DENVER — Denver graphic novelist R. Alan Brooks wrote a story for the Archie Comic Digest Halloween Special featuring a new character designed to bring autism awareness to one of comics' most beloved universes.
The story centers on Scarlett Saltee, a half-Irish, half-Filipino character with autism created by Archie Comics Co-CEO Nancy Silberkleit and her freelance team. The new issue also features Archie, Betty, Veronica and Jughead.
"When Scarlett was created, her platform was to represent the autistic population and to let society know that people who are on the spectrum want to be included. They want friendship," Silberkleit said.
Silberkleit drew inspiration from her previous work as a New Jersey public school art teacher to create a character that could teach others about inclusion and autism.
"When I became a publisher, I wanted to bring that message into just not Archie Comic world, but into graphic literacy, because the power of graphic literacy is huge," Silberkleit said.
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Silberkleit said she worked on Scarlett's story for years, taking the character with her on her travels, but couldn't put it together until she met Brooks. She also wanted Scarlett's story to include a message about taking care of pets and Vermont's historic Rutland Parade — a tall order for Brooks to include in an 8-page comic.
For Brooks, the project was an opportunity to highlight the shared humanity of people with different life experiences.
"So much of what I write is about expressing the humanity of different kinds of people. It was important to me that this character Scarlett, that we could show her humanity through her autism, and it's my hope that people who read it, whether they're young or old, are able to connect with the humanity of that character," Brooks said.
Brooks said honoring Archie's 85-year legacy was a priority while writing the story. He also made a point to include two Black characters from the Archie universe.
"When you write something that's like a legacy, like Archie, it's more important that it is Archie than it is like Alan. But also I wanted to bring in two of the Black characters from Archie who I think came around in the 70s. The characters are named Chuck and Nancy," Brooks said.
Brooks said his sister introduced him to Archie Comics when they were kids, and he made sure to include a nod to one fan-favorite character.
"I wanted to play with at least one of the like, legacy characters too, and there's like a funny little gag with Jughead in it," Brooks said.
Brooks has written several graphic novels. His work has been featured at the Denver Art Museum, he writes a comic for the Colorado Sun newspaper, and his TED Talk has nearly 3 million views.
The new story hits comic book shelves on Aug. 21. Fans can meet Brooks at Fort Collins Comic Con Aug. 14-16.
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