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    Archie Andrews

    Character » Archie Andrews appears in 7850 issues.

    Archie Andrews is an only child, who resides in the town of Riverdale where he attends Riverdale High. He has two girlfriends, Betty Cooper and Veronica Lodge who both compete for his attention.

    Short summary describing this character.

    Archie Andrews last edited by rovedo5540 on 11/02/23 02:28PM View full history

    Origin

    Archie comes from a fairly normal background and is the most popular boy in school. He has been friends with Betty, Veronica, Jughead, Reggie and Moose since a young age.

    Creation

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    Archie was inspired by sketches by Bob Montana. Bob went to high school in Haverhill where he kept a sketchbook diary of life in Haverhill. These were the origin of Archie Comics.

    Character Evolution

    Archie varies from issue to issue in terms of whether he is athletically gifted or inept, good at school or a bad student and so on.

    In general, he is a typical teenager, and not a distinguished student or athlete. He is not overweight or severely underweight, neither is he brilliant at any one particular field. This allows his stories to vary tremendously.

    Dating is the central tenet of his existence, with Archie endlessly balancing the demands of the buxom rich girl sable brunette Veronica against the equal but opposing demands of athletic tomboy cheerleader blonde Betty. In some issues, he appears to love Veronica more, and in others he states that he loves both of them equally, although sometimes he has been known to fall for other girls that usually appear only once or twice in the series. He has a best buddy named Jughead, who wears a crown-like beanie, and a nemesis named Reggie.

    Archie also has a varied set of adventures depending which of his comics he appears in. He has X-Files type adventures in Archie's Weird Mysteries and similar one-shots, soap opera type adventures in Life, dating misadventures and light comedy in his standard title and even went through a lengthy Christian comic period.

    One unkind but still basically well-intentioned epithet he has earned from the cliques of mainstream comic book aficionados is "World's Oldest Teenager".

    Major Story Arcs

    The Archies

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    Archie is the leader of pop band called The Archies. He is the composer, singer and guitarist.

    Spot

    When he was young, Archie had a dog named Spot and it was his closest friend at the time. It is not revealed as to what actually happened to Spot after Archie went to High School.

    Ol' Betsy

    Archie's Jallopy from Pep # 25
    Archie's Jallopy from Pep # 25

    Archie loves many cars but not as much as Ol' Betsy, a red jalopy. The car is so old that it's incredibly noisy, the soft top cannot be opened anymore and it often breaks down. He would sometimes use his jalopy to go to school and bring Betty and Veronica on a date which led him to a lot of trouble.

    Significant Other

    Archie, Betty, and Veronica
    Archie, Betty, and Veronica

    Archie has two lovers, Betty Cooper and Veronica Lodge, and it has been a debate for years as to whom Archie will marry in the future. For decades fans have speculated this decision and discussed it in great depth. There has been many versions of Archie's marriage to either Betty or Veronica but it's mostly through each of their own fantasy and not an actual event.

    In issue #600 of Archie comics, the publisher surprised the readers by releasing six issues of Archie's wedding to both Veronica and Betty but in a different time line. In issue #600 - 602, Archie and the gang are celebrating their final year in high school. As Archie returns home, his parents Fred and Mary tells him that now he is a grown man, he has to decide which college to attend to and what profession he wants to pursue. This stresses Archie a little bit and decides to take a walk outside to think this through and as he walks, he stumbles upon a junction called Memory Lane. Having never to walk down on Memory Lane instead of always up, Archie walks to other direction and which he sees two dirt roads that will take him back home.

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    The Memory Lane acts like a twilight zone with each dirt road representing a different time line. As Archie walks to the left path, we see the gang attending the convocation and on the following day, Archie proposes to Veronica Lodge, who accepts it with delight. It tore Betty's feeling like never before and Mr. Lodge, Veronica's father, is shocked as well to hear the news since both he and Archie share and love/ hate relationship over the years. However, her father positively accepts him as his son-in-law. From here on, we see Archie leading a very good life as he works in Lodge Enterprise and living in a mansion. Veronica also gives birth to twins.

    In issue #603 - 606, we see an alternate time line when Archie, now an adult, walks to the right path of Memory Lane and it takes him back to the graduation day but this time, he proposes to Betty Cooper instead. This not only broke Veronica's feelings but her anger as well. In this time line, everyone in Riverdale accepts Archie and Betty's marriage more positively than Veronica's because to them, it seems obvious that they are meant for each other. However, the married life is not as lavish as Veronica's fantasy due to their income level. Their wedding cake is a disaster, Archie struggles to find a job and Betty finds it difficult to become a good mother to two children (who are also twins).

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    As Archie and Betty climb hard to lead a good life with Veronica happily married to Reggie Mantle. Archie walks to Memory Lane again and brings him back to his high school years, making the two time lines just a "what if" situation and not an actual event.

    Alter Ego

    Super Teens

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    In this alternate universe, Archie Andrews is a superhero called Pureheart The Powerful, a character who is created when Archie attempts to tap into the "PH Factor", a superpower only accessed for those with the pure of heart. Pureheart is a super strong hero with the ability to fly (using his jet boosters) and is super-resilient to anything. People immediately recognize him as Pureheart and not Archie even though he doesn't wear a mask to cover his identity. He, Superteen (Betty Cooper), Evil Heart (Reggie Mantle) and Captain Hero (Jughead Jones) form the Super Teens .

    Other Media

    Television

    The Archie Show (1968)

    Archie Andrews appeared for the first time outside comics in the 1968 cartoon The Archie Show, produced by Filmation. He was voiced by Dallas McKennon. The character also appeared in several spin-offs produced between 1969 and 1977, like Archie's TV Funnies, The U.S. of Archie and others.

    The New Archies (1987)

    A 1987 re-imagining of Archie and the Gang. Archie is portrayed as a pre-teen in junior high. This time Archie was voiced by J. Michael Roncetti.

    Archie: To Riverdale and Back Again (1990)

    The first live-action appearance of Archie was in the made-for-television comedy movie Archie: To Riverdale and Back Again. It premiered on NBC Sunday Night at the Movies on May 6, 1990. Archie was portrayed by Christopher Rich.

    An now adult Archie returns to Riverdale 15 years after graduation for his high school reunion. Seeing Betty and Veronica again after all his time make Archie rethink his feelings for his fiancee Pam. Archie also tries to keep Reggie Mantle from evicting Pop Tate from his diner. With backing from Hiram Lodge, Reggie wants to take over the diner to expand his gym. Archie manages to save the diner, but loses Pam. With his engagement broken off but the diner saved, Archie moves back to Riverdale with the rest of his friends.

    Archie's Weird Mysteries (1999)

    A French/English cartoon show based on the characters of Archie Comics. Archie is a reporter for the school news paper. The show resolves around the high school physics lab gone awry, making Riverdale a magnet for ' Movie'style monsters like vampires, werewolfs, UFO's and a 50-ft Veronica. Archie was voiced by Andrew Rannells.

    Archie also appears in the made-for-television movie The Archies in Jugman, based on the cartoon show.

    Riverdale (2017)

    Archie appears in the 2017 teen drama TV show Riverdale on The CW. The show follows the life of Archie, his friends and his family in Riverdale, a town seemingly perfect town, wich harbors dark secrets. Archie is portrayed by KJ Apa.

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