Talking ‘Archie’s Christmas Spectacular’ With Ian Flynn And Dan Parent

Office gift exchanges are often presented as a reward, but they can be stressful, too, as anyone who’s ever had to participate in one can attest. For Archie’s Christmas Spectacular, writer Ian Flynn and artist Dan Parent have cooked up just such a gift exchange. With inks by Bob Smith, colors by Glenn Whitmore, and letters by Jack Morelli, here’s what Flynn and Parent could give away about this holiday tale:

Rachel Bellwoar: Fighting doesn’t sound very Christmas-y. How did the idea for “Twas the Fight Before Christmas” come about?

Ian Flynn: Have you never been to a store on December 23rd? Bedlam! Seriously, though, with Bob Phantom and the Grumpus involved, peace on Earth and goodwill towards men wasn’t really on the table. Those two were the prompts to get the story rolling, and the rest fell kicking-and-punching into place.

Bellwoar: Your story takes place at the Archie Comics holiday party. Were you inspired by any office parties you’ve attended?

Flynn: No, since this one looks like it would’ve been fun to attend! (If the Grumpus hadn’t gotten involved, that is.) Then again, there are some awkward moments where some folks can’t separate the work culture from the festivities, so maybe this is truer to life than I thought!

Dan Parent: I’ve attended a few Archie Holiday parties myself (more like a couple dozen), and we didn’t have any excitement like this! But I do have some fun memories of the ones I attended.

Bellwoar: Parties, of course, mean plenty of crowd scenes (though that actually becomes a sticking point with this party, as guests start ducking out early). Do you enjoy getting to create panels where the cameos in the background are as fun to take in as what’s going on in the foreground?

Flynn: When writing such scenes, I try to take the artist’s time (and sanity) into account. I try to detail what the focus is of each panel and then give a general guideline for the artist to do what works best as they put it together. That way they know what to prioritize, and I put my trust in them to do what’s best for the story.

Parent: Parties are fun to draw, albeit more work because of the additional characters. In this story I had to keep track of the characters that were in the present scene, along with the characters who disappeared to the other realm. But I think we got most of the Archieverse in there along with a good sampling of the Mighty Crusader characters.

Bellwoar: Of the party’s guests, Bob Phantom and Black Jack are in the spotlight. What made you choose to zone in on these two superheroes from Archie’s canon?

Flynn: They don’t typically show up when the Crusaders get a story, so bringing them to the forefront adds some variety. You also have the dichotomy of a disciplined hero with an incredible power and a more laid-back hero with much less flashy abilities. Odd couples are always fun!

Parent: I think Ian made a good choice, as these guys are really fun to draw.

Bellwoar: Bob Phantom’s superhero costume is already Christmas colors, but how was it designing formal attire versions of both his and Black Jack’s looks?

Parent: It was fun designing formal wear to go along with their superhero looks. The lighthearted approach of the story was fun, and I think mashing them up with the Archie characters really worked well. I hope we do more stories like this.

Bellwoar: Thanks for agreeing to this interview, Ian and Dan!

Archie’s Christmas Spectacular goes on sale October 7th from Archie Comics. The FOC date is September 14th.