Word Balloons: Archie explores road not taken

BY MATTHEW PRICE Comments 0
Published: October 9, 2009

Last month, when Archie married Veronica in "Archie” comics No. 601, Oklahomans reacted, many with fervor, to the announcement.

Jeff Cook of Seminole e-mailed: "I’m 59 years old and read Archie’s comics for years and years. There is no way Archie should marry the self-absorbed Veronica. Reggie and Veronica are made for each other, and Archie and Betty are soul mates. Betty is far from the dumb blond, she is wife material; Veronica is more Paris Hilton.”

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Cook and the other Oklahomans who wrote in favor of Betty will get their wish. In "Archie” No. 603, set for release in November, Archie proposes to Betty, The New York Times reported this week.

Wait, does this make Archie a two-timing lout? Surely bigamy is illegal in Riverdale.

It’s all part of the plan. According to the Times, writer Michael Uslan was inspired by the film "Sliding Doors,” the song "Both Sides Now” and Robert Frost’s poem "The Road Not Taken” to explore two possible futures for the Riverdale teens.

In issue No. 600, Archie took a stroll on Memory Lane to the future. This is a story setup usually used to go back into the past, to relive stories of Little Archie. This time, Archie walked the other direction and came to a fork in the road. He walked ahead into the future in which he married Veronica, had twins and worked for her father.

In issue No. 602, set for release Oct 21, Archie will go for a stroll and again encounter that fork in the road, allowing him to explore another possible future.

"The classic Archie-Betty-Veronica love triangle is representative of the question of what will bring us joy in life: fiscal security or someone who is actually nice to us,” said Rob Vollmar, a comic-book writer and retailer.

"It does have sort of an existential core to it, where a man is able to explore his possible future. Personally, I’ve been pulling for Betty the whole time.”