Li’l Jinx is a familiar name to old-school Archie Comics fans, and the character is back in November’s The Archies #2 — except she’s grown up, and now a rock star fronting her own band.
The Archies ongoing series launched earlier this month as part of Archie Comics’ continued modernization of its classic concepts, this time taking the garage band formed by Archie, Betty, Veronica, Jughead and Reggie and looking at their journey in a (slightly) more realistic context. Real-life bands have already been confirmed to appear — Chvrches in December’s issue #3, The Monkees in issue #4, with more to come — but #2 sees the debut of the Jinx and the Little Miss Steps, described as a “Le Tigre meets Helium” act consisting of Jinx and classic Li’l Jinx supporting characters Charley Hawse, Greg, Gigi, Roz and Mort.
The classic Li’l Jinx is a young, mischievous girl created by Joe Edwards in 1947. She starred in her own series — published by Archie Comics but separate from the adventures of the Riverdale gang — in both the ’50s and the ’70s, and is likely most recognizable to today’s fans from reprints of her comics in the Archie digests. In 2012, Archie published new stories featuring the character as a teen, and this latest reinvention gives her not only a full-fledged musical career, but integrates her directly with the iconic Archie cast.
