mercurial
08-20-2009, 10:54 PM
I hate America!
Betty or Veronica? Archie chooses (http://www.theage.com.au/world/betty-or-veronica-archie-chooses-20090820-es14.html)
August 21, 2009
After 70 years, Archie pops the question, leaving readers in a froth. Hadley Freeman reports.
ONE of America's longest running romantic intrigues has been resolved with - as is the way with all great fictional love triangles - one engagement, one broken heart and some displeased readers: the comic book character Archie Andrews has proposed.
The question of who Archie would eventually choose - the beautiful, rich but mean Veronica Lodge or the sweet blonde Betty Cooper - has puzzled American teenagers for almost 70 years. Along with Peanuts and Doonesbury, the Archie Comics are one of the country's unofficial national comic series, depicting a distinctly American way of life.
It focuses on a group of teenagers in a suburban high school that non-Americans would recognise mainly from TV shows such as Happy Days. In terms of exciting plot developments, there are frequent tales involving Archie's car being taken away by his parents or his getting detention from the crotchety teacher, Mrs Grundy, and the grumpy headmaster, Mr Weatherbee.
But the storyline that has really kept the series going is the triangle between Archie, Betty and Veronica. It came to a climax with the publication of part one of a six-part series in which Archie proposed to … Veronica.
This long-rumoured development has caused consternation among fans for weeks, though it remains unclear whether this final resolution will spell the end of the comic book. Dave Luebke, a comic book store owner, said he was selling a copy of the first Archie Comics book, worth US$30,000 (A$36,350), to protest against Archie's mistake. ''Betty is it. Not Veronica. This is serious,'' he said.
On the Archie Comics website, other fans echoed Mr Luebke's sentiment: ''Marry Betty! Boo Veronica!'' posted Siri.
It is a surprising development. The story had seemed to suggest that, eventually, the good girl would win out.
So for Archie to choose the mean, wealthy girlfriend could be seen as a harsh lesson about expectations to American comic book readers, and a strange dose of realism in a fantasy world.
Betty or Veronica? Archie chooses (http://www.theage.com.au/world/betty-or-veronica-archie-chooses-20090820-es14.html)
August 21, 2009
After 70 years, Archie pops the question, leaving readers in a froth. Hadley Freeman reports.
ONE of America's longest running romantic intrigues has been resolved with - as is the way with all great fictional love triangles - one engagement, one broken heart and some displeased readers: the comic book character Archie Andrews has proposed.
The question of who Archie would eventually choose - the beautiful, rich but mean Veronica Lodge or the sweet blonde Betty Cooper - has puzzled American teenagers for almost 70 years. Along with Peanuts and Doonesbury, the Archie Comics are one of the country's unofficial national comic series, depicting a distinctly American way of life.
It focuses on a group of teenagers in a suburban high school that non-Americans would recognise mainly from TV shows such as Happy Days. In terms of exciting plot developments, there are frequent tales involving Archie's car being taken away by his parents or his getting detention from the crotchety teacher, Mrs Grundy, and the grumpy headmaster, Mr Weatherbee.
But the storyline that has really kept the series going is the triangle between Archie, Betty and Veronica. It came to a climax with the publication of part one of a six-part series in which Archie proposed to … Veronica.
This long-rumoured development has caused consternation among fans for weeks, though it remains unclear whether this final resolution will spell the end of the comic book. Dave Luebke, a comic book store owner, said he was selling a copy of the first Archie Comics book, worth US$30,000 (A$36,350), to protest against Archie's mistake. ''Betty is it. Not Veronica. This is serious,'' he said.
On the Archie Comics website, other fans echoed Mr Luebke's sentiment: ''Marry Betty! Boo Veronica!'' posted Siri.
It is a surprising development. The story had seemed to suggest that, eventually, the good girl would win out.
So for Archie to choose the mean, wealthy girlfriend could be seen as a harsh lesson about expectations to American comic book readers, and a strange dose of realism in a fantasy world.