Betty & Veronica Double Digest #151

Archie Comics have been giving themselves a wee bit of a makeover of late.
First off was the manga-ization of Sabrina the Teenage Witch, now it’s Betty & Veronica’s turn.
Betty & Veronica, the duo that (no) are so not lesbian lovers, step into a new age with the coming of the four part “Bad Boy Trouble”. 24 pages per issue (unless otherwise said on a future review), the groundbreaking new look for the series updates the Betty & Veronica series and makes it more relevant with a fresh visual style you haven’t seen before.
But since this digest is not “Bad Boy Trouble” alone let’s browse quickly the rest of it before we look at the new series.
In “Let it Rain”, Betty finds a rainy day to be almost “soothing”… almost.
In “It’s in the Stars” & “Madwoman of Riverdale”, existence in general seems to have it out against Betty & Veronica… why? I don’t know, but they’re not having a good day.
Actually overall existence burdening Betty & Veronica seems to be a general theme throughout, that and the endless “quest” to get Archie or whoever.
Well, let’s get to it.
For 65 years (as the opening states) the Archie-verse has rolled along and entertained for so long (which you can see from the rest of this digest which is a who’s who of the many years of Betty/Veronica). However 65 years HAVE passed, and maybe it’s a time to give the universe a fresh look.
No, it’s not the manga style (like Sabrina), this time out it’s to ask a question you never thought might be asked… for years, it seems, people have wondered what the Archie universe would look like if the series was drawn in a “realistic” style… no, Alex Ross isn’t drawing the series.
Bad Boy Trouble is the answer to that question.
With a brand new dynamic look that really leaps off the page, with a mix of color and B/W (dream sequences and sitting in a dark theater setting), the new look shines as we see the series’ true potential with this newest “evolution” of the series giving it a fresh feel that should draw a new gathering of readers… IF it is not a one trick wonder.
But first, the story. It’s a typical Betty & Veronica story as a new guy (who is nothing but trouble) threatens to break apart Betty & Veronica as one of them realizes the guy is no good, which may tear the duo apart as he becomes a point of contention that turns the two friends against each other. Of course it may be typical B&V, but that isn’t always a bad thing (if you think about it).
Written with abit more thought and character construct than some of these stories in this Digest, the new look comes with a solid writing style and a promise of greatness that will last long past this experiment (if Archie knew what was good for it).
Over the next 4 issues (Betty & Veronica Double Digest #151 to #154) this will run… but then what? Hopefully Archie Comics has an eye towards the future, and keeps this team together for more and more storylines past this point, because if the series turns out to be a gimmicky one-trick pony then the only ones who are going to suffer from it’s shortness is Archie Comics itself.
To the future of this new step in the evolution of Betty & Veronica, and the future of Archie Comics as a long lived company looking to reach a new audience, Betty & Veronica Double Digest #151 gets… what… it’s only 24 pages and most of it is reprints? Well that may be true, but it’s still a solid own if you are a fan of the pairing (or looking for something new to sink your teeth into that’s abit of serious romantic drama, aka Bad Boy Trouble, and a large fistful of teen angst humor).
Betty & Veronica Double Digest #151 get 4 new age artistic makeovers out of 5.