Today, we look at how the dark turn of Bingo Wilkin continues in a new Chilling Adventures one-shot.
This is Archie Sundays. Every week, I share a preview of the newest Archie Comics releases that week, plus occasional spotlights on the latest Archie news and whatever else I feel like discussing, Archie-wise.
This time around, we’ll first take a look at an upcoming one-shot from Archie as part of its Chilling Adventures line of comics.
Bingo Wilkin debuted in That Wilkin Boy #1 in 1969. Created by Frank Doyle and Dan DeCarlo, Bingo Wilkin (not WilkinS, which is always kind of funny) was part of a garage band, The Bingoes…
Presumably, the idea of the book was to tie in with the success of The Archies, trying to give Hanna-Barbera another possible character to adapt into a TV series (note that this was also the same time that Josie McCoy suddenly started a rock band, as well).
Last year, Chilling Adventures Presents…The Cult of That Wilkin Boy #1 by Cullen Bunn, Dan Schoening, Ben Galvan, Matt Herms and Jack Morelli did a new, dark take on Bingo Wilkin. Now, he is a world-famous rock star, but it is because he sold his soul to the devil, and the time of his deal is now up (seven years of stardom). However, Bingo has become so famous that he essentially has his own cult now, and his fans have effectively given their souls to Bingo, allowing him to be MORE powerful than the demon. At the end of the issue, Bingo now starts trading in souls himself.
Now, we’re having a sequel to the series with the same creative team. Here are the covers and the solicitation for the book, due out in April…
THE CULT OF THAT WILKIN BOY: INITIATION (ONE-SHOT)
Returning to the world of last year’s successful THE CULT OF THAT WILKIN BOY, Bingo is now a music manager—and the devil incarnate. He’s initiating others by exchanging their souls for stardom. But is this what he really wants out of life? Is this what he worked so hard for? Bingo embarks on a quest to return to his first love: performing music. But the road back to superstardom isn’t going to be an easy one, and it’s going to take a lot of souls to get there.
Script: Cullen Bunn
Art: Dan Schoening, Ben Galvan
Colors: Matt Herms
Letters: Jack Morelli
Cover: Dan Schoening, Luis Antonio Delgado
Variant Cover: Robert Hack
On Sale Date: 4/24
32-page, full color comic
$3.99 U.S.
In a press release announcing the comic, Bunn noted, “I’m so excited to have the chance to write a new Bingo story. INITIATION stands completely on its own as a fun, dark little horror tale. But, for those who have read THE CULT OF THAT WILKIN BOY, it continues the tale of deviltry and supernatural shenanigans in an exciting way. Returning to this world, I wanted to tell a tale that was a natural progression for Bingo but was also an amplification of the nightmarish horror that surrounds him.”
Last week, I did an exclusive reveal of a new character debuting in this week’s Archie Jumbo Comics Digest #347.
Now, here’s a preview of the OTHER new story in the digest, a Moose story by Daniel Kibblesmith, Rex Lindsey and Glenn Whitmore, where Moose is in trouble when Valentine’s Day falls on the same day as his big game, and Midge wants him to make an effort for her while he is distracted by the big game…
Kibblesmith and Lindsey is a strong creative pairing.
