THE INSIDE SCOOP
by Jeffrey C. Branch

PART ONE: BIRTH OF AN ICON (1941-1949)
PART TWO: THE EXPANDING EMPIRE (1950-1970)
PART THREE: WILD TIMES IN RIVERDALE (1971-1990)
PART FIVE: PART FIVE: MAGIC ON THE TV AND INTERNET
PART SIX: ARCHIE IN THE 21st CENTURY

PART FOUR: REUNIONS, ROMANCE AND REDHEADS (1990-1995)

The 90's began with Archie's last foray on to television. In April of 1990, DIC produced a live action movie for NBC that would see Archie and the gang like they had never been seen before: AS ADULTS! In "Archie: To Riverdale And Back Again" (Now out on video as "Archie: Return To Riverdale"), Archie and company were thirtysomething adults, fifteen years removed from their graduation from Riverdale High, coming home for a reunion. The concept of this movie was to combine the long-standing familiarity of Archie with decidedly adult issues.

Case in point: Veronica, just as vampy as ever, having lived overseas in France since graduation, was a four time loser at marriage; Jughead, a psychiatrist of all things, was also a divorcee, who carried emotional baggage that manifested itself in a terrible fear of women. Betty, a gradeschool teacher, was being bossed around by her crummy boyfriend, Robert. Moose and Midge had married, became chiropractors and had a son, and Archie, now a successful lawyer was getting ready to tie the knot with his fiancee, Pam and move out of Riverdale to the big city.

But when Archie sees Betty and Veronica for the first time in fifteen years, all his old feelings for them come flooding back, threatening his engagement. It doesn't help that the girls renew their pursuit of Archie, heedless of the fact that he has a fiancee! A sideplot to the movie saw Archie trying to keep perpetually slimy Reggie, helped along by an uncharacteristically menacing Mr. Lodge, from evicting Pop Tate from his store. In the end, Archie saves the Chock'Lit Shoppe, though he loses Pam in the bargain. However, he decides to stay in Riverdale as do the others.

The NBC movie, which was broadcast during the May sweeps period, was seen as a pilot for a possible series. Despite a pretty decent story and even better performances from the actors and actresses who portrayed the Archie characters, the movie finished a disappointing 51st in the Neilsen ratings, having been thrashed by the prime-time premiere of the Kevin Costner/Sean Connery remake of "The Untouchables" on CBS and the powerful one-two punch of "Married: With Children" and "In Living Color" (featuring a then unknown comic named Jim Carrey) on FOX.

In 1993, one of the most popular video game characters of the day gained a strong foothold in the comic book world, thanks to Archie: Sonic the Hedgehog. Sonic, created in 1991 to be a mascot for Sega similar to Mickey Mouse being the mascot for Disney quickly became a celebrity in his own right, thanks to the video game which was widely played in arcades and at home on the Sega Genesis game system and later, the more advanced Sega Saturn. This noteriety led to not one, but two different animated television series.

Archie Comics helped advance the Sonic bandwagon when the company published an 8 page Sonic sample issue. Written by Michael Gallagher and drawn by Scott Shaw, this book was a free gift from Sega and was originally based on the syndicated cartoon series. In August, a regular Sonic comic was launched which is still going strong today. Meanwhile, a new Sonic cartoon series debuted in September on ABC, displaying an action/adventure angle, the comic would soon follow the show's lead with stories based on the series.

In the years that followed, Archie Comics would engage in a series of crossovers where a major storyline would crossover into two or more books, i.e. The Prom Tale which saw Archie, Betty and Veronica in a serious tussle leading up to the prom, and House Of Riverdale where Archie and the gang found themselves caught up in one monster of a ghost story. But, the single biggest crossover epic Archie Comics has ever done is the now legendary Love Showdown. The premise of this crossover was dirt simple: the end of the Eternal Triangle.

The madness began in Archie #429 (November 1994) when a lovesick Archie received a letter from a girl from his past who was returning to Riverdale. That alone got fans from coast to coast wondering just who the mystery woman could be. Betty and Veronica got wind of the letter, but had no idea who the girl was as Archie refused to divulge her identity. The girls severed their friendship, after being conned by Reggie, who told Betty that Veronica wrote the letter to Archie, and vice versa. Each vowed to win Archie over once and for all! The first skirmish was in Betty #19 (November 1994) as Mr. Cooper gives Betty tickets to the Lodge Foundation Summer Charity Dance. When Betty calls Archie to be her date, he explains that he was having problems with his car. Betty arranges to help repair his car if he'll be her escort to the dance. After Betty repairs Archie's car, Veronica winds up with Archie after the heiress tells Betty the tickets were for a different date. Later, Betty learns from Jughead that Veronica printed the tickets Mr. Cooper gave her. Furious at being duped, Betty vows to crash the dance!

The action continues in Betty and Veronica #82 (December 1994). Veronica is enjoying herself with Archie during a party at her house when Betty struts in wearing one of Veronica's hand-me-down dresses which she altered to show off plenty of leg and reel in plenty of attention from every boy there, including Archie. When Veronica tries to get the spotlight back, she winds up embarrassing herself. With Betty having outfoxed her in the vamp department, Veronica resorts to cooking to win Archie back, only to fail again. Despondent, she turns to Reggie for help.

The concluding chapter in Veronica #39 (December 1994) begins with Veronica having regained her nasty edge thanks to Reggie's tutelage, and she wastes no time using it to lure Archie away from Betty. Outraged, Betty proposes a final battle for Archie: super soakers at high noon at Pickens Park in their fanciest outfits. The showdown in the park ends with Archie and the mystery girl getting soaked by Betty and Veronica----Cheryl Blossom! Then, to add insult to injury, Archie, angry at the girls' childish behavior, decides to date Cheryl instead!

The return of Cheryl Blossom to the Archie Universe was a shocker to Archie fans worldwide as she was perhaps the LAST person Archie fans ever expected to see again. Normally, when a character is eliminated from the Archie cast, and many have been over the decades, more often than not, he or she never comes back. One prevalent theory regarding Cheryl's return was that a foil was needed to keep Archie from choosing between Betty and Veronica as part of the Love Showdown plot, to which end, Cheryl was rescued from oblivion by the editors to serve that purpose.

However, what the editors didn't foresee was the tremendous popularity Cheryl gained with Archie fans since her return. Throughout 1995, Cheryl made guest appearances in virtually every Archie series comic, picking up where she left off in 1982: chasing after Archie and tormenting Betty and Veronica. That led to four 48 page specials Cheryl starred in, containing new stories and reprints, followed in late 1995 and most of 1996 by a trio of entertaining three issue mini-series which would see Jason's return and the first ever appearance of Cheryl's parents. With fans clamoring for more, their demands were met in early 1997 with the debut of a regular Cheryl Blossom comic. The tone of the comic had been set during the last mini-series where Cheryl went to great lengths to have a movie she made shown at an international film festival. This would lead to the running theme in Cheryl's new book of her neverending quest to be a celebrity, helped along when she and Jason inherited an inn from a deceased aunt and transformed it into a posh resort called Club Blossom which Cheryl uses to entertain the rich and famous.

PART ONE | PART TWO | PART THREE
PART FOUR | PART FIVE | PART SIX

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