Oni Press Turns Archie Into "Pyre Satanic" for a Midnight Variant Stunt

Oni Press is counting down to a midnight variant release that's equal parts prank and nostalgia trip. The publisher is dropping a limited Archie #1 variant cover by artist Chloe Brailsford at 12:01 a.m. on October 7, timed to coincide with the midnight launch of Sabrina #1 - the same witching hour Marvel is using to kick off its own Midnight Universe line.

The gag is in the branding: Brailsford's cover slaps a "Pyre Satanic" logo across the top, a wink at Spire Christian Comics, the real-life publisher that put out moralizing Archie-adjacent comics throughout the 1970s and '80s. Flipping that imprint's wholesome reputation into something explicitly devilish is the kind of inside-baseball joke built for collectors who remember spotting those old Spire digests in church bargain bins.

It's a short window to grab one. The standard Archie #1 already hit shelves back on September 2, so this variant isn't a relaunch tie-in so much as a late, limited victory lap timed to a specific hour rather than a specific week - the kind of stunt that tends to move fast at register once word gets around.

Source: ICv2