In "I Remember Well," we spotlight instances where writers pull out long-forgotten plots, characters or attributes of comic book characters. Today, we look at how Archie's long-lost identical British cousin, Alistair, made a twisted return in the new Archie: Judgment Day miniseries.

As you are likely all well aware, for the past decade or so, Archie Comics has been doing some excellent work exploring the world of horror with its characters. Honestly, it makes a ton of sense, as the Archie characters have been used in fantasy plots for over 75 years (very early into his existence, Archie and his friends were taking part in caveman adventures, for instance). The characters are all so iconic that you can put them into the most absurdist situations, and they really shine through (see the brilliant Archie vs. Predator II, where Alex de Campi did wonders with some metafictive concepts).

Archie Comics' history is just filled with these obscure, but really cool characters, and these horror-themed stories do such a good job of going through their history to find the perfect character to use, and to put a darker spin on, of course. For instance, after M3Gan became a hit, a number of Archie writers realized that, hey, there is specifically a character in the comics, Evelyn Evernever, who is all about her beloved doll, Minerva, and so Minerva has been adapted into a few different horror-themed stories. That idea of taking an obscure character and giving them a horror twist was definitely used to the nth degree in the excellent Archie: Judgment Day miniseries, by writer Aubrey Sitterson, artist Megan Hutchison, colorist Matt Herms, and letterer Jack Morelli...

In this deluxe format miniseries (issue #2 just came out recently), Riverdale is overrun by demons, and Archie has to be the one to stop them, and he has been bonded with a demon, Alistair, to get the job done, but Alistair certainly seems to be working against the interests of Archie and his friends (like convincing Archie that Jughead, Betty, and Veronica are all jealous of him).

Amusingly, though, Alistair is actually based on an actual Archie character from over two decades ago!

What was Alistair's original Archie comic book adventure?

Alistair debuted in Archie Comics #527 in 2002, in a story by writer Greg Crosby, artist Stan Goldberg, inker Bob Smith, and letterer Bill Yoshida. Goldberg and Yoshida were two of the most iconic Archie comic creators, I did spotlights on both of their Archie careers here (for Goldberg) and here (for Yoshida).

Archie's cousin, Alistair, is visiting from England, and he is a total snob...

However, it just so turns out that that is the sort of thing that Veronica is attracted to...

In the second part of the story (it is interesting that the first part has a "The End" bit, when it obviously is not actually the end), Archie tries to figure out a way to get Veronica back from Alistair...

And Archie and Jughead devise a plan to pretend that Alistair's lineage isn't quite as fancy as he hopes. Well, someone arrives to tell Alistair just that, that his family's line was traced to horse thieves and pickpockets, ruining their good name!

However, Archie is shocked when he discovers that this is actually the truth, and not a scam devised by him and Jughead!

And that was it for Alistair in the main Archie comics (he has made some appearances here and there in weird little places), but now he is back in a big way in Judgment Day!

What do the creative staff of Archie: Judgment Day have to say about Alistair?

Here are a couple of exclusive panels featuring Alistair from the finale of Archie: Judgment Day, out later this month!

Some of the creative staff of Archie shared their thoughts on the characters of Alistair, starring with Senior Director of Editorial Jamie L. Rotante, who noted:

Alistair is such an interesting character from Archie lore; he originally existed as Archie's well-to-do, identical British cousin who tries to snake Veronica away from him. Of course, it made sense to turn him from a sly devil into a literal demon. While Archie grows wearier, it allows us to still get a glimpse of what a 'bad' Archie could look like—and Megan handled that perfectly by giving us an undoubtedly devilish character that just happens to look enough like Archie.

Here's Megan Hutchison's design sheet for Alistair...

Archie Art Director Vincent Lovallo discussed Megan's designs:

Megan's design for Alistair oozes with personality; the slicked back hair for suaveness, neck and hand tattoos for some added edge, and a dashing black and red suit to emphasize his fearless and intimidating presence. He's more than just a 'dark Archie,' but he isn't quite Satan either. He's a demon on a mission and he's totally fine playing the long game to get what he wants.

Finally, writer Aubrey Sitterson discussed Alistair, as well:

While most of my work has been creator owned, I love playing in established sandboxes and a big part of that is the way synchronicities become inevitable. On my first call with the Archie team about JUDGMENT DAY, synchronicities came rapid fire, from the perfect way Madam Satan slotted into the story to the Lodge family's Masonic connections. The most exciting and impactful one, however, was Archie's identical cousin sharing a name with notorious magician Aleister Crowley (albeit spelled slightly differently). Given the occult direction we were taking things, it felt like, if not a sign, then, at the very least, an incredible opportunity.

Thanks to Archie Comics for sharing these insights! If anyone has a suggestion for a future I Remember Well, drop me a line at brianc@cbr.com