Betty all the way. She's probably a freak in the bed.

http://www.newsarama.com/comics/050927-Archie600.html
Archie Proposes to Veronica in Archie #600



Press Release

The eternal love triangle is the cornerstone of Archie Comics for over 65 years—and the bane of Archie Andrews' existence! In fact, over the years it has not only defined the Betty/Archie/Veronica relationship, but has even threatened to dismantle it a time or 20.

Never was this more evident than in the landmark “Love Showdown” storyline from 1994 and ’95. When Archie Comics announced that Archie Andrews may finally choose between Betty & Veronica once and for all, the response from the media, fans and retailers alike was unprecedented—and with good reason! The landmark "Love Showdown" storyline threatened the certainty of the love triangle and all it stood for, nearly bringing an end to the friendships of all three characters as Archie chose old flame Cheryl Blossom at story’s end!

Readers had nothing to fear, as ultimately Cheryl wore out her welcome in Riverdale. While she’s been an occasional presence (and to Betty and Veronica, an occasional nuisance) in the last 15 years, life has returned to normal for Archie and his friends. And that includes his seemingly never-ending inability to choose between Betty and Veronica, no matter how many times he takes them out.

Without question, the “Love Showdown” was the most talked-about, most publicized and most popular Archie Comics story ever... until now! The past 15 years’ worth of love triangle status quo really could be facing extinction in a story that will rock the world of everyone in Riverdale and be sure to keep people talking for months on end!

In fact, we’ll even go so far as to call it the Archie Story of the Century. With a title like “Archie Marries Veronica Part 1: The Proposal,” how could we call it anything else?!

Could it be true? Has Archie finally decided to take the plunge and propose to comics’ favorite rich girl? It sure looks that way! Earlier this year readers got a chance to relive “Freshman Year” with the famous teens of Riverdale High. Now make way for this special story that takes a look at Archie and his friends after they graduate college! What careers will they seek? Will the friends stay in Riverdale or disperse? What would lead Archie to have marriage on his mind? And why would he choose Veronica over Betty? How will Betty react? Can Archie shake off his klutzy past and hold down a steady job... for more than a month? Two things are certain: with the Lodges as hosts, this will be the biggest wedding Riverdale has ever seen... and the biggest Archie Comics story since the famous “Love Showdown!”

Acclaimed superhero movie producer Michael Uslan draws upon his lifelong love of Archie comic books to write this very special tale, rendered by legendary Archie Comics artist Stan Goldberg! The Archie story of the century begins here... don’t miss it!

ARCHIE #600

Shipping Date: August 12th, 2009
On Sale at Comic Specialty Shops: August 19th, 2009
On Sale on Newsstands: September 1st, 2009
32-page, full color comic
$2.50 US

What a dick.

If I was Archie, I would keep banging both without any commitment. By the way, don't we have a Comic Book Forum?

Well, that's Part 1 of 6. He's just proposing to Veronica so that's likely to change during the course of the remaining issues.

I've always wondered about that crosshatch in Archie's hair...

With all the comments in here, the expression on Jughead's face is pretty funny...

Special appearance by George Hamilton as "Ring Salesman".

I can't believe they can stretch this out for six issues.

I can't believe a fucking Archie comic costs $2.50.

I remember when Archie Digests cost 25 cents, and Archie Digests cost 60 cents.

She's rich, biaatch!

By the way, proposing at a jewelry store? LEAST SURPRISING PROPOSAL LOCATION EVER.

You think that's bad - Archie comics are the cheapest comics on the racks! Mainstream comics run between $2.99 to $3.99 these days.


Oh, and picking Veronica? Bad choice, Archie.

No, I think he's black. Perhaps the only black man in all of Riverdale.

I could be wrong, but I think you'd have to call Archie comics "mainstream". I imagine their sales figures have always been fairly high, and perhaps higher than most DC and Marvel titles.

Absolutely! Not the traditional size comics so much, though (although their Sonic the Hedgehog comics do alright), but the digests do extremely well:

http://comicsworthreading.com/2009/0...ures-for-2008/


It helps that they're everywhere. Archie barely moves anything in dedicated comic stores, but you can pick up a digest pretty much anywhere, they're reasonably cheap, and there's not any continuity to deter young readers diving in for the first time or casual readers that might go years between grabbing a copy.

As a point of comparison, the top-selling Big Two comic last month was Detective Comics #853. It sold around 104K copies, and that's on par with what Archie is moving for their top digests.

Wow. That is impressive.

Isn't it mostly because of the sweet deal they have to get their digest on grocery store racks? Marvel and DC would kill for that kind of deal.

They should have. I've always felt that Marvel and DC should have taken huge losses, if necessary, to keep a kid oriented and inexpensive Superman and Spider-man comic or digest in grocery stores.

They've lost their fan base by making their product inaccessible to children for so many years.

There are a few problems there.

1) There really aren't that many Archie-family digests. If they were to share grocery store checkout rack space with Marvel and DC, you'd be down to one or maybe two books per publisher, and even that might be unrealistically high. This would still be a far cry from when I first started buying comics where you could go into any convenience store and even a lot of grocery stores and have a spinner rack to choose from. I think a really limited selection from The Big Two wouldn't amount to much.

2) Marvel and DC charge ridiculous prices for their digests. Admittedly, their digests are bigger (but still more $$$ per page), and you could make the argument that Archie has economy of scale on their side -- they can charge less because they're producing and selling so many more. I've read that the biggest reason non-specialized retailers don't have any interest in stocking comics is that they make next to nothing on them. (This is why some comics you do find outside of dedicated shops cost another $0.50 or whatever more.) I think one hiccup is that Marvel/DC look at themselves as releasing a premium product while the Archie stuff is more 'disposable'.

3) Archie digests are completely self-contained. You could pick up one without ever having read a comic (Archie or otherwise!) before, never read another digest again, and still be getting the "complete" experience. Marvel and DC comics really aren't that accessible. Too many big events, too much continuity, too many crossovers... For something like this to be a success, they'd really need to push their kids' lines. I don't think it'd be a magic bullet for the industry as a whole -- just a profitable niche (even though the business as a whole can be shrugged off as a niche anyway).

4) Kind of tying in to the point above, Archie doesn't have long, long bits of Bendis-esque dialogue or hyperintricate artwork, so it shrinks down pretty comfortably. I'm kind of skeptical how well a lot of more traditional comics would translate unless they were written/drawn with digests as a consideration.

5) I think Archie pays a hefty chunk of change for that prime placement. They have a foothold now, so it's okay -- it's a proven success for them, so they can roll with it. It could be a really costly experiment for Marvel or DC, assuming they were even able to muscle Archie out. I mean, Archie's "safe", there's an element of nostalgia there... The same could go for a kid-centric Marvel/DC digest too, but just because mothers/girls/whomever are buying Archie comics at a supermarket checkout doesn't mean that it'll translate to the audience for Marvel/DC as well. It could, but...y'know, could not.

Marvel and DC used to have grocery rack placement... I remember buying digests of their stuff (and great stuff too... Brave and the Bold collections, JSA reprints, etc.) from the same place Archie has their stuff. The rumor is that because Archie was instrumental in popularizing those racks from the very beginning, that they get a heavy discount for them. That's the kind of deal I was referring to, if it actually exists.

Oh, I know. I still have some of those G.I. Joe and Spider-Man digests myself, and I remember the DC digests even though I don't have any memory of actually buying one. (I had a subscription to one of the Superman books when I was really young, but I was a Marvel loyalist for all of elementary school through junior high.)

I dunno. I think Marvel and DC are too blindly focused on digital, and the cost of doing business for them on the newsstand might be too much of a disincentive.

Bob Wayne -- who'd pushed kid-friendly digests in recent years -- from this year's NYCC:

Oh! And I'm seeing something supporting what you're saying about Archie:

Once Image and Valiant comics came out and had glossy paper and high end artwork, Marvel and DC decided they needed to follow suit. That raised the price. Archie has been 4-color forever, and it definitely helps keep their prices down, I would guess.

It is amazing how I don't read comics much anymore. In a small town, they don't exist. There is no place to buy one. I pretty much have to get them on the internet, and as a result, no impulse buys.

How does this sound?

Archie marries Veronica and Jughead marries Betty and they lived happily ever after!

Cold. Even we don't care about Big Ethel.

...and then they rename the show "The Suite Life of Zack and Cody and Adam". All of my dreams fulfilled!

The good girl always loses, the good guy always loses. It's a bitch life.

Ginger/Mary Anne
Veronica/Betty
Lois Lane/Lana Lang (give me Lana any day over Lois!)

Even in Harry Potter, Ginny is the "I'll take you to bed any day Harry" whereas Hermione is the "I study in the library"....