image courtesy of http://www.heartymagazine.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/05/archie-marries-ronnie-01.jpg

talk about delayed reaction... i only found out about this thanks to inquirer.net :P

amid growing concerns about the con-ass, AH1N1 virus, obama's ambitious peace proposal, global recession, nuclear testing in north korea,  even personal concerns about the FSE, comes this unexpected bit of news, upsetting young and old fans of the lovable comic strip.

i grew up buying (very few) and mostly borrowing archie comics, and at a point in my life, engrossed in the idyllic lives of riverdale's zany teenagers, along with my stellar collection of the sweet valley series. a little over 20 years later, i actually still care and feel a little nostalgic that there's a rupture in the otherwise predictable lives of archie in the gang, still hanging out at pop tate's, in their sweaters and 70's flares. more shocking to me is learning that the archie-veronica-betty love triangle is 68 years old!  

as far as i know, the standard formula hasn't changed. archie and veronica have an on-off relationship, archie is veronica's favorite boytoy and doormat, often temporarily replaced in favor of richer, more cultured guys. betty, on the other hand, is archie's plan B - whether as a substitute for ronnie or tutor when he's having problems at school, heck, even to do chores with! betty and veronica, although the best of friends, constantly hatch schemes that usually involve archie.

i always assumed that betty and veronica always ran up a 50-all score, just to keep things spicy. 

do i agree with the twist in the (nearly) age-old plot?

i don't remember ever rooting for either of them, i always perceived veronica to have an advantage over betty, being the girl archie has always been hopelessly in love with, and betty just being the attractive, likable and reliable alternative. in my opinion, it's not surprising that archie would eventually choose veronica (at least, at this point in time), given that archie's always been in love with her, no matter how snooty or scheming she can get. besides, betty has long played second fiddle to her. 

more importantly, i have other speculations as to why this twist came out:

1. boost flagging sales http://comicsworthreading.com/2008/01/21/historical-archie-sales

2. perhaps generate enough interest for a possible blockbuster movie?

the magic of archie comics is no matter what age or disposition or standing in life, the gang stays the same. jughead is always hungry, moose is always, well, moose. reggie is conceited. etc etc etc. i can't imagine what influence the comic has on popular culture, especially teen lit and shows. perhaps the twist is also to remind us about the comics' relevance in the age of the OC and gossip girl. :D

p.s.

off the top of my head:

speaking of gossip girl, here i think the roles are reversed. on gossip girl, to me, betty is serena, the more lovable and kinder blond hottie versus scheming, often-in-serena's-shadow blair. strictly speaking, nate archibald is the equivalent of archie andrews, and while initially secretly in love with serena, blair is his official erstwhile girlfriend. chuck here is reggie mantle.

on dawsons creek, just a disclaimer, i don't think there is exactly a one-to-one correspondence, but one can draw similarities. veronica, to me, is jen, dawson's (blonde) first love and the more unattainable girl, while joey, the reliable best friend later emerges as dawson's true love... til she ends up later on with pacey (yey!).

archie is everywhere! hehe :D