Ghost of a flea

Archie and the Riverdale gang kicked off in the 1940’s with a very sassy and distinct set of personalities represented by the characters. In the 1950’s, cartoonist Dan DeCarlo gave the crew their first makeover, which was visualized as a more modern look. This look was less stylish and detailed, but it emphasized the physical similarities of Archie’s two girlfriends. Betty and Veronica were essentially twins with different hair colours. These similarities gave readers a bit of “delicious irony” to watch Archie’s “romantic quandry” over which girl to date. Weren’t they the same girl, just divided into the good/bad dichotomy?

The only thing that Archie ever had going for him is that teenage boys could vicariously experience the two-females-and-one-male threesome fantasy. Archie was billed as the average boy who most teenage males could identify with, and “his relationship with Betty and Veronica indicates every teenage boy’s own deeply seated desire to date two identical twins and eventually convince them to make out with one another while he watches.”