Betty & Veronica Get an Extreme Makeover

archie comics
Originally uploaded by black_coffee_blue_jeans.

I used to read, wait – devour Archie comics when I was a kid. I totally loved Betty and Veronica and I think I may still even have some of the books from the late 70s-early 80s. Anyway, I just read an article talking about a makeover of the characters and I couldn’t believe it! They want an older audience and they want to update the overall look, but the new Betty looks like an Olsen twin and the new Veronica looks like Lindsay Lohan!!! Sacrilidge! (take a look here: http://detnews.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20061225/ENT05/612250373/1037)

The thing that really gets me the most upset is that these are iconic characters. Sure, you can look at Barbie and as much as the look and feel may have changed over the years, overall the characteristics have remained the same, classic look. Imagine other comic books losing their overall style – you can’t – I mean, what if Charlie Brown, Lucy, and Pigpen were redrawn for the 21st Century – you just can’t even fathom it, right?

I don’t think the problem of lacking sales has anything to do with the image – the original look and feel of B&V is purely 1940s – something that Gwen Stefani has capitalized on in real life – I think it is more on content and the writing. A bad writer can kill anything, and changing a cast, revamping a wardrobe can’t do much to salvage that. Teens want good content – and teenage girls don’t read comics like B&V anymore as they are too busy devouring Manga or reading series like “Gossip Girl.” The great thing about Archie was that it was an innocent look at teenage life, and it wasn’t trying so hard to be like everyone else.