Quote from: beatman10 on December 14, 2022, 09:22:59 PM

Quote from: DeCarlo Rules on December 09, 2022, 09:17:34 AMI only started reading LIFE WITH ARCHIE with the last two comic book sized issues (#36 and 37) in 2014. Not that I hadn't been casually reading some ARCHIE and BETTY & VERONICA issues before that, along with SABRINA (the pre-manga version).

But "The Death of Archie" touched off a frenzy in me to start hoarding everything Archie. I looked back over the past five or six years of ACP's publishing history and suddenly realized the company had been steadily cancelling one long-running title after another, and thought to myself... "OMG! It's really happening! The Death of Archie isn't just some 'what if' story, it's a metaphor for what's actually happening to this long-running line of classic comic books." That's when I realized that the Archie characters had become an endangered species.

Thus began a mad scramble for me to find every recent back issue comic book from "Archie Marries..." (ARCHIE #600, Oct. 2009) onwards, and all the ACP trade paperback collections then in print.

A little less than a year later they published ARCHIE #666, the last issue of the classic ongoing series that had been running since 1943... then five months later, the last issue of the long-running BETTY & VERONICA, #278.

After that I was forced to rely on the digests (and trade paperback collections) for my Archie stories, plus the occasional one-shot floppy comic book. Occasionally I'd find old stacks of back issues but (apart from JOSIE and SABRINA) I was really only interested in the more recent ones (since the late 1980s re-numbering). I wasn't having any of that "New ARCHIE" nonsense.

So when I did finally get around to reading the full story from LIFE WITH ARCHIE, it was in the form of the six-volume ARCHIE: THE MARRIED LIFE trade paperbacks. Even in that form it was confusing to try to remember everything that was going on, as the chapters alternated back and forth between "Archie Marries Betty" and "Archie Marries Veronica". A few years ago I read it all again, but the second time around I went through all six books, first reading just the "Archie Marries Betty" chapters, and then all the "Archie Marries Veronica" chapters. It was somewhat easier to keep things straight in my mind the second time.

I believe most readers of these stories felt the same way, that it was less confusing reading each storyline"one at a time" rather than alternately. But there were some very similar storylines in both universes that had very small changes that caused those stories to have different outcomes. And these were more obvious in the early issues. Mr. Lodge was trying to buy the Chock'lit Shop in both, but for slightly different reasons, In AMV, he was intent on making Riverdale a metropolis, using Archie and Veronica to force Pop to sell. But in AMB, it was more about Mr. Lodge trying to ruin Archie and his friends for rejecting his bribe to leave Betty and marry Veronica.
      Another storyline that was very similar was Midge finding the stimulus loan application to help Jughead buy the Chock'lit Shop in both universes. But only in AMB is there a line in the application about the SBA favoring married applicants, which prompted Midge to propose to Jughead. I know there are more similar storylines such as Moe Miller meeting Jughead and after eating his burgers decides to make Jug a franchise mogul.

That actually makes sense if you think about it. If the major change between the two universes is whether Archie married Betty or Veronica, it's those three who are going to be affected by that decision the most, and the other cast members only more peripherally.

If different circumstances don't dictate that the other characters behave differently, then it's not surprising that they'd behave in a common way in both universes. Some of their circumstances can change in random ways in the different universes, but they wouldn't ALL change, and where they didn't the character would react mostly the same way.

Quote from: DeCarlo Rules on December 15, 2022, 12:14:24 PMThat actually makes sense if you think about it. If the major change between the two universes is whether Archie married Betty or Veronica, it's those three who are going to be affected by that decision the most, and the other cast members only more peripherally.

If different circumstances don't dictate that the other characters behave differently, then it's not surprising that they'd behave in a common way in both universes. Some of their circumstances can change in random ways in the different universes, but they wouldn't ALL change, and where they didn't the character would react mostly the same way.

Most of the other characters had different careers in the different universes,except for Mr. Lodge, the faculty and Jughead. I would have liked to see Jughead have a different career in the "Veronica" universe. I read a couple stories where he aspired to be a professional drummer. The storyline could have had Jughead become a successful session player at a major studio playing on countless hits and commercials. But,as fate would have it, the studio decides to cut costs and use sampled drum tracks, forcing Jughead out of a job and returning to Riverdale feeling depressed. And the one person who helps him get back on his feet? His old nemesis:Trula Twyst!! Hey, it's only a thought!

Hey, that sounded like a great idea! Maybe they should have let beatman10 write "The Married Life"...

Maybe you should send ACP a proposal synopsis for a LIFE WITH JUGHEAD series. Hey, if they did a LIFE WITH KEVIN, it can't be so far-fetched an idea.

Quote from: DeCarlo Rules on December 26, 2022, 02:18:32 PMHey, that sounded like a great idea! Maybe they should have let beatman10 write "The Married Life"...

Maybe you should send ACP a proposal synopsis for a LIFE WITH JUGHEAD series. Hey, if they did a LIFE WITH KEVIN, it can't be so far-fetched an idea.

Thanks for the compliment! (Unless you were just kidding!) It would be fun to see a Jughead/Trula romance story done like The Married Life. I don't know if it would sell well since many readers today want to see either Jughead paired with Betty (Bughead), or that he remains asexual. Maybe I'll try to contact ACP about this idea, but I'll probably get a nicely worded "Thanks, but no thanks" response. I would add to the idea that Trula is getting her doctorate in Psychology and is serving her internship at Riverdale High.

NOT kidding~~!!

I have decided to write a story in the fan fiction section and it will take place in the future more so in the "Archie Marries Veronica" storyline. But it will deal primarily with Jughead living out his dream as a musician and how circumstances cause him to move back to Riverdale.  And there's a certain psychologist who is very happy to see him return. I'll do this in parts instead of all one sitting. I hope DeCarlo Rules likes it.