In the "Veronica" story, Mr. Lodge tries to frame Reggie for bribery and extortion. And then he lies to Veronica about Archie demanding a million dollar dowry before he would marry her. Mr. Lodge felt as long as Veronica was married to Archie, she would lack the killer instinct needed to take over Lodge industries.Mr. Lodge's meddling nearly ended their marriage. It didn't help that Veronica believed her "Daddy" over Archie. So yeah, Mr. Lodge was antagonistic to both Archie and Reggie.
    In the "Betty" story , Mr. Lodge vowed to ruin Archie and anyone else associated with him for turning down his bribe to leave Betty and marry Veronica. It nearly worked until Veronica found out about it and got her father to leave her friends alone.  From what I've read, most readers didn't like seeing Mr. Lodge as a villain.
    I believe the storyline where Jughead marries Midge and Archie didn't know about it until after the fact was in the original "Archie Wedding" series. This was Mr. Uslan bringing out the "SURPRISE"!!! I kind of knew something would happen to Jughead because he said earlier in the story 'No girl trapped me!" Archie and Betty did go to Jughead's wedding in LWA issue #5 and are kind of shocked  to see that Jug "finally noticed a girl".
    If you go in with the mindset that the "10th Anniversary" is only a mini series and isn't trying to compete with the 4 year, 37 issue "Life With Archie"  you may feel more positive about it. This really only focuses on what is going on with Archie's marriage(s) at the 10 year mark. There are some real issues discussed here that happen at that point in a marriage. And there are some surprises. Plue Archie doesn't die!!!!

I check out this series every now and then to see how this story is progressing. It's very slow moving and I have no clue where the storyline is heading to. Moose and Ethel are a couple right now but, I don't get a feeling they will last. It seems like most of the girls want to hook up with this Seth guy. The artwork is great but I don't understand why characters are drawn like munchkins whenever they get excited or emotional.

Maybe you could make a case that Jughead only hired Wendell the busboy/shooter in the AMV timeline but I did see Wendell in AMB lurking in the shadows in one panel.And it wouldn't be the first time an event was shown happening in only one timeline but later on, happened in the other also with no explanation. Take Sam the dog for example. Ilana is shown giving Sam to Moose only in the "Betty" timeline to help with his anger management. But I later saw Sam with Moose in the "Veronica" timeline as well. No explanation on how he got the dog. Also, the AMB Jughead was going to be down two helpers. He was going to lose Jellybean when she leaves for college. And wife Midge would be out on maternity leave taking care of their son. So Jughead had to hire someone soon.
   The only other clue pointing to the Veronica side was in #37 was when Mr. Lodge was seen with a beard. He grew a beard in the last issues of the AMV timeline.

Quote from: beatman10 on September 08, 2022, 02:16:07 PM

Quote from: DeCarlo Rules on April 07, 2018, 01:41:17 AM

Quote from: SAGG on April 06, 2018, 11:30:32 PMI'm speeding it up a bit to the end, obviously with Archie's death as the main plotline. I noticed that the writers shrewdly "merged" both universes because I couldn't tell which one was which. Maybe it didn't matter, which was the point.

Well, obviously the two universes couldn't actually be merged, because then you wind up with the Schrödinger's Cat-like probability paradox of a universe where Archie is married to both Betty and Veronica... but I do take your meaning, as the "Death of Archie" final story arc of LWA was being intentionally vague in details to the point where it could have been taking place in either, or both, the Bettyverse and the Veronicaverse. Oddly enough I remember 'way back on the old (pre-server crash) forum where someone else (I've forgotten who, now) argued that there were definite clues placing the DoA story in (I think it was) the Bettyverse, and I don't remember what those clues were or if I even recognized them.

In general, as the series neared its end and it became obvious that it would be necessary to wrap up the long, convoluted plot of many details and characters, there seemed to be lots of bits either summarily explained away rather casually, or forgotten altogether and left dangling. Things had gotten very science-fictional about three-quarters of the way through the run, and then they gradually moved away from that to end it all with Archie's death.

To me, the way how the other characters' story outcomes were left dangling was pretty sad.  We never find out if Reggie gets engaged or married. Do Moose/Ilana, Ethel/Dilton or Mr. Weatherbee and Louise get hitched. And how are Jughead/Ethel  doing after a year of marriage, or Jughead/Midge seeing their son take his first steps? I felt Miss Grundy's death actually had a bigger positive impact on Archie and the gang than Archie's death because of the the story ended. I don't blame Paul Kupperberg. He wanted to keep the story going at least to give a more complete ending.

I recently revisited the "Death Of Archie" storyline (Issues 36 and 37) because I wanted to check to see if there were clues to which universe the ending took place in. And, yes, the clues point to the "Betty" timeline. Some of the things I saw were:
1. After Archie thanks Mr.Weatherbee  earlier that day, he says "Hi" to Cheryl Blossom, who was wearing the head scarf that she wore during her chemo treatments. Cheryl only got breast cancer in AMB
2. At the afterparty ,one panel has Mr. Weatherbee sitting at a table with his fiance', Louise. Their pairing only happened in AMB. Miss Grundy was alive throughout the "Veronica" timeline although her relationship with Weatherbee was never clearly defined there. The faculty was reduced to cameo appearances in AMV.
3. Jellybean!! Jellybean only worked at the Chock'lit Shoppe in the "Betty" timeline to relieve Midge. In AMV, she made only one cameo as a bridesmaid at Jughead's wedding. Here, in DOA, she's dressed as if she had been working, probably helping brother Jughead prep for the party. After that, she was seen taking pictures of the partygoers.
I remember seeing a previous post stating Archie was wearing a wedding band while Betty and Veronica weren't. That was because Reggie never married "the girl Archie didn't marry". However, Jughead was also wearing a wedding band and it was more obvious who his wife was. I saw a couple of panels where Ethel and Dilton had their arms around each other (They were dating in AMB). And the end when Archie dies, Ethel is standing next to Dilton, But Midge and Jellybean and embracing each other which makes them more likely to be sisters-in-law. I doubt if the "Veronica" Midge would even be at this event, since she had moved away from Riverdale.
There are two people who didn't attend; Jughead's parents. That could be because they were home babysitting their new grandson for a few hours.
These were just some of the clues I found. I'm sure there are more.

Quote from: DeCarlo Rules on April 07, 2018, 01:41:17 AM

Quote from: SAGG on April 06, 2018, 11:30:32 PMI'm speeding it up a bit to the end, obviously with Archie's death as the main plotline. I noticed that the writers shrewdly "merged" both universes because I couldn't tell which one was which. Maybe it didn't matter, which was the point.

Well, obviously the two universes couldn't actually be merged, because then you wind up with the Schrödinger's Cat-like probability paradox of a universe where Archie is married to both Betty and Veronica... but I do take your meaning, as the "Death of Archie" final story arc of LWA was being intentionally vague in details to the point where it could have been taking place in either, or both, the Bettyverse and the Veronicaverse. Oddly enough I remember 'way back on the old (pre-server crash) forum where someone else (I've forgotten who, now) argued that there were definite clues placing the DoA story in (I think it was) the Bettyverse, and I don't remember what those clues were or if I even recognized them.

In general, as the series neared its end and it became obvious that it would be necessary to wrap up the long, convoluted plot of many details and characters, there seemed to be lots of bits either summarily explained away rather casually, or forgotten altogether and left dangling. Things had gotten very science-fictional about three-quarters of the way through the run, and then they gradually moved away from that to end it all with Archie's death.

To me, the way how the other characters' story outcomes were left dangling was pretty sad.  We never find out if Reggie gets engaged or married. Do Moose/Ilana, Ethel/Dilton or Mr. Weatherbee and Louise get hitched. And how are Jughead/Ethel  doing after a year of marriage, or Jughead/Midge seeing their son take his first steps? I felt Miss Grundy's death actually had a bigger positive impact on Archie and the gang than Archie's death because of the the story ended. I don't blame Paul Kupperberg. He wanted to keep the story going at least to give a more complete ending.

Yes, but there are those few times where Jughead doesn't react to her the way she thinks he will and that throws her off a bit. I had mentioned earlier that it would be interesting to see how Jughead and Trula would interact with each other as adults. And I found a story! After a long absence, I decided to check "Big Ethel Energy" to see if and how the story has progressed since it's been going for almost a year. To my surprise, one of the most recent installments has Ethel interviewing Trula. And, of course, their main topic was Jughead. Apparently, Jughead fell in love with Trula. but she didn't feel the same way and that may be the reason why in this story, Jughead shuts everyone out. It seems like in BEE, Riverdale has become a romantic dystopia  where everyone is with no one and any pairings have fizzled out before Ethel came back. The only romance that may happen is between Ethel and Moose. 

I'm happy to see Trula making a comeback with some new stories, including one where she is playing drums! I don't know why the character was shelved for so long. I prefer Trula over Ethel as a potential love interest for Jughead. She is more fun and, let's face it, better looking than Ethel. And despite all her "trickery", if a guy (Jughead) was to fall in love with her, she wants it to be "the old fashioned way" as she has mentioned. I read an earlier post from DeCarlo Rules stating "If Jughead was to ever get married, it would be to Trula". It would have been interesting to see these two interact as adults in "The Married Life". And I think their pairing would have worked on the Veronica side, provided Jughead went into a different profession than owning the Chock'lit Shop. I think Jughead has some power over Trula if he really wanted to use it. That is, simply by ignoring her. Maybe Archie Comics could do a story on that and how Trula's reaction would be.

When Moose's character was introduced around 1948(?), his girlfriend was a petite shorthaired blonde names Lottie Little. And Moose treated her like he treats his current girlfriend, Midge, like a possession. If you're a guy, don't you dare look at or speak to Lottie, or you will incur Moose's wrath!! But it seemed like Lottie just vanished after a few years and replaced. My question is, Was there any Lottie "send off story" where she moves away, breaks up with Moose, etc? Or are her and Midge really the same girl?

Quote from: PTF on July 11, 2022, 10:48:56 PMWell, maybe Archie listens to at least one reader. I like Trula Twyst and I like Bingo Wilkin. So, um...let's try bringing back Regina Mantle!

And yeah,  I like Trula better than Ethel. But I do like the old time Ethel stories and I like the character. I mean, she has the misfortune of not being pretty and living in a town where everyone is at least a nine or ten. Plus she decided to fall in love with the only guy in town who doesn't care about romance and is pretty much the Bugs Bunny of the Archieverse. And I really like how she always took everything in stride. It's pretty admirable to keep going when the entire universe seems out to get you.

And that's one thing I don't like about today's world. It's kind of hard to do those Ethel stories now, given the social climate. And I understand why. But for Ethel you really are losing alot of what made the character fun and memorable. The most I can think of now is "Well, maybe later on she's successful and gets revenge." And I don't like that that's my idea because I watched a Netflix show like that and I did not like it. Had the actress who played Disney's Jessie as the star.

And corporate, yeah. Like we have Jake Chang in a few digest stories and he's going to be getting his own show on the CW. I'm kind of surprised that he doesn't get his own ongoing. It just looks like Archie Comics is banking on their tv shows, which does make sense. And it's always been like that. Cartoon doesn't sell toys or merch, it's gone; comic doesn't get some sort of tv or movie deal...unless it's selling well, goodbye.

The only thing I can question is why, in a world where super hero movies rule, that we haven't seen any of the Archie heroes like The Shield get some sort of movie or tv. That seems like an lay up shot to me.

And I guess characters getting new stories could be AC way of seeing "maybe this character can be used more or be in a show" Just to see if anything sticks. I don't know if that's the case with Trula. Honestly, I thought, given Riverdale, she would make a great villain but instead--she was a pussycat and a totally different character.

But again that's the world we live in. You have old properties being brought back or you have companies just making new shows or toons where only the likeness is the same and everything is--it's making new characters, but giving them old character skins. Still so upset about Jellystone.

You can't have a character like the old Ethel anymore in this political climate. There would be some group trying to get her banned as a sex offender because of her unwanted advances on Jughead. Remember they tried cancelling Pepe Le Pew. Yeah, she acted like an kindergartener trying to kiss a boy which I thought was made for laughs. And Jughead usually got away from her in most stories. And I do feel that the characters have to grow. Ethel, over the years, became more attractive, hair is longer, she is given curves and is less obsessed with Jughead. But, I hope that her progression was simply made to help grow the character who, before, was mostly a one trick pony. 

Since this is the "Jughead The Lover" topic, I'm a little surprised I haven't seen more talk about one of the most recent and popular Jughead pairings which was featured on the Riverdale show: BUGHEAD. (Betty and Jughead). I admit that I have never seen the show, but I did read their romance was a big hit with many fans. Supposedly, some fans also expressed they would like to see these two become a couple in the comics also. The reason? Archie takes Betty for granted and that's something Jughead would never do. Betty would finally have a guy who appreciates her. Jughead has even confronted Archie about the shabby way he treats Betty. I did read something where Archie comics have said that a Jughead/Betty pairing could destroy the 80 year old ABV love triangle and that's why they keep these two as close friends even though there is some romantic tension between them.
      My feelings about these two becoming an item? They look great together, but it would end badly. All that has to happen is Archie having a breakup with Veronica and he'll go back to Betty and tell he that he loves her. Betty's heart will melt and she'll end up giving Jughead the "I'm sorry, Juggie, but my heart belongs to Archie." It's never a good idea to date the best friend of someone you love. It never ends well. And Jughead will go back to hating girls again!

These are most likely all corporate decisions to shelve some characters in favor of others. But I wonder how much influence do fans have in either the company doing away with a particular character/storyline, or, even bringing them back. For instance, as I said earlier, Trula Twyst is making a comeback. For the longest time, there were no Trula stories. But she's been brought back and the explanation was she was in school overseas. Of course, the first person she wants to see when she gets back is Jughead!! I'll take Jughead/Trula over Jughead/Ethel every time. She's much more interesting. But I wonder if the was solely a corporate decision to bring her back, or did the readers have also something to do with her return?

I have also noticed some of the promotionals for the new Archie releases I see on Facebook and other sites have excluded Reggie. It's even referred to as the "Core Four" with Archie, Jughead, Betty and Veronica. Is Reggie getting cancelled also?

Quote from: DeCarlo Rules on June 20, 2022, 02:54:21 PM

Yep! I remember reading this one. I  also remember a storyline where Archie has a dream where he meets up with a rich, middle aged, hamburger chain mogul (sound familiar?) Jughead. And, Jughead tells Archie that he married Betty Cooper!!

Jughead was always about untapped and unlimited potential. He could be the star athlete or the Riverdale Romeo if he wanted to be. Him losing eating contests to new characters, Kevin and Toni, wasn't a necessary storyline. I like Trula Twyst and I see she's making a comeback. She doesn't always win in the battle of wits with Jughead. He throws her a curveball now and then when she goes to far with her schemes. But, it's pretty obvious to me that she was created to be a potential love interest for Jughead since she only tries her schemes on him.
As far as last decade's LWA Married Life stories I felt all of the characters had matured (especially in the Betty-verse) since the stories take place 6 years in the future, So, I can see where Jughead "outgrew" his fear of girls here.
I haven't checked out much of the rebooted stories. But, what I have seen of them, to me anyway, Jughead just seems weird and not as likable.
The old Jughead may have been snarky and indifferent, but you liked and rooted for him.

I had interpreted what Uslan meant in the interview is he had written an actual ending showing only one of the "Archie Marries" timelines will be "canon" and the other one is a "fantasy".  And like a lot of other fans of these stories, I tried to find any clues that Mr. Uslan may have left. Like, why did Archie look so distraught near the end of the Veronica timeline when he went for his Christmas Eve walk? He had money, family and his marriage to Veronica seemed pretty solid. We'll probably never know the answer and maybe we're not supposed to.