Veronica Lodge and Betty Cooper Veronica Lodge and Betty Cooper Riverdalefan Art

Archie and his pals at Riverdale High were created by Vic Blossom and Bob Montana in 1941. My favorite characters were the lifelong frenemies Betty and Veronica. The best Betty and Veronica artist, without a doubtfulness, was Dan DeCarlo, who cranked out countless pages of Archie and its many spin-off comics beginning in the late 1950s. Dan was also a prolific pivot-upwardly cartoon artist, and the characters in his pin-up world resemble the big sisters of Betty and Veronica. (Cheque out these excellent Fantagraphics books about DeCarlo's pin-upwardly art: Innocence and Seduction: The Fine art of Dan DeCarlo, The Pin-up Art of Dan DeCarlo, and The Pin-Up Art of Dan DeCarlo, Vol. 2)

Information technology'south no surprise that The Art of Betty & Veronica mainly features Dan DeCarlo's work. Hither'due south a option of some DeCarlo's art that's featured in the volume, which was edited by Victor Gorelick and Craig Yoe. I also included some samples by other artists for comparison purposes.

Original art by Dan DeCarlo. Archie's Joke Volume #22, May 1956.

Hither'south Craig Yoe'south introduction:

The 1940s saw the emergence of a freckle-faced, orangish-haired teenager named Archie Andrews. His showtime appearance was in Pep Comics #22, published by MLJ Magazines in 1941. Archie had 2 girlfriends: a cute, blonde, girl-next-door type, Betty Cooper, and the rich, sophisticated brunette, Veronica Social club. Archie's life was constantly in turmoil equally he found himself having to choose between the two girls. They all lived in a boondocks called Riverdale forth with Jughead Jones, Archie'southward best friend and counselor, and Reggie Drape, Archie'south rival for Veronica'due south affections. This teenage band attended Riverdale Loftier.

Archie became an overnight sensation and, in the wintertime of 1942, won his own title, Archie Comics #1. The company inverse its proper name to Archie Comics from MLJ, taken from the starting time names of the founders, Maurice Coyne, Louis Silberkleit, and John Goldwater. Goldwater conceived Archie and Betty and Veronica. He said they were inspired past his own youthful experience of an evening with 2 sisters he had met out west. Bob Montana provided the visuals of the teenage characters based on his loftier schoolhouse days in Haverhill, Massachusetts.

Archie may take put the company on the map and given it both its proper noun and flagship title, but for me information technology'due south ever been all about Betty and Veronica. Archie is the steak, Ronnie and Betts are the sizzle. Okay, I'm shallow —- I prefer the sizzle! And the eternal question of Betty or Veronica seems like one of Rube Goldberg'southward "Foolish Questions" that deserves i of Al Jaffee's "Snappy Answers." Okay, I tin can't think of a snappy answer. So, in a give-and-take… VERONICA!

Harvey Kurtzman and Will Elder spoofed Archie in an early issue of Mad, when that publication was still a comic volume. They pointed out that Betty and Veronica looked exactly akin except for the hair color and information technology was giddy for Andrews to adopt going to the Lodge. But for me it's more than than the hair tint being different. Veronica has the sexy Bettie Page bangs. In reality, I always figured that it was the other way around. The off-duty cop and amateur photographer who suggested Page prefer that "do" must have been a Veronica fan. Then, Bettie Folio eschewed Betty's ponytail for Veronica'southward expect.

Dan DeCarlo confided in me that he drew the girls differently. From Dan'due south pencil, Veronica was slightly more than buxom, shapelier, and strutted sexier poses. Betty was slightly flatter-chested, less shapely, and sometimes adopted more tomboyish postures.

So Veronica, then!

I did always love Dan's fine art, but in researching Archie: A Celebration of America's Favorite Teenagers, I realized how brilliant Bob Montana was. I even call back Dan telling me that he took a lot from Montana's way. When I outset met and interviewed Dan, he kindly gave me the original fine art of a Montana daily strip that he kept on his bulletin board above his drawing desk for inspiration.

I'm too a contempo zealous catechumen to Harry Lucey. Lucey'south subtle body language and the sauciness he brought to the girls has been a revelation. I know that electric current artists Dan Parent and Fernando Ruiz dearest the old school, too. They and other contemporary Archie- Betty-Veronica artists are now standing on the shoulders of the masters and doing some amazing work.

While this book focuses on the fine art of Betty and Veronica, strong mention must admittedly be made of vivid writers like George Gladir and Frank Doyle who supplied the ink-slingers with fun scripts to inspire them. Archie writers were some of the best in the business organization. Both Doyle and Gladir had creative chops themselves, thus were aces at thinking visually. It's most as if they were "feeding lines" to the cartoonists to enable them to delineate brilliant sense of humor and hotness.

'Nuff said! You must be anxious to get on to the fine art in The Fine art of Betty and Veronica. Brunette-lovers and Blonde-lovers akin, relish the view!

— Craig Yoe

Art by Dan DeCarlo. Printer's proof for the cover of Archie'south Girls Betty and Veronica #118, October 1960.

Art by Dan DeCarlo. Printer's proof for the cover of Archie's Girls Betty and Veronica #135, March 1967.

Art past Dan DeCarlo. Archie'due south Girls Betty and Veronica #163, July 1969.

Original fine art by Dan DeCarlo. Archie's Girls Betty and Veronica #158, February 1969.

Art by Irv Novick. Archie Comics #27, July-August 1947.

Original art past Bob White. Archie'due south Madhouse #3, Jan 1960.

The Art of Betty & Veronica

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