The Battle of the 'Arch'-rivals

The eternal love triangle looks all set to give away one of its corners.

Archie Andrews, he of the trademark carrot-hair and ample freckles dotting his impish face, is all prepped to pop the question. And it’s gonna happen as soon as this August / September.

While he has long dithered from doing so, keeping his readers guessing for over 60 years, this time the iconic teen cartoon feels he is ready to go down on his knees, complete with a rock.

The last time there was such sensationalism in these Bob Montana creations, was when in the ‘90s, the comely, auburn-haired Cheryl Blossom pipped rivals-in-love Veronica and Betty, and was picked by Archie as his lady love, much to the chagrin of the two sometimes-best-friends-sometimes-sworn-foes gurls. .

However, the affair was short-lived. Living for even shorter in the memory of readers.

This time though, there’s no looking back for our hero, who, after years of speculation, waltzing, pondering with his best friend - the partial-to-his-hamburger Jughead, and weighing the odds, has decided that he wants the raven-haired heiress, Veronica Lodge, to ride into the sunset in his weather-beaten, (un)trusty flaming red jalopy.

People are up in arms, claiming this piece of news as yet another evidence of how good girls finish last (the reference being obviously to sunny-tempered, of-modest-means, Betty Cooper – who has always shone a candle to Archie). While people take up cudgels for this girl-next-door, calling Archie myopic and a fool (in that order), and screaming from the rooftops that the swollen-deaded Veronica had her match in the equally conceited Reggie Mantle, there are those who subscribe to the other side.

They call Betty the archetypal, lamenting dumb blonde, who makes both gooey marshmallow for and gooey eyes at Archie with equal elan, but is a total rookie when it comes to making Archie eating out of her hands – a fact not altogether lost on her more vivavious, if vixenish Veronica. They say that in the dating jungle, all’s fair in love and war.

Betty’s squeaky-clean image goes against her - it is probably her bland Humpty-Dumptyish, Plain-Janish, Miss-goody-too-shoes act that makes the more assertive, I-want-and-I-will-go-out-and-get-what-I-want Veronica more appealing and desirable in Archie’s eyes.

While some assert that the best woman wins, and that Betty is a sore loser, someone who refuses to accept defeat gracefully; there are those who opine that Veronica must have hatched a devious plot to tempt Archie in moving up the social ladder by marrying her.

Petty Betty?
Or Ron the Con?

You decide.