. I was just a nerd. I liked that all three of those characters did not care about what other people thought of them. I love Betty too, but she's very wrapped up in Archie and Veronica. For me, independence and individuality were really strong values growing up. Those characters, especially Jughead, really embodied those values.
Siobhan: I would say Ethel is probably my favorite. I like that she's really strong and opinionated, but it's relatable when she's lacking confidence in herself and everything. I find her really relatable.
What do you hope fans take away from Season 2 of Archie Comics: Big Ethel Energy? Is there anything you'd like to say to readers as they start the new season?
Ahmed: Trust that the story will take you in an interesting direction. I think sometimes it's easy to fall into a pattern where as soon as you read some story development, it's easy to jump to conclusions or write something off, but as a writer, one of my favorite things about writing is stretching out stories so that I instill trust in my readers. I want them to trust me that by Episode 60, there will be something worth having read that long for, even if something in Episode 15 drove you crazy and you slammed your laptop down. There's always going to be twists and turns, and that's what excites me as a reader and as a writer. That's what I try to do. In terms of the future of this series, I see so many places these characters can go. Who knows where it will end up? But it's going somewhere exciting for sure.
Siobhan: I definitely agree. Just enjoy the scroll and trust that the story is developing in really great ways.
Read Archie Comics: Big Ethel Energy on the Webtoon platform now, with new episodes every Wednesday.