By Mike LaBella
CNHI News Service
HAVERHILL, Mass. — For fans of the "Archie" comics serial, it has always been the great debate.
Betty Cooper or Veronica Lodge?
The blonde or the brunette?
The wholesome girl next door or the curvey socialite?
Who would Archie Andrews prefer to spend the rest of his life with?
Well, the answer is finally known after 70 years -- and the surprise choice is Veronica.
Archie Comic Publications of Mamaroneck, N. Y., has settled the qustion with a new, six-part series, "Archie Marries Veronica." The first part, "The Proposal," is now on newsstands.
Archie, Betty, Veronica, Jughead and the other characters of the fictional Riverdale High were created and drawn by the late artist Bob Montana. He based them roughly on his classmates at Haverhill, Mass., High School in the late 1930s.
The comic characters were popular during much of the 20th century in newspaper comic strips, in comic books and on radio.
But Archie's sweetheart preference was never disclosed. Until now.
On the cover of the latest comic book, Archie is on one knee proposing to Veronica, who responds, "Yes!" Looking on is a teary-eyed Betty and a surprised Jughead.
The decision to end the high school years and start Archie and Veronica on a life of marriage has caused a stir among classmates of the real-life "Archie" gang almost 70 years ago.
It is something Rita Walker, a member of the Haverhill High class of 1940, never thought would happen. She expected Archie to stay forever in high school and not get married.
"Keep the comic strip young and the comic book young," Walker said. "Archie should stay Archie. Why would we want him to get married?"
But if he has to get married, Walker agreed Veronica is the right choice.
"I think (Montana) fashioned her around his favorite actress of the time, which was Veronica Lake," she said.
Longtime local newspaper columnist Barney Gallagher, a member of the Haverhill High class of 1939, was an editor for the school newspaper, the Brown and Gold, for which Montana drew cartoons.
"If he's proposing to Veronica, I think he's got the right one," Gallagher said. "I think she had more color, more character and was more lively and fascinating than Betty."
Gallagher knew the "real" Veronica as Agatha Popoff, a member of his class and the daughter of a local doctor.
"She was a really good-looking brunette. You couldn't miss her," he said. "I think Betty was a composite of girls. Even Montana's wife always said that. But somehow, Betty captured the imagination of people as the girl next door. Veronica was far from being the girl next door."
Fred Malcolm Sr., another member of the Class of 1939, questioned Archie's final choice of mates.
"It probably should have been Betty," he said. "Someone I'd be pleased to be married to."
Charlie Hayden, also of the Class of 1939, remembers Montana walking around the school sketching images of students, especially female classmates. The first time he saw an Archie comic book was during World War II, when he was serving with the U.S. Army in Italy.
"If they want Archie to get married, that's fine," he said. "I have more things in life to worry about."
Still, Archie's impending marriage to Veronica, after seven decades of indecision, is sure to be a hot topic of discussion when the Haverhill High classes of 1939 and 1940 hold their reunions this fall.
Mike LaBella is a reporter for The Eagle-Tribune of North Andover, Mass. Contact him at mlabella@eagletribune.com.
CNHI News Service Originals
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September 14, 2009
Archie's 70 years of sweetheart choice indecision ends
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