Archie Comics (IV of IV)

- Betty and Veronica: Vixens, vol. 1. Jamie Lee Rotante, Eva Cabrera, et. al. Betty and Veronica accompany their respective dates, Archie and Reggie, on a motorcycle cruise. But when Archie gets in hot water with the motorcycle gang known as the Southside Serpents —he flees in fear. It becomes obvious to the girls that neither of their guys is going to be much help against an actual gang. But… what if they formed their own girl gang? Together with several seemingly unlikely choices, they form the Vixens, a squad brought together to defend Riverdale and to stand for battered women everywhere. Will they be ready when the ante is upped and things get deadly?

Of the modern updates on classical Archie comics (the Horror line, Riverdale, the entire ‘The married life’ saga), this is quite possibly the most surprising. At fist glance the premise would sound not just over the top but puzzling. Besides Betty and Veronica, one could wonder about their choices for the gang: Toni Lopez, Midge Klump, Ethel Muggs, Evelyn Evernever (with the latter addition of Cheryl Blossom) and with Bubbles McBounce as mentor. But as it turns out this selection is done very much on purpose. 

As Lee Rotante explains in her introduction to this collected volume: “This story is not just about motorcycles. It’s not just about a subversion of classic characters. Hell, it’s not even about Betty and Veronica —there’s a larger story that spins out of it, one that extends past the comic page itself. It’s about women who have waited their turn for decades finally getting the chance to take charge”. 

Indeed! The story takes characters who for years and years have been presented purely as arm candy (Midge, Cheryl, arguably Betty and Veronica themselves) or as a punchline (Ethel, Evelyn, Bubbles, Toni to a lesser degree) and gives them not just a chance to shine, but to become tough characters on their own. 

In fine comic book tradition, the story takes several pop-culture concepts as an exoskeleton (the comic invites comparison to classic pulp movies like “Faster, Pussycat, Kill! Kill!” —and indeed one of the variant covers directly invokes the film’s poster) while hiding a more complex meditation inside. 

Rotante’s smart scrip, coupled with gorgeous art makes this comic an essential recommendation. 

***

And this concludes my Archie reading / re-reading project for now. This was quite a surprise all in all, both the classical and the modern. There is a reason these characters are an essential part of Americana (somewhat like, say, Donald Duck comics, certain specific superheroes, book series like Nancy Drew and The Hardy Boys, and so on and on) —always recognizable yet subtly mutating over the eras. I do hope one day I can get my hands on other entries that interest me so. 

For my next reading project: Rat Queens, by Kurtis Wiebe and others! I don’t know anything about this series, except that it’s a fantasy comic book starring an all-female cast and that it’s apparently controversial, for reasons both in and out of the comic itself. 

*