Back in October, Archie Comics announced the creation of Blue Ribbon Books, a new graphic novel imprint within the publisher focused on producing books for young readers. The first Blue Ribbon offering, Betty & Veronica: The Bond of Friendship, features the classic BFFs in a new tale by writer Jamie Lee Rotante (Betty & Veronica: Senior Year) and artist Brittney Williams (Goldie Vance, Patsy Walker AKA Hellcat!). The graphic novel sees Betty & Veronica considering where their futures might lead them, and whether their respective paths will remain entwined.

The YA graphic novel market is only growing stronger, putting up impressive numbers last year not just among graphic novels but among the overall book market, and Archie’s expansion into that market is a smart, natural move, especially with The CW’s Riverdale and Netflix’s Chilling Adventures of Sabrina bringing their characters to a wide, albeit older, audience. Opening the Blue Ribbon line with a book by proven creators like Rotante and Williams, joined by Archie mainstays colorist Matt Herms and letterer Jack Morelli, is an equally smart move, and if the preview pages below are any indication this is a book you’re going to want to pick up, regardless of your age.

Check out the solicitation text and seven interior pages, a preview exclusive to The Beat, from Betty & Veronica: The Bond of Friendship below. Published by Archie Comics, the 144-page original graphic novel is due out in comic shops and digitally on April 22nd, 2020, with a wide release in early May.

Written by Jamie Lee Rotante

Illustrated by Brittney Williams

Colored by Matt Herms

Lettered by Jack Morelli Archie’s first-ever original young adult graphic novel, starring everyone’s favorite BFFs Betty and Veronica! There are a number of truths in Riverdale–Archie Andrews will forever be clumsy and love-struck, Jughead Jones has an appetite that can never be satiated, Pop’s will always serve the best burgers and shakes and Betty and Veronica will be best friends no matter what comes between them. But when a career day at Riverdale High has the two BFFs examining their futures, they start to wonder just where they’ll end up—and how their lives may take very different paths. This original graphic novel explores the unbreakable bond that allows Betty and Veronica’s friendship to withstand the tests of space and time.