Archie Meets the Punisher

All-American teenager Archie Andrews first appeared in a backup feature in the adventure comic Pep Comics #22, published by MLJ Magazines in December 1941.[3] Archie was popular enough to receive a dedicated monthly comic series less than a year after his debut.[4] This started a trend of teen humor comic books and the publisher renamed itself after the character in 1947.[3][4] By the early 1950s, the character's appeal warranted seven concurrent monthly comic titles. Over the next four decades, Archie Comics Publications rarely published material outside the teen humor genre, and most of its attempts to do so were short-lived and commercially unsuccessful.[4] By the 1990s, Archie had a strong presence in magazine outlets such as supermarkets, but was struggling in comic specialty shops where the clientele was more interested in adventure stories.[5][6]

The murderous vigilante Punisher first appeared as an antagonist in The Amazing Spider-Man #129, published by Marvel Comics in February 1974. Fans found the character interesting and he continued to guest star in other Marvel comics.[7] In 1987, Marvel gave him an ongoing series, The Punisher, which became one of Marvel's biggest successes of the decade.[8] By the mid-1990s, Punisher had become one of Marvel's most popular characters and was appearing in three concurrent monthly comic titles.[9]

Writer Batton Lash in 2007

During the 1990s, intercompany crossovers were a popular trend in the American comic book industry and management at Archie Comics wanted to participate to raise its visibility in specialty comic shops and boost sales.[6][10][11][12] During a lunch in San Diego, top Archie editor Victor Gorelick discussed possibilities with writers Batton Lash and David Scroggy.[11][12] After considering crossovers with Superman's friend Jimmy Olsen or Spider-Man, Gorelick mentioned Punisher as a joke.[11] Lash immediately saw potential in the idea and gave a rough explanation for how it would work. Gorelick liked the pitch and asked for a formal proposal.[13] Lash did not think Gorelick's interest was sincere and forgot about it until he received a follow-up phone call sometime later asking if the proposal was ready.[10][13][note 1]

The origin of the concept is unclear. In 1994, Hero Illustrated reported the idea was first proposed by a fan at the San Diego Comic-Con.[14] Other sources, such as the 2013 book Icons of the American Comic Book, have said it was inspired by a gag on the cover of an issue of the trade publication The Comics Journal.[15] Comic Book Resources calls this a legend and claims a meeting between Archie and Punisher was a long-running joke between Gorelick and his friend Tom DeFalco, Marvel's editor-in-chief.[11] In his introduction to the comic book, Gorelick claims to have pitched a different version of the story to Archie publishers Richard Goldwater and Michael Skilberkleit prior to mentioning the idea to Lash.[12][note 2] Reed Tucker wrote in his 2017 book Slugfest that it was conceived by Gorelick and Punisher editor Dan Daley.[16] Lash gives credit for the idea solely to Gorelick.[10]

Artist Stan Goldberg in 2008

Lash's original outline was about one page long.[10] Prior to this comic book, Lash had not written either character, and was not a fan of Punisher.[6][13] He modeled it on the 1948 film Abbott and Costello Meet Frankenstein, which he felt was true to the spirit of the comedy team and the horror creatures it featured.[13] Gorelick sent the proposal to DeFalco, who shared it with Daley and Mark Gruenwald, another editor.[13] It was Marvel's first intercompany crossover in years.[16] Fearing the project might be derailed if too many people learned about it, only seven people at Marvel were told about the crossover, which was referred to internally as "Project A".[14][note 3] It was formally announced at a press function at the Empire Diner in New York City shortly before publication.[13][17] The novelty of the unlikely crossover drew attention from general news media, and NPR aired an interview between Weekend Edition host Scott Simon and Lash on Saturday, July 9, 1994 discussing the project.[6]

The artwork was split between regular Archie penciller Stan Goldberg and longtime Marvel artist John Buscema. Each artist was responsible for drawing the characters and backgrounds associated with their company's intellectual property, ensuring the characters' appearances remained true to their traditional styles. Tom Palmer did the inking for both artists to prevent the two styles from clashing.[17] Goldberg liked the art arrangement because he had always been a fan of Buscema.[13] The only editorial interference came from Gorelick, who objected to Punisher shooting a thug during a school dance. The scene was changed to have Punisher hit the thug with a cake.[13] The story was the first time drugs were mentioned in an Archie comic.[15]

In June 1994, two versions of the comic book were published with an August cover date.[12][17] One was published by Archie with cover copy reading Archie Meets the Punisher and a $2.95 retail price. The other, published by Marvel, was titled The Punisher Meets Archie. The Marvel version featured a cover enhanced with a die-cut window and a design that paid homage to the cover of Amazing Spider-Man #129.[18] It had a retail price of $3.95.[17] Both versions contained the same 48-page interior story and were ad-free except for two subscription offers, one from each company.[19] The Marvel edition also included the pencil artwork for the Archie edition and a bonus pin-up image of Punisher and Archie.[12][note 4]

Since Archie Meets the Punisher, the Archie characters have had a tradition of team-ups with characters from other fictional universes, such as Archie Meets KISS (2012), Archie Meets Glee (2013), and Archie vs. Sharknado (2015).[24][25][26] Geek.com felt that Archie Meets the Punisher was the gold standard for unlikely crossovers until being replaced by Archie vs. Predator in 2015.[27] Marvel also continued with intercompany crossovers, starting with a meeting between Punisher and the DC Comics character Batman in August 1994.[16][17] In 2017, Tucker said that Archie Meets the Punisher remained one of Marvel's most left-field books.[16]

The story continued to surprise readers decades after it was published. As late as 2015, young fans and fans new to comics would still ask Lash if the comic really existed.[10]