Archie Proposes to…Veronica!
Posted on August 20, 2009 at 8:00 am
It has been one of popular culture’s most enduring conundrums: Betty or Veronica?
Until now.
Archie Andrews, after seven decades as a teenager, has all of a sudden grown up. Archie and his friends have made only the smallest concessions to the passage of time. Moose used to be dumb; now he has a learning disability. The Riverdale kids may send texts now, but the punchlines are the same, as are the featherweight story-lines. And the eternal triangle with Archie being pursued by both rich glamor girl Veronica and wholesome girl-next-door Betty seemed as unchangeable as Archie’s immovable red hair.
It is almost impossible to imagine now but there were similar cultural shockwaves when Li’l Abner married Daisy Mae and Dagwood married Blondie. Both comics thrived and became even more popular as their “merry war” bloomed into usually-gentle domestic conflicts. But in those cases, while there was a question about whether they would get married, there was no question about who the couple was. The essence of Archie’s storyline has been the rivalry between the brunette and blonde who were pursuing him — in a high school setting. If he is going to grow up, get married and even, as news reports have noted, have children, is there any Archie-ness left?
It may be that this is a plan to reboot the venerable series. While many people will react to this news by being surprised he is marrying Veronica, many more may be surprised that Archie is still publishing new comics. This put them on the front pages of newspapers across the country. I suspect that there may an accelerated storyline ahead that within a very short time will find the children of Archie and Veronica in high school with the children of Jughead and Ethel, Moose and Midge, and Betty and Reggie (well, if anyone can straighten Reggie out, it has to be Betty). And that the jokes will still be, reassuringly, exactly the same.
For decades I have been rooting for Betty. Sure Veronica has the looks and the money. But I have been holding out that Archie’s indecision was because he really did have a stronger moral compass that kept pointing toward Betty. Reggie and Veronica deserve each other, and Veronica’s father would go nuts with Reggie around.
As you worked through your progression of the strip you left out one possible sequence — After several years of marriage Archie and Veronica divorce and Archie reconnects with Veronica at their 20th reunion. But this is not Mary Worth, nor is it Cathy. I think the writers have, as the saying goes, “jumped the shark”.
One of my many nicknames, courtesy of my Dad was he watched me with my many female friends, has been “Archie”. For all these years everytime I called and identified myself his response was always, “Hey Arch!” When my dad died I think the nickname went with him. But I still love the well-meaning but lost perrenial Riverdale High student.
I’m shocked, shocked. One of my nieces loves Archie comics, and of course, I remember reading them for many years. I must admit to being shocked that Archie didn’t end up with Betty, the “girl next door.”
I’ll have to ask my niece what she thinks of this development.
Before he played “Gilligan,” Bob Denver played “Maynard G. Krebs” who was basically Jughead, on “Dobie Gillis.”
Alicia, the Minow family cat was named Maynard after the Bob Denver character! And that was before the S.S. Minnow was named for my dad. The Dobie Gillis show was a great favorite — Warren Beatty had one of his early roles as the show’s equivalent of Archie’s Reggie character.
That’s fantastic, Nell. I remember seeing Warren Beatty in an episode, and also Tuesday Weld. Bob Denver certainly fit the beatnik character to a “t.”
I didn’t realize the S.S. Minnow was named for your dad. That’s cool!
After all these years at Riverdale High, you have to wonder just who it is who really has the “learning disability”. Moose has never had a problem with going back and forth between two girls (or two of anything, for that matter), yet he’s the one labeled. He just plowed straight ahead after whatever it is he wanted at the time. Meanwhile, Archie, Veronica, and Betty have been beating all around the bush. Maybe it’s time Archie finally made a decision (right, wrong, or indifferent).
I love Moose! And the way he handles his dyslexia has made him a real hero to a lot of kids. Thanks for a great comment, Kevin. Much appreciated.
NO! BETTY ALL THE WAY! THIS IS AWFUL! WHY WOULD HE MARRY VERONICA SHE’S SO NOT MARRIAGE MATERIAL WHILE ARCHIE AND BETTY OBVIOUSLY BELONG TOGETHER!