Archie weds Veronica.

Dr Roshan Radhakrishnan
27
I thought it was the end of an era last year when Bruce Wayne aka Batman died last year in comic land.

But this is truly heartbreaking. After 65 years of keeping kids laughing as they grew up while these characters stayed teenagers, finally the gang of Riverdale High are growing up and graduating from college. And there's a marriage in store this year.

Only it ain't the one we all dreamed of. I mean, C'mon. We've all grown up rooting for our favourite blonde in the whole wide world, Betty to one day win over Archie with her eternal goodness and make him look beyond the money and ooh-laa-laa of Veronica.

As per the news release from Archie Comics Publications though, that ain't gonna happen. After 6 decades of entertaining us, Archie will finally be settling down. And well... the title says it all, doesn't it ?
"Archie weds Veronica Part 1 of 6 - The Proposal"

Sure, they were THE AMERICAN stereotypes. Sure, it's probably been a decade since any of us has picked up an Archie comic, what with Ross, Rachel, Chandler and Monica taking over. But can you deny you don't feel something when you hear that 'Archie is finally gonna marry Veronica' ? That after watching this depiction of American culture pass hands from generation to generation, we've finally reached this stage where it feels like we're hearing that a childhood classmate's getting married and a flood of pleasant memories wooshes past you ? 

It's funny how people from all over the world. across 150 countries. have voiced their opinions on how attached they feel to these characters... actually, it ain't funny. It's in fact heartening to see that, atleast for a moment in time, people can be united in sharing joy, surprise and supporting each other's opinions irrespective of caste, creed, country, God etc etc. It's heartening to have people remember that point in their childhood when they were hiding an Archie digest in their textbook and smiling everytime Jughead made an ass of Reggie or Mr Lodge pulled one over Archie. Back when life was still all 'fun and games.' Remember those times ?

As for me, maybe I've read too many Jeffrey Deaver novels or seen too many 'underdog wins the day' movies, but I'm still rooting for Betty to not end up with the stigma of being the eternal doormat . C'mon. Juggie !! Knock some sense into him before it's too late.  
What about you guys ? What do you think of Archie marrying Veronica ? 

Final thought : I can't shake the mental image in my head about how, if this were an Indian comic strip, there'd be some mindless social activist registering a court case against the publishers for hurting Indian sentiments !! Maybe a Sati Savitri Betty Sena running amok in their offices and burning effigies of Veronica in the streets and cultural icons... doing poojas and breaking coconuts in temples to change Archie's mind. Sari clad ladies beating their chests on the street and wailing, come September 9, 2009 ( The wedding day. )

Thank God you weren't Indian, carrot-top. 

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27Comments

Let me know what you think.

  1. No!!!! I dont want Archie to marry Veronica.
    Keh do ki ye jhoot hai!!
    Preeti

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  2. yeah.. it really gave me a heart attack wen i came across that article... :(

    and who said we forgot this cool crowd wen Friends came into being... i am one serious fan and reverent subscriber, Doc....

    my fav off-character was Mr. Weatherbee... who was urs??

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  3. Preeti, sniff. Join the club.

    Rat, knowing me, was there any doubt ? Jughead's DA MAAAN !!

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  4. Oh god...no!

    I had always hoped archie wud see betty's love.

    It's depressing.. maybe bcos i relate more to betty..*sigh*

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  5. yup. Jughead is the man. Always dreamed of owning body metabolism working faster than the speed of light (that stomach is deeper than The Abyss)!
    It does make sense for arch to marry veronica though. He can finally get his car fixed or get himself a Ferrari ;)
    Keep in mind that the issue is not out yet, there is good chance that arch goes running back to betty in the final pages of issue 600.
    Or that juggy ends up getting betty!

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  6. Illeen, how many girls do you suppose actually related to Veronica... even the Veronicas of the world probably wanted to be Bettys , me thinks.

    Rejoy, there is quite a sizable fanbase for Archie finally doing what he wants and marrying Veronica over Betty too. Let's see how it pans out..

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  7. Am really rooting for betty too. But maybe Archie is doing it for the money..hmm then probably he will run with the money and betty !! That would be interesting..lets see what the sari clad Indian activists say to that!!

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  8. Sujata, that would be a dream ending.. heehee.

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  9. Come on... u just said they are american stereotypes.. there's gonna be some serious emosional crap in these last 6 versions and i think finally betty and archie are gonna end up together..
    and when did batman die? that's it.. i'm gonna sue :P

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  11. Ironically, Batman died the same day of the Mumbai blasts...

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  12. What can I say.. you lose a crime fighter and the crazies pour in to terrorise !!

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  13. Well seems like Archie got the funda right :-)

    When in doubt always choose the hotter and richer if they coexist in one person...

    Was a fan of Archie comic but somehow as of today I don't really care

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  14. hmmm, lemme ceee...i dun't really mind da arch-veronica pair..i mean, i never really thought arch deserved betty anyways...n i think betty needs a reality checkup....tis funny but i've realised dat u r wat u r decisions make u....

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  15. looks like i dont know wats happening in comic land... Humm but i dont think i can handle Archie marrying Veronica.. maybe we can hope for a twist in the tale

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  16. Prats, So many actually share that opinion... after all, when all is said and done, he was always running behind Ronnie, wasn't he ?

    Reni, hehe.. epiphany from Archies ! True, perhaps Archie doesnt deserve Betty, but how do you console a Betty who's heart beats only for Arch ?

    Enigma, I'm guessing theres a few million people across the world who concur with you right now..

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  17. i kinda knew that midge and moose will get married, where moose will become a xerox sales guy and have to travel a lot...and midge will be relatively happy untill Reggie has an affair with her , which moose finds out and breaks his heart , turning him into an alcoholic...

    Reggie will be involved in a car crash, where he will wake up from a coma after 5 years and become a priest and travel to Burma where he will die of malaria...

    Betty will meet and marry an amazing guy in her university, who will later on become the president of USA .

    Jughead will become a billionare having a fast food franchise which caters to canine..

    Archie will marry veronica and take over her fathers business and run it to ground...later years will be spend running scams untill archie is caught and sentenced to prison for 14 years...Veronica visits him every weekend, untill Archie breaks it off having met someone in the prison..

    -- the end.

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  18. No No No....

    Archie and Betty should be together... thats the way it is:(

    Now its all upto Jughead.. or maybe Reggie??

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  19. Tys, Man... this sounds like Archies as directed by Quentin Tarantino !!!

    Aathira... Reggie may be the dark horse in this race.. lets see.

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  20. Hey Betty is too good for Archie.. May be that's why.. :(

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  21. well ronnie was always the hotter one! cant blame archie! betty, i am sure will be happier with juggie!

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  22. Dhanya, I guess that's also true.

    Vinni, true.. Ronnie did always have the edge, didn't she ? I guess it was wishful thinking that Betty would win the 'race'

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  23. Glad to see you Vinni, after so long.. hope you're doing good.

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  24. Frankly, I wasn't too depressed...Betty was too much of a doormat for my taste.
    @ Tys: AAAAArrrrggghhhhhhh! What a story!

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  25. hehe.. truue, Meira.. Tys does weave a 'happy picture' of how it all goes down in da end !!

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  26. hey guys i am approaching a 30 and still read archies.no amount of ross,chandler and monicas can take over the fun of reading archie comics.i was heartbroken when i heard archie is getting married to veronica.as it is it was hard to beleive that archie is settling down but that too wid veronica.will someone plz knock some sense into the head of the editor.and juggie save ur pal from an eternal life of slavery.i was so upset to hear that my husband was shocked to see my attachment with the archie comics characters.i m sure reg will butt in.i ve personally always loved juggie.

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  27. haha.. most of us grew past the Archies.. yet, this news seems to bring back so many happy memories in ppl, memories of better times... and suddenly the attachment is back :) glad to see u never gave up on the archie comics like me.

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