Archie Andrews, who has graced Archie Comic books since 1941, is going to die in July 2014. Archie Comics will kill off its hero, Archie Andrews, to end the Life With Archie Series, which flash-forwarded into different versions of Archie’s future as an adult.

Fans of the all-American Archie Comic may be dismayed to learn its eponymous hero is doomed. Archie Andrews will leave this world in a bloody blaze of glory in the penultimate issue No. 36 of the Life With Archie series, which imagines the lives of Archie and his friends after they leave high school and grow into adulthood.

The original Archie Series has been running since it debuted in 1941 and has spawned spinoff series, including Betty and Veronica, Jughead and the Life With Archie series where Archie will sacrifice himself heroically while saving the life of a friend this July, according to a statement issued by the company. The last issue of the series will follow and will revisit the surviving characters of Riverdale as they remember their fallen friend.

“Archie dies as he lived heroically. He dies saving the life of a friend and does it in his usual selfless way. Archie has always been a representation of us, in fact the best of us; our strengths and our faults.” informed Archie Comics, Chief Executive Officer, Jon Goldwater.

The company has taken numerous steps to reinvigorate its brand in recent years. The Life Eith Archie series explored alternate futures by imagining two different plotlines in a double issue: Archie marries and has a life with girl next door Betty in one story and his dark haired crush Veronica in another.

It even introduced a gay character named Kevin Keller and eventually gave him his own comic. The company even launched an After Life With Archie series, where the pleasant, friendly town of Riverdale suffers a zombie invasion.

All said and done, Archie Comics is pleased with its hero’s demise. Well it’s the biggest story they have ever told.