Betty and Veronica: The Leading Ladies of Riverdale by Tim HanleyMy rating: 4 of 5 stars
Betty and Veronica: The Leading Ladies of Riverdale is a chronicle of the evolution of Betty and Veronica from their humble beginnings through the Riverdale TV show.
This has been on my radar for a while. I threw this on my Christmas list since I'm allegedly hard to buy for. Luckily, the in-laws came through and I didn't have to buy it for myself two days after Christmas.
As I said above, this book chronicles the history of Betty and Veronica, from rivals for Archie's affection to bitter enemies to mere props in their own book to best friends and beyond. Tim Hanley did his homework on this, likely pouring over more Archie comics that anyone should read.
I had no idea the relationship between Riverdale's dynamic duo had evolved and regressed so much over the years. I expect at least part of the reason for that is that Archie was staffed by middle aged men most of the time. I didn't understand teenage girls when I WAS a teenager so I can imagine how middle aged dudes might feel.
The evolution of Archie Comics as a company, and how Betty and Veronica figured in, is also chronicled. I didn't know that the Archie digests in the supermarket were originally created to keep the company afloat as the newsstand market dried up and pretty much kept the company alive as the single issue format circled the drain. Some Archie books were selling as low as 2500 copies a month before the Love Showdown and reboot of the entire line.
The various attempts at TV and animation are documented, as are the crossovers with TMNT and the Punisher. It's awesome that the whole Archie horror line came about because of a Francisco Francavilla variant cover. I hope he got paid well for that. The last few chapters are devoted to Riverdale and now I think I should watch it because it sounds crazy.
Betty and Veronica: The Leading Ladies of Riverdale details the best of times and the worst of times for America's Favorite Teenager's favorite girls. Four out of five stars.
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