I am Rich, Beautiful and Ruthless!

I have very fond memories of reading Archie comics when I was a teenager. I think my older sister Star and I discovered them through a Yankeephile friend of hers, who had a stack of 60s and 70s Archie’s Digests. It wasn’t long before I was madly collecting my own copies; I would even scour second-hand bookshops and charity stores for them.

Well, as for the famous Betty and Veronica rivalry over Archie… Firstly, I couldn’t see the attraction. Archie was a big klutz, forever falling over his feet and sticking them in his mouth at every opportunity. The evil genius Reggie of course was no improvement. But Archie did possess a lot of charm, incorrigibly trading on it as he juggled his dreamgirl Veronica and girl-next-door Betty. 

Veronica uses every trick at the tip of her French-manicured fingernails to snaffle Archie away …

Veronica Lodge … inimitably expressing her personalityWhile Betty is the cleverer of the pair, the impeccably stylish Veronica is just plain devious. She always gets her way – and her man. Veronica uses every trick at the tip of her French-manicured fingernails to snaffle Archie away from that scheming blonde hussy. She might not succeed every time, but there’s no doubt Archie is head over heels in love with her – so move on already blondie!

Sadly my old collection is gone with the wind – after my mother errantly gave them to one of my nieces to read about fifteen years ago; I’ve not seen them since. I do have a set of four ‘best of’ comic books; the Fifties one is a favourite just for the illustration style, not to mention the great fashion.

Recently I struck a bonanza in a Salvos store: ten of ’em for 50¢ each. I’ve been slowly reading them. They’re a lot more PC these days, but there’s still a lot of laughs to be had over the antics of Archie and his gang. 

Check out the offical website.

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