Archie

Archie is the eponymous star of the Archie comic book series which was created by Vic Bloom and Bob Montana in 1941, and enjoys continued popularity in the present day. The perpetually seventeen-year old red-headed average American teenager, Archie goes about the mundane drama of his everyday life with cheerful abandon. He is the only child in a middle class family in the little town of Riverdale; he goes to high school, plays sports, hangs out with his friends, drives a jalopy, goes to the soda shop and falls for almost every girl he meets – especially Veronica and Betty. Did we say “average American teenager”? Wellll, maybe seventy years ago! Archie is a refreshing reminder of a time before smart phones and smart mouths.

Reggie Mantle is a major character in the Archie comics series, which debuted in 1942. He is the rich boy in town, son of the owner of newspaper, The Riverdale Gazette. Reggie is the all-around popular boy in high school, much to his own satisfaction, and he excels as an athlete, although not always abiding strictly by the rulebook. Reggie is tall, dark and handsome, and he often refers to himself, albeit immodestly, as “Mantle, the Magnificent”. As a bassist in the boys’ band, The Archies, Reggie considers himself quite the star, but is not above hiring groupies to swoon and shout out his name during performances. His love interest is Veronica, for whose affections he competes with Archie. Although they often date, it is clear to us (if not always to Reggie) that Archie is her favorite. Reginald has a heart of gold hidden beneath that egotistic exterior, but we don’t really care. He’s a bad boy, and we like bad boys!

Veronica Lodge is a major character in the Archie comics series, which debuted in 1942. Brunette and beautiful, she competes with the blonde Betty Cooper (her best friend) for the teen-aged affections of Archie Andrews in small town Riverdale. While Betty is sweet and natural, our Veronica is rich, self-centered, snobbish, vain, spoiled, and she will stoop to any trickery to get her “man”. And we love her. The only child of a rich man (“Daddykins”), Veronica is a young lady born with a silver spoon in her mouth. She is a shopaholic, a cheerleader, a horse rider, a figure skater, a scuba diver and a would-be homecoming queen. While Archie is her main squeeze, she also dates Reggie Mantle, which is only natural, as he is the richest boy in town. As for Jughead Jones, she and he do not see eye-to-eye, most likely because he is apt to call her out on her high-stepping airs. All in all, Veronica is an almost too-good-to-be-true-bad girl. If this is the worst Riverdale could produce, all towns in America should be so lucky. At the end of the day, Veronica usually is made to see the error of her ways, and she always tries to make amends – usually by throwing cash around. Hey – whatever works.