Johanna's Archie Reviews: Archie, Betty, Betty & Veronica Digest

Archie #542
Betty #132
Betty & Veronica Digest #143

















Archie #542
Story scripts by Craig Boldman, Kathleen Webb, and Mike Pellowski
Pencils by Stan Goldberg
Inking by Bob Smith
Archie Comics, 32 color pages, $2.19

The comic opens with Jughead advising Archie on getting back into 
Veronica's good graces. You'd think by this point, the gang would 
realize that this is never a good idea. In this case, though, the story 
takes an unexpected turn when Archie applies the lesson to a new girl 
with an unusual ability. 

The wordplay and scene staging are particularly clever, as I expect from 
Mr. Boldman, the usual JUGHEAD writer. The logic doesn't quite work for 
me, since Jughead doesn't even like girls, so I'm not sure why his 
advice would be listened to, but even that is acknowledged and answered 
in the story. The advice is somewhat old-fashioned --"treat her like a 
princess and wait on her" -- but hey, everyone enjoys being taken care 
of, whether male or female. 

After a trifle about room-cleaning, there's an embarrassment in which 
Chuck's rap star cousin visits and raps about Riverdale. The last story, 
though, was oddly touching. Veronica helps Archie practice for football 
season by holding the ball while he comes running up to kick it. I never 
would have expected to see a Peanuts acknowledgment in these books. 

Betty #132
Story scripts by Barbara Slate, Mike Pellowski, and Kathleen Webb
Pencils by Stan Goldberg
Inking by John Lowe
Archie Comics, 32 color pages, $2.19

This issue is full of straightforward sentiment. The first story focuses 
on Betty's parents. As they flash back to Betty's activities in and out 
of school and her interactions with Veronica and Archie, they worry that 
she's doing too much. It all turns out well, though, when they're 
surprised by the party she was secretly planning for them. 

The next story is about Ethel helping Betty coach girls' basketball. 
Ethel's concerned about being an average player, but that's just why 
Betty picked her. It's more helpful for the kids to see someone who's 
dedicated and doesn't give up than it is for them to see someone really 
skilled. 

The third story has Betty's craft class paying unexpected dividends when 
both Adam and Archie get jealous over the new roses she's made. The last 
similarly turns around what could be a tricky situation. Betty is seen 
trying on an old dress, which Veronica tries to embarrass her about, but 
Archie asks her out instead. 

The art is similarly wholesome and straightforward. It gets the job done 
while staying more or less on-model. It was a little off-putting to see 
Ethel given the same face as Betty and Veronica, but she still had her 
taller, lanky frame. At least Adam and Archie had different faces. 

It's good to see the nice girl finishing first so often in these 
stories, especially since the rewards she gets aren't ones she's aiming 
for. They're just bonus side effects. Betty is shown living a diverse, 
rewarding life, one with solid family love, active and creative hobbies, 
and the ability to entertain herself and be happy with it. 

Betty & Veronica Digest #143
New story script by Bill Golliher
Pencils by Bob Bolling
Inks by Al Milgrom
Archie Comics, 96 color pages, $2.39

In the new story about Veronica learning to live on Betty's allowance, 
the girls are styled after an earlier approach than that currently seen 
in the other books. Given the penciller, a longtime Archie artist, 
that's not surprising, nor is it surprising that the panels seemed 
familiar to me, like I'd seen those poses before. I did find it a little 
disconcerting that the art style used for the faces changed during the 
story, but I doubt anyone's paying that much attention to the art. 

The reprints in the rest of the book run the gamut. There's an adventure 
where Betty, dressed as a chicken mascot, has to stop a rival student 
from stealing a football playbook. There's an odd story where Veronica's 
sad because she doesn't feel she does anything creative, yet her garbage 
is put into an art gallery without her knowledge. Another piece has the 
cheerleaders raising money by holding a "Mr. Irresistible" pageant and 
judging the guys' legs as they wear kilts. To top it all off, there's 
even a car crash and a baby elephant. 

I liked best the story about Veronica's flat tire. She goes through all 
kinds of trauma trying to get a simple phone call home. It's a nice 
reminder that sometimes, everything goes wrong, and modern technology is 
no remedy. (Even if the story could have been half as long if Veronica 
had remembered the magic phrase "collect call".)

-- 
Johanna Draper Carlson             
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