Last time I dip into this well for a good long while, I promise! But in discussing the reaction to Betty and Veronica’s new look yesterday, I hadn’t realized that Vanity Fair recently did an online portfolio of decades of Archie illustrations, including the infamous “punk rock Jughead” of 1983 (left)—oh, yes, they went there, and it has just as much Deep Hurting as that Quincy episode that’s etched in your brain. (My brain, anyway: “It’s a killer of hope! It’s a killer of spirit!” Good times, good times.) Onion writer Noel Murray actually did an earlier version of the Archie timeline back in May, although neither version includes Betty’s experiment with the Goth look from last year, more’s the pity (Betty with black lipstick is strangely compelling, even though she’s still miles away from Suicide Girldom).
Actually, the VF spread was created to accompany a Jim Windolf profile of Archie Comics, recognizing the company’s 65th anniversary, where co-publisher Michael Silberkleit makes an interesting observation: “I remember Ferris Bueller’s Day Off. That was a great Archie story. Kids playing hooky and the truant officer gets his comeuppance in the end.” Windolf throws in just about everything Archie except the milestone (for some of us, anyway) X-rated parody Cherry Poptart as he honors the company for offering “a gentleness rare in this pulsating media environment,” so his article’s definitely worth a read.