Of those who picked Jughead, how many prefer The Professor?
I got hooked on Archie comics in the mid-70’s, when my folks had a magazine & comic store. Now that I’m more mature, I’ve gotten away from the Riverdale gang in favour of more cosmopolitan fare, like Urusei Yatsura, in which the eternal question is “what if Ataru had to choose between Lum and Shinobu, for all time?” (Which he would never do, in spite of his traditional rivalry with the wealthy Regg-- err, Mendou.) The L’il Ataru stuff is just creepy, though.
I dunno… would you wear something like this? 
[minor hijack]
If Veronica is so rich, why does she go to public school?
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Here is a special Halloween episode of the 1949 radio show, Archie Andrews & All His Gang. It’s a 5830k .mp3 file.
Mmm! Thanks for the Real Live Lum, Larry Mudd. Who is that girl? For myself, I think Ataru’s choice is easy. A sexy alien chick who can fly and is always horny vs., well, just another girl? No contest!
Originally posted by jab1
In an Archie “flashback” story, set at the time the Lodges moved to Riverdale, Mr. Lodge tells Veronica he’s sending her to public school because he wants her to grow up to be like other kids–although he sometimes regrets it the way the others, like Archie, Jughead, Reggie, and Moose, mess things up at his house. (He keeps so many valuable, easily damaged things out where Archie can break them; and Lodge also has so many rugs set where Archie can trip over them, that one hopes Lodge has a good lawyer and an adequate insurance policy on his mansion.)
Just a she-nerd at a comic-book convention. (A pretty popular costume, for obvious reasons.) Here are a variety of others:[ul][list][list][list][list][list]
[/ul][/list][/list][/list][/list][/list] :o [sup]Is my fetish showing?[/sup]
Take me to your next convention with you, Larry Mudd.
I hope this doesn’t sound too defensive, but… I don’t go to comic-book conventions.
It’s strange: Although I see a strong Betty/Shinobu - Veronica/Lum correlation, I think Betty’s better, but who’d pick Shinobu over Lum? Nobody.
The drift of this conversation has me thinking of a rant by Ernie Cline: Nerd Porn Auteur. (2.8Mb .mp3) It’s kind of coarse but anyone who enjoyed speculating about Betty & Veronica’s hypothetical genital piercings as much as I did is bound to appreciate it.
It’s very likely that Archie would pick Betty, inasmuch as the series began at the same time the hero in movies usually chose the All-American girl over the sexy siren.
Cases in point:
It’s a Wonderful Life: George Bailey rejects Violet Bick, the sophisticated town hussy, in favor of the sweet All-American girl Mary Hatch. (Violet herself knows George preferred Mary.)
High Noon: The sheriff married the blonde. How much time did he spend–if any–with the Mexican woman?
More recently, in Dynasty, Blake Carrington left Alexis for Krystle. Perfect Archie-Veronica-Betty type triangle.
Incidentally, considering how many times Archie broke things at the Lodge mansion, I sense that Archie would marry Veronica over her dad’s dead body.
Lets look at this from the comic plt point of view. Archie is (somehow) very attractive to Betty and Ronnie.
Betty’s love for Archie is pure and down to earth, She just has the hots for Archie and will always love him no matter what fool stunt he does or how many times he goes around dating Ronnie. So long as Archie doesnt reject her outright, she will always love Archie.
Ronnies love for Arhie is more sophisticated. She is amused by archie and his boyish charms. His attention and easily manipulated desire for her is a turn on to her. She loves the attention Archie gives her but would manipulate him to her own ends.
Ronnie and Betty are rivals. They are very competative, skilled in manipulation and each have their own skills and assets to draw upon when it comes to the subject of Archie. More than a few times their rivalry exceeds even their concern for Archie. Thats because all 3 of them are very good friends.
In this situation, even if its 5 to 1 for Betty being the best match, I would say that come college, Archie and Betty will be separated, and once out of sight, Veronica can take Archie away easily. She can set him up in a nice school, get him a position with her dad’s company and They’ll get married. Archie will forget his band ambitions, lose his boyish charm, start be like Mr Lodge Archie’s that kind of guy. Hard working, dedicated, loyal.
After a few years, Veronica will lose her strong desire for him, they’ll grow apart and Archie will lose his way. They’ll have a fight and Archie will leave her and go back to Riverdale where he meets…Betty.
The Issue Has Been Settled! LINKY-LINK!
Well, of course Ataru’s choice is easy. However, Ataru just can’t see that–he would rather have his cake and eat it, too. He wants Lum…and Shinobu…and Sakura the school nurse/Shinto priestess…and Lum’s alien girlfriends…and every other female in the entire universe! What does he wish for in the second movie? “Harem, harem, harem, harem…”
I would say that Lum is more Betty than Veronica, myself. Sure, she is exotic–she wears a tiger-striped bikini and she can fly and give electric shocks. However, she is actually a very down-home and sweet character, like Betty, and she is the only one who truly loves Ataru for himself. She is utterly devoted to her “Darling”, and she already considers herself his wife. If Ataru could just reign in his roving eye, all would be perfect.
Ataru, like Archie, wants to be a player, and does not want to choose or settle down at all.
Shinobu definitely has some Veronica-like qualities. She may have liked, or at least tolerated, Ataru in the beginning of the series, but she drops him rather quickly and turns her eye towards the wealthy Mendou. She’s certainly has a bitchy streak to her, too.
I have heard that Takahashi meant for Lum’s character to have some very “American” qualities, and to play those off the Japanese society that Ataru, etc. live in. And, of course, Betty is described as an all-American girl. Take that as you will.
(I noticed that you were talking about the manga, and I’ve only seen the anime TV series and a few of the movies, so if things are different in the manga, I apologize.)
Now, imagine if Archie were cursed so that, if you poured cold water on him, he would turn into an attractive female version of himself, and Betty and Veronica were both his fiancees, and that Reggie was hopelessly in love with female Archie and Betty–well, then you’d have Ranma 1/2, which is another fine product of the imagination of Rumiko Takahashi.
The real question in my mind isn’t why Archie constantly chooses Veronica over Betty. (She’s rich. It doesn’t take a genius to understand the appeal of that, especially to guy like Archie, coming from a lower-middle class background. Plus, Betty’s too obviously needy and open about her feelings to really appeal to Archie’s immature teenage sensibilities. )
No, the real question is, what does a intelligent, attractive, ambitious girl like Betty with so much going for her see in a callous insensitive jerk like Archie anyway.
Which brings us back to the eternal question: why do otherwise intelligent women seem to go for guys who treat them like shit.
If the scenario were allowed to progress, I think Betty would get over her bizarre and inexplicable obsession with Archie and move on to better things long before he ever came to the realization that she’s the right girl for him. If they did ultimately get together, I think Betty is far too smart and independent to ever allow herself to be dominated by Archie. Her tendency to be Archie’s doormat doesn’t mesh with the rest of her personality and is obviously played up in the comics to play up the fact that she’s a better match for him than Veronica.
Also, I think Veronica would get bored with Archie long before Archie would get bored with Betty. Even as a kid, I got the impression that Veronica’s interest in Archie was largely spiteful. Veronica and Betty are rivals, the two most popular girls in school, one smart, pretty and likeable, the other rich and beautiful. Archie’s the most popular boy in school, so Veronica dating him is partly a status thing, and partly a “you want him, I’ve got him” dig at constant rival Betty.
jaybabyj, as has been said, the fact that you were Betty settles it in Betty’s favor.
As for your Q, would Betty get pierced, I must ask- have you?
Doubly settled!