Lena Dunham is writing a four-part series for Archie Comics

NEW YORK, March 4 (UPI) -- Lena Dunham will take a break from the bright young things of Brooklyn to pen a comic book series about the bright young things of Riverdale -- Archie, Jughead, Betty, Veronica and the rest of the gang.

Archie Comics has hired the Girls creator to pen a four-part series about the fictional teens of Riverdale, the publisher said in a release on Sunday.

"I was an avid Archie collector as a child," Dunham said in a statement. "Conventions, first editions that l kept in plastic sleeves, the whole shebang. It has so much cultural significance but also so much personal significance, and to get to play with these beloved characters is a wild creative opportunity."

Aguirre-Sacasa told Comic Book Resources that the Archie-Dunham collaboration is part of an effort to help the classic comic reach a new audience through different media channels -- sort of like Marvel and DC Comic books did with movies and television.

"We heard she was an Archie fanatic, and we run in similar circles and was able to reach out to her," he said of Dunham. "I didn't have to do a lot of arm-twisting -- she jumped at the chance to write these characters. It's trying to make those connections happen."

"It's really, really funny," he said of Dunham's plot pitch, though he wouldn't give details. "It's incredibly contemporary. It's a classic Archie story, with a definitely unique, Lena spin, and it's going to be set in Archie continuity. It's not going to be a weird miniseries -- it's within the main series. She brings a unique point-of-view to all these characters, but she also loves them, and knows what makes them work. It's really good stuff, and obviously it's going to be a huge deal for Archie, the closer we get to it."

Archie Comics also released this image of the Riverdale girls channeling HBO's Girls poster.

[People, Comic Book Resources]