I’m really kind of ashamed to admit that I don’t read Archie Comics regularly. There’s no reason for me not to, I mean, I don’t dislike them. In fact, I like them a lot more than a great deal of comics I read on a regular basis. Sure, sometimes Archie and the gang don’t provide a whole lot of excitement for a lot of readers, but then they go and do something like bringing KISS to Riverdale. And what could be better than that? Only one thing, getting Francesco Francavilla on variant cover duties.

You can check out the cover below.

I’m seriously in love with Francesco Francavilla’s art. If it was legal to marry art to show devotion to the work, I’d do so, probably. I will buy a comic that has his artwork on the cover just because it has his artwork on the cover. The content? Yeah, whatever, but did you see that cover!? Anyway, so this installment of “Francesco Francavilla Is Awesome” is brought to you by Archie #627 which brings the rock group KISS to Archie’s hometown, and as a result, the town is crowded with monsters. I seriously can’t believe how awesome the words I’m typing are. Y’know what? Never mind, here’s the solicitation:

Archie Meets KISS Part 1: Riverdale Rock City.” The biggest band in rock history invades Riverdale! When the Archies find their town overrun by monsters because of a spell gone wrong, can the KISS gang save the day? Find out in part one of this four-part epic featuring KISS!

Script: Alex Segura
Art: Dan Parent
Cover by Dan Parent
Variant cover by Francesco Francavilla
32-page, full color comic, $2.99

I do not know how this wasn’t on my radar. Anyway, there’s so much to love about this cover. The face of “The Demon” and accompanying flames serves as a backdrop for Archie rocking out. Oh man, I’m so sorry if I’m typing like a maniac, but the joy in my heart as I describe what this cover looks like is simply overpowering my thought processes! OH GOODNESS! Just look at the full cover and how incredible it is. And then go out and buy it.

And what makes it even better is this is a four-part story arc featuring Archie and KISS and Francavilla is doing the variant covers for each installment.

Simply amazing.

Cover

[Source: The Art of Francesco Francavilla]