Talking Archie Comics’ ‘Toybox Of Terror’ With Danielle Paige And Tango

For every Corduroy, there has to be a Chucky, and in Archie Comics’ upcoming oneshot anthology, Toybox of Terror, it’s all evil toys on deck. Writer, Danielle Paige, and artist, Tango, took inspiration from M3gan for their story, “CH3RYL,” and you can find out more about it in the following interview:

Rachel Bellwoar: So many stories tend to stress looking for a romantic partner while friendship gets undervalued, but a best friend is exactly what Midge wants in “CH3RYL”. What was it like getting to prioritize platonic love over romantic love?

Tango: This was the aspect of the story that most excited me when I got Danielle’s script. Everyone is single at some point in their lives, but good friends are really your support system. Lacking a supportive friendship leaves someone like Midge really emotionally vulnerable to CH3RYL’s arrival. It’s a genuinely scary place to start a horror story.

Danielle Paige: First off, I love Tango’s art and she is such a genius — it’s pure magic to be able to convey so much in these six pages! I think Tango captured it all in the first panel: Midge sees everyone with their BFFs in Pop’s and she just really gets that FOMO feeling. For me, the best horror stories begin like that; when you want something so much and you finally get it . . . be careful what you wish for! I love stories about romantic love, but for me at least, I think friendships are the other love stories of our lives. And when you are missing that, like Midge is at the start of the story, you crave it just as much as a romantic love.

Bellwoar: Of all the students who attend Riverdale Middle, why do you think Cheryl is the person Midge singles out as being best friend material?

Tango: Who wouldn’t want to be Cheryl Blossom’s best friend?

Paige: Cheryl is popular and powerful, a true force. Cheryl is the top of the Little Vixen cheerleading pyramid and, unfortunately for her teammates, she sometimes puts them in their place beneath her with well-placed barbs. Midge looks up to her figuratively and literally from the bottom of the pyramid. And Midge does the math; they have cheerleading in common, and they both are without a best friend. Why not Midge? And I think maybe, down deep, Midge hopes that if she can make Cheryl her friend then she won’t be the object of Cheryl’s mean girl moments.

Bellwoar: Cheryl being a bully isn’t entirely out of character, but how people respond to her bullying is notable. Why was it important to both of you to show how much power witnesses can have in these situations?

Tango: I really appreciated that Danielle never let Cheryl’s mean girl tendencies go unquestioned. While laying everything out, it was important to me to always have Cheryl’s opposition take up an equal amount of physical space in those panels. It’s one of those things that makes sure Cheryl’s never permitted to be the dominant voice in those moments, even when she’s being unkind.

Paige: I love what Tango did with these panels — she literally put Cheryl in her place when she was trying to assert her dominance. And I think that’s the thing about Cheryl, and sometimes other kids their age; they are testing their limits and daring others to follow them or challenge them. I really wanted the other girls to stand up and say something when Cheryl stopped being fun and started being mean.

Bellwoar: Without giving away any spoilers, CH3RYL is actually an acronym. Was it difficult coming up with a phrase to match the letters that also makes sense?

Paige: Yes and no! The first couple of letters were obvious. The “y” was the hardest.

Bellwoar: As someone who’s never seen M3gan, “CH3RYL” completely works without that reference point, but what might a fan of that movie appreciate that a non-fan wouldn’t?

Tango: I knew right away I wanted to keep a similar silhouette to M3GAN’s dress. Even from trailers, it was instantly iconic.

Paige: I adore Tango’s take on the M3GAN dress! And I had to have Cheryl do some cartwheels! M3GAN uses dance as a kind of martial art, so it made perfect sense that CH3RYL could use her cheerleading moves. I never imagined writing a cartwheel as a weapon!

Bellwoar: How challenging was it to come up with a design for CH3RYL where she both looks like Cheryl but can also occupy the same panel as her?

Tango: A big part of what makes “scary dolls” work as a horror genre is the way they pummel you with that uncanny valley feeling. I wanted to make sure CH3RYL never looked quite as “human” as the other girls. There’s a level of expressiveness I tried to reserve for the real Cheryl and by contrast CH3RYL’s expressions should always feel a bit more artificial.

Paige: Tango nailed the CH3RYL design. As a writer, I just had to have the CH3RYL-facing-off-with-Cheryl moment, and I knew Tango would make them distinctive while creating an epic moment!

Bellwoar: A few times readers are treated to panels from CH3RYL point of view. What was it like trying to imagine her perspective and how she might see the world differently from humans?

Tango: Danielle had those in the script from jump, and major shout-out to our incredible colorist Matt Herms for the color treatment given to the CH3RYL-vision shots. They really emphasize how everything from CH3RYL’s perspective is more calculated and manipulated to an extent the people around her don’t expect.

Paige: I trusted Tango and Matt to find their own vision of CH3RYL’s perspective. And I thought it added to the horror to see her point of view. In CH3RYL’s “mind” she’s just trying to achieve her objective, to be the best BFF ever.

Bellwoar: Midge claims she’s too old for dolls but is there really a cut-off age for liking dolls?

Tango: I think my action figure collection would have to disagree with Midge on that one.

Paige: There isn’t! I mean, hello Barbie! There is a reason the Barbie movie and M3GAN were such phenomena this year. We are never too old to enjoy our toys. But I do think there’s a particular age somewhere between childhood and adulthood where kids think they’ve outgrown them, only hopefully later to discover that we can like whatever we want, no matter how old we are. And some of us will just call them collectibles!

Bellwoar: I couldn’t agree more. Thanks for agreeing to this interview, Danielle and Tango!

With letters by Jack Morelli, Fear the Funhouse Presents… Toybox of Terror goes on sale October 18th from Archie Comics.