Archie and his gang will have a new face: Harper Lodge, a character who is in a wheelchair and is based on Toronto children’s book author Jewel Kats.
The idea came about when Kats met Archie writer and artist Dan Parent at a Fax Expo and simply asked, “Why isn’t there a character with a disability in Riverdale?” (CBC News), so Parent decided to work with Kats on a new personality. Harper Lodge will appear in Archie #656, which is hitting newsstands today. “[I looked at her] and thought she would be a great Archie character herself,” Parent told CBC News.
“Harper is, first and foremost, a funny, fashionable and witty teenager. The fact that she’s disabled is only one part of her story,” added Archie Comics CEO and publisher Jon Goldwater said in a statement (PolicyMic).
The Archie Comics line of comic books is one of the most successful, longest running brands in the history of the comic industry. Archie Comics have sold 2 billion comics and are published in a dozen different foreign languages and distributed all over the world. Archie Comics has inspired characters whose popularity has spilled over into other media and who have become part of popular culture – “Sabrina the Teenage Witch” and “Josie and the Pussycat Dolls” are just some of the many legendary franchises that are part of the Archie Comics Library.
Photo: CBC News
