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Archie comics Co-CEO Nancy Silberkleit: “I became a fan of Archie and found the love of reading at age 54”
It’s tough to think about childhood without Archie comics. I remember collecting Double Digests when I was 10 or 11 years old and bringing them with me to school or when I traveled. When I told this to Archie Comics co-CEO Nancy Silberkleit, she expressed her appreciation to Filipino readers of the beloved icon of American comics.
“I’ve met many people outside of the Philippines, like in the US or in airports, wherever, and I just felt a deep compassion to how much they embrace the brand and so I said I have to go the Philippines and thank them,” she said. “And I’m here to thank you.”
Silberkleit was in Manila recently as a speaker during the annual National Book Store Readers and Writers Festival.
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Pleasant and always ready with a warm smile, the sixtysomething Silberkleit was named co-CEO of the comics company after her husband, Michael Silberkleit, who was the son of Archie Comics co-founder Louis Silberkleit, died in 2008.
The other half of the company is controlled by Jon Goldwater, who took over from his brother Richard. Both are sons of co-founder John Goldwater.
In this interview, Silberkleit shares how Archie transformed her into a reader, how she really feels about the controversial TV adaptation Riverdale, and what’s next for Archie and the gang.
Archie’s been around since the 1940s. When did you first become aware of Archie?
I had married into the family. I was never a comic book reader. I did not develop a love for reading as entertainment. So comic books were never my thing.
My husband, his father and the other gentleman, had a good thing going. They gave something to the world. It gave girls something to read in the comic book world because comic books were basically for men.
I think about the two gentlemen that created this, John Goldwater and Louis Silberkleit, they gave a gift, a huge gift to the world. That’s powerful.
When you married your husband, did you start reading Archie?
I had no love of reading for entertainment. Nobody could move me, to sit down and read books. I could read but it was just not my thing. So when I stepped into Archie comics, I had to start reading them. And I would pile up ones that were making me laugh.
I was always curious—why do people read these things again and again? And what I found was that everyone loves to laugh. And then there were stories that had impactful values and messages. You want to read those again. And there are some that I don’t even have to touch. They’re in my brain, in my heart, and you carry them with you for life.
So, as this was going on, this was good stuff to read. I found that there wasn’t enough for me to read. I liked reading at night, when I would come home from work. I had my stories, and then I found I needed more and so I started reading books. I found the love of reading at age 54, and I became fan of Archie and a reader.
Do you ever have a favorite character?
I have developed a favorite character, yes. Mr. Lodge. Yeah because he’s all about business. I like his tenacity, I love when he throws Archie out of the mansion.
When you came on board as co-CEO, what aspects of the business did you focus on?
I was trying to learn about everything. I would stay at the Archie (office) Monday through Sunday, and I remember I would try to grab something to eat before the store would close. I had to force myself away from my learning of the business, and sometimes, I wouldn’t leave until 11pm.
So I really dived into something because I loved it. I didn’t know I was going to love it. I didn’t think this was for me. I thought the Archie bar was way over my head, but, I found that I was cut out for business. I basically learned on my own, learned about projection sheets, spreadsheets, disbursements, intellectual property, licensing, trade marketing; words that were never part of my language.
Comics in general have seen a resurgence. How do you balance keeping Archie fresh and relevant for newer readers but not alienating older readers?
Archie has always had a natural underlying formula to it. It has always worked. It’s to reflect what’s going on in the decade and put it in the hands of teenagers from a high school in Riverdale and let them figure it out without any adult intervention.
And this same formula is being demonstrated in Riverdale, the TV show. The outside forces, what reality is today, we have dark issues. It’s falling in their hands, and it’s due to adults and society and they’re figuring it out. They are still good, wholesome kids, wanting to do the right thing.
Speaking of the TV show, did you have anything to do with that?
No. Know what you know, know what you don’t know. I’m not a screenwriter. All of the talented people there, they created what it is today, using the formula.
But it’s such a departure from the Archie I know and love.
What I say to people is it’s really the same Archie. It’s taking that formula and reflecting the decades. We can do nothing about what’s going on in society. Society is dark and it’s tough. And they’re pulling that Archie formula into the show. So they are not being blind to what’s going on in the decade. It’s very dark, and it’s nothing to laugh about.
The classics was always that kind of slapstick, laughing, Betty-putting-on-the-same-dress-as-Veronica kind of thing, but it’s a comic book that has always impacted people, and this show, I think, is a dynamic forum to put in maybe those message to help move people.
As much as the classic Archie gave us all that enjoyment and laughter and values, this show is giving us another very powerful connection to those characters—how to handle all that darkness.
How have the new characters like Kevin Keller, who is gay, and Scarlet, who has autism, been accepted by newer readers?
Archie is about a school environment. These are people, personalities that are in our schools. So it’s only natural that we reflect who makes up the school. Archie seems to be lifelike. It’s something that connects people whether they’re in Canada, India, Dubai, the Philippines. It’s amazing how they can translate to anywhere on the planet. Everyone loves love and everyone’s been in a school environment. There are parts of it that just seem right and people gravitate to it.
Archie is one of the last independent comic book publishers. What does this mean for you as co-CEO?
Archie is still a family-run business. That’s me stepping out of the classroom. After my husband died, people wanted to buy the 50-percent (stake), and I didn’t want to sell. I wanted to propel that family legacy. That’s all I wanted to do.
I thought I didn’t know about business, but I feel my background as a teacher provided me with a lot of business experience. It was my job to get information to individual minds, in a way they would understand. It’s the same for the person in the business seat. It is that person’s job to connect the brand to the people.
It’s an honor to have a company that has been beating for almost 80 years now and privately held. It’s just a love of that family nucleus.
Where else do you see Archie heading?
With Riverdale, I just think we can go do other types of platforms, like Broadway, musicals, and more TV. All of these are being developed.
Do you think there’s something that you’d never do in an Archie comic?
I think we’ve done everything. I mean, Miss Grundy had sex with Archie! (Laughs). I think we’ve covered everything. — LA, GMA News
