An Interview With Writer, Ron Cacace, On His ‘Archie Jumbo Comics Digest’ Debut

Jughead has worked a lot of cases as a semi-private eye, but today’s Christmas issue of Archie Jumbo Comics Digest may involve his biggest case yet. With a title like “Christmas Is Canceled!“, the stakes are in the name, but will Jughead be up to the task of solving it?

With colors by Glenn Whitmore and art and letters by Rex Lindsay, find out what writer, Ron Cacace had to say about the story (which marks his Archie Digest debut):

Rachel Bellwoar: Archie Jumbo Comics Digest #345 is a holiday special that’s being released in ‘Noirvember’. Did that timing help inspire this story at all?

Ron Cacace: I’m just hearing about Noirvember now…. so, let’s say yes, it was all planned. In actuality, the story I wrote was not going to be about Christmas at first but once the gang at Archie found a nice spot for it on the schedule, we managed to switch up the premise a bit to make it work with the holiday season. So yes, entirely planned for Noirvember.

Bellwoar: On Riverdale, Jughead was the show’s go-to narrator who always involved himself in police investigations. What do you think is the appeal of seeing Jughead as a detective?

Cacace: Jughead’s got a unique perspective on the world. He sees things differently than Archie or Reggie and it just makes a much more natural fit that he’d be inquisitive and weird enough to pretend to be a private eye in the small town of Riverdale. He’s always got to find the hidden reasons for why things are the way they are.

Bellwoar: It should be noted that Jughead is only a semi-private eye here. How would you define “semi-private”?

Cacace: Jughead doesn’t work for the Riverdale Police Department, he works for private clients, like any private eye. But he’s also eager to investigate things for his own reasons and doesn’t need to be hired if there’s a case that’s interesting enough for him to follow. At least, that’s my interpretation of it. I just took the phrase from the original run of stories by Alex Simmons and Rex Lindsey!

Bellwoar: At one point we see Jughead pull a trench coat from beneath a seat cushion at Pop’s. Is there anything else he’s storing in the booths there?

Cacace: Everyone in Riverdale has been looking for [REDACTED] and that’s where Jughead keeps them, in the cushions at Pop’s. I won’t elaborate further on this answer otherwise I’ll get in trouble.

Bellwoar: Archie fans will already be familiar with one of the suspects, Scam Likely, from his appearances in Bite Sized Archie. What was it like working with artist, Rex Lindsay, on updating Scam’s look for the digest?

Cacace: Rex is a legend and well known for his work on the Jughead series. It was an absolute thrill to find out that Rex would be working on this story with me, and I was blown away when I saw the final product. Rex (and colorist Glenn Whitmore) did a great job of bringing Scam Likely into the world of “traditional” Archie comics and I’m so humbled that a little piece of Vincent’s and my Bite Sized Archie stories is now “canon” to the rest of Riverdale.

Bellwoar: In an interview we did earlier this year I accidently referred to Scam as Spam. Is that why one of the characters in this story does the same thing?

Cacace: Yes, exactly. I thought that would be a fun callback and I was waiting for you to point this out in this interview. Everything is going according to plan.

Bellwoar: Haha. Happy to be of service, Ron! What kind of story would you love to write for Archie Comics next?

Cacace: I don’t want to give all my pitches away but there are certain parts of Archie’s life that have not been explored as much as others over the past 80 years. What happens after high school and before college? What happens when college doesn’t go the way he expects it to? There’s plenty of opportunity in that post-high school life that would be ripe for exploration some time. Also, anything with Scam Likely and Reggie would be tops, for sure.

Bellwoar: Thanks for agreeing to this interview, Ron!

Archie Jumbo Comics Digest #345 is out now from Archie Comics.