Spoiler City Alert:

Another bizarre, twisting issue of insanity. Very interesting stuff, too, especially as the various plans go into effect.

Some various things:
-Nice to see Earth-Ron Jughead make good (but then Earth-Betty Jughead apparently does the same thing). Some decent characterization there, as Jug kind of points out that franchising was never HIS dream in the first place, and it was just kinda thrust upon him. I still wish someone would've pointed out that he became the very thing he was fighting against at first.

-Fred Mirth's a fairly interesting character. He went from some aimless flat character with no real purpose (dumped by Ethel after revealing how dirty he was), into an integral part of some of the stories. I'm guessing he's the token "Most Evil Guy Around" to prevent any established characters from becoming totally evil (something Mr. Lodge seems to be moving away from, thank goodness- though he's still pretty nasty at points).

-The whole "Dowry" thing is a crazy twist. I know Lodge is lying, but MAN, what a cold, intriguing lie.

-Good to see the Earth-Betty teens again, especially Soapy. Reggie II, aka Leroy is pretty fun as an antagonist as well. He even has Reggie's trademark "don't take things too far" aspect.

-How on Earth did Mikio punch Earth-Betty Moose into unconsciousness with a single punch?!? What kind of super-human IS that guy?

-I liked the "Archies as Mad Men" picture. Veronica as Betty Draper (who's a blonde, AND named Betty) is an interesting twist, but actually kind of suiting). Cheryl isn't quite busty enough to play Joan. Yeah, you heard me, CHERYL BLOSSOM isn't quite BUSTY ENOUGH to play someone!

The ending of the Betty story made me very sad. 

For years and years, you never expected something like THAT to happen at Riverdale High.  It's going to be interesting to see what repercussions come from this.

I'm surprisingly finding that I like Leroy in this incarnation.  Soapy was always a great character from the creation, but Leroy's really surprised me.

I'm almost wondering if we'll see a Souphead cameo one of these days.

This was the issue where I start as regular penciller of the Veronica half of the book. I hope everyone enjoys it!

Oh, I enjoyed it very much.  The Veronica side was very slow going for me, but it's quickly picking up steam. 

This was the issue where I start as regular penciller of the Veronica half of the book. I hope everyone enjoys it!

Oh yeah, it's very good stuff- the art switch was seamless as well! Usually it's like a jolt to the brain to see new art in an ongoing, but this handles the "Mature-verse" Archie characters very well. Mayor Moose looks very dignified, and Mr. Lodge has some horrific "Evil Grins" in his repetoire!

Quote from: FernandoRuiz on August 17, 2011, 08:37:47 PM

This was the issue where I start as regular penciller of the Veronica half of the book. I hope everyone enjoys it!

I did enjoy it -- but does this mean Norm Breyfogle is no longer on the book?

Update: That wasn't a fair question to ask, come to think of it. Never mind.

It's a fair question. Yes. Norm will not be pencilling Life With Archie any more. I'll be pencilling the Veronica half of the book and the Kennedy Brothers will be pencilling the Betty half. I hope everyone hangs in there with us. This is one wild book!

I got this yesterday morning at Wal-Mart. I stayed up a bit past 1:00 AM to read it. Here are my thoughts:

Veronica:

Dilton seems to hint at another him. Um, this is a good point. If there are two of everyone else in the two realities, then where's the other Dilton, and which one (or two) are we following anyway?

I don't know if it's intentional or not, but it's amusing how Reggie's trial is front-page news in his father's newspaper. Then again, this is likely the biggest news that Riverdale has seen since the mayoral scandal.

A flashback to the wedding storyline (Mr. Lodge hiring Archie). Anyone wanna check to see if it lines up?

We don't actually see the end of Reggie's trial. It seems the case was dismissed juuust off-panel in the judge's chamber. Can that actually happen?

Reginald Mantle III? Has that ever been established before?

Betty:

Is it Lodge Industries or Lodge Corporation?

Again, Betty calls Mr. Weatherbee "Waldo". Again, it's after she calls him "Mr. Weatherbee" just a few panels earlier. This really is weird and inconsistent.

Soapy is awesome!

The ending. Wow. Double whammy. I'm definitely eager to see how this plays out. Can we say cliffhanger?

Quote from: Tuxedo Mark on August 20, 2011, 11:02:37 PM

Again, Betty calls Mr. Weatherbee "Waldo". Again, it's after she calls him "Mr. Weatherbee" just a few panels earlier. This really is weird and inconsistent.

Teachers usually call each other by their first names, unless they're more formal, or talking about teachers to students (they would say "Ms. Grundy" when talking about her to students, not "Geraldine"). Betty and other teachers would likely call the Bee "Waldo" informally. However, Betty has spent about twelve years of her life (Little Archie to teen Archie) referring to the man exclusively as "Mr. Weatherbee". I would imagine that would be a tough habit to break.

Though I certainly recall teachers using official names to each other quite often. "Faculty Funnies" used first names quite a bit (Coach Clayton was usually "Floyd"), but I'm sure different writers have their own ideas.

Yeah, I've seen teachers referred to by two different first names.  The most common one is actually Ms. Grundy, if you can believe it.  She's normally known as Geraldine Grundy, but I've heard her referred to by Gertrude a couple of times in 60s era stories.

And in one Little Archie story, Jughead actually calls her Grisensnable!  What a mouthful!