What I think about… Betty and Veronica #1

The very first comic book I read cover to cover was an Archie’s Double Digest. I was sitting in my garage, sifting through one of the boxes of old books that my Grandpa routinely buys from estate sales or picks up off the street then sends across the country to me (hoarding is a genetic trait, I guess), when I found the worn down 1956 groccery store comic.

I instantly fell in love with the town of Riverdale. A place where everyone’s largest problem was which girl to take out on a Friday night! Miss Grundy seemed like the best teacher, and no one at Riverdale High would have made fun of me for being “out of place” or “socially awkward” or any other of the litany of comments I recieved on my K-12 report cards.

Most of all, I loved Betty and Veronica. Two girls who grew up in different worlds, who liked the same guy (I’m still trying to decide if this love triangle is a super progressive ideal of an open relationship or if it’s a regressive example of resource scarcity and gender roles), and who had nothing in common with one another other than their friendship. What’s better than friendship? Literally nothing.

So keeping all of this in mind, I was clearly excited for the release of the new Betty and Veronica #1. And I was not disappointed!

The first issue starts out with narration from Hot Dog, Jughead’s beloved pet and sidekick, who turns out to have a way more extensive vocabulary than anyone in Riverdale (except for Miss Grundy, of course). Having a narrator that readers can identify is already a different choice for Riverdale related comics, but I think it works really well here. Using Hot Dog provides a unique vantage point of a narrator who is both invested and detatched from the events at hand. Plus, it’s fun to think of Hot Dog as a secret anthropomorphic genius.

Basically, the plot is that Pop Tate’s, Riverdale’s beloved soda shop, is being bought out. By who? I won’t tell- that would spoil it. However, the gang gets together to try and raise funds to keep their favorite hangout spot open.

Here’s why I would pick Betty over Veronica every time: when the gang learns that Pop Tate’s is being foreclosed on by some secret corportation and being replaced with a chain coffee shop, Betty flames the fire of revolution:

“We cannot let this happen! We will not be frightened by some big, dumb corporation and their gazpacho tactics! If we allow this to happen, what’s next? Where will it end? Trendy eateries, fast-food franchises…Riverdale will become just another highway stop for truckers, holiday drivers and…and tourists! If we give in now, Riverdale will just become like any other town. It won’t be special anymore, not even to us.”

This chick is a fighter. And she also brings up a good point re: gentrification and the myth of the small town in America. What does make all these big box groupings special? Not much; a real sense of place is derived from components and ammenities that are unique to that location. Riverdale wouldn’t have that Riverdale charm without Pop Tate’s.

So the gang gathers themselves together (sans Veronica — where is she?) and goes off to participate in some good old fashioned community action! Instead of showing this effort, Hot Dog tells the readers about what they could have seen in a text-filled two pages where he claims to have “eaten them (the original pages). it’s the classic ‘dog eats homework’ scenario,” Hot Dog laments.

The readers have lucked out though because Betty and Veronica (a parallel universe aware of their own functions as characters B&V, perhaps?) have “graciously agreed to that glorious practice, concerated by time and hallowed by usage, of exposition. And they’ve agreed to do so while wearing swimsuits, in case that was the kind of comic you were expecting,” explained Hot Dog.

But like, that wasn’t the type of comic I was expecting.

Time for everyone’s favorite segment…What I, the feminist killjoy, thought about…(get it, it’s like above, but with more clear gender theory!).

What’s the point of exposing Betty and Veronica during the exposition? It’s a cool idea to break the fourth wall and have the title characters speak directly to the readers but having them do so in bathing suits adds nothing to the plot or art. They could have had the same dialogue exchange, including the part which they even make fun of the exposition by saying they don’t like comics that are filled with “more balloons than the house from UP!”, while wearing anything at all. I can give the benifit of the doubt to the creators of this comic and say that maybe they were trying to be tongue in cheek about the pin-ups because some of the older issues had them, but the older issue pin-ups were always two-dimensional and lacked any sex appeal. Here, B&V look like real people you could imagine masturbating to. The whole swimsuit punchline seems out of place.

Putting the costume choice aside, I really did like the first issue of Betty & Veronica. Adam Hughes did a great job with the art by making all the characters look modern while still keeping their charm (especially noted with Jughead’s crown), and I really liked the style in which the comic was paneled. The comic also was text heavy, which I enjoy. I’m a big fan of dialogue and conversation, and the reader really gets to enjoy the witty banter of the Riverdale gang in the issue.

Overall, I’d reccomend Betty and Veronica #1 to friends and family, and I look forward to seeing where it goes. Also, in case you were wondering, I’m always #teambetty.

Rating: 4.8 out of 5

Recommendation: Buy it, bag and board it

Betty and Veronica #1, Story and Art by Adam Hughes, Coloring by José Villarrubia, Lettering by Jack Morelli, Editor Mike Pellerito, Associate Editor Stephen Oswald and Jamie Lee Rotante, Publisher Jon Goldwater