Two new characters move to Riverdale in the 2022 Archie's Halloween Spectacular #1: the appropriately-named Trick and Treat, a sentient pumpkin with bat wings, and a ghost, respectively.
Trick and Treat were designed by Archie Comics art director Vincent Lovallo, per CBR. The company's editor-in-chief, Mike Pellerito, wanted go-to Halloween mascots similar to Jingles the Elf and Sugar Plum.
"Their proportions needed to be similar to those characters, but with more of a Funko Pop or Chibi design, and they would be a play on the classic concept of an angel or devil on a person's shoulders," Lovallo says. "However, despite those attributes, both characters are equally spirits of Halloween, so naturally, they can get pretty scary if they need to with their shape-shifting abilities."
Trick represents the scary side of Halloween, while Treat represents the sweet side. The characters will make their debut in the first story in Archie's Halloween Spectacular #1, "Spirits of Halloween," written by Ian Flynn, drawn by Ryan Jampole, colored by Glenn Whitmore, and lettered by Jack Morelli.
"Trick and Treat may be new characters, but they'd feel right at home with the classic creations," Flynn says. "Since they're the spirits of Halloween, I wanted to make sure neither of them was the 'good one' or the 'bad one.' They're both about fun and enjoying the holiday, but they both have a bit of a naughty streak. I hope folks enjoy them, and we get to see more of them in the future."
Jampole adds, "What I really enjoy about them is because they are spirits, they are really rubbery and expressive and it allowed me a lot of freedom to stretch and squash them into all sorts of goofy poses. It was a lot of fun to draw that alongside the slightly more grounded Archie characters."
Check out a preview of Archie's Halloween Spectacular #1, including a first look at Trick and Treat, below.
Archie's Halloween Spectacular #1 (2022) will be available October 5.
Trick and Treat may not be super scary, but Archie Comics has published some of the best horror comics of all time.
