Nicole Nalls Loves Archie Comics

By Venus Zine Staff
Published: September 7th, 2010 | 12:00am

When I was in 3rd grade, my father gave me a worn copy of Archie's Pals 'n' Gals. By the time I reached 4th grade I was spending most of my measly allowance on my Archie fix. Never mind that the kids from the small town of Riverdale never grew up. Or that as much as I wanted it to happen, Betty was never going to end up with Archie. I was hooked and for years, I kept coming back for more.

On the surface, Archie is simply a comic book. But if you dig deeper you see the mature themes that Archie and his friends represented. Archie’s attraction to Betty and Veronica? The Madonna-whore complex. Jughead’s inability to think of anything but food? Gluttony and an unhealthy obsession. Reggie, who is completely fixated on two things: besting Archie and his own reflection in the mirror? Bravado, jealousy, and a surplus of narcissism. Midge constantly worrying that every guy that talked to her would surely get pounded by Moose? A controlling relationship at the hands of an insecure person.

I wish I could say I’ve grown out of my Archie phase, but with the recent release of the ‘Life with Archie: The Married Life’ series (featuring two alternate universes where Archie is married to Betty and Veronica) I was sucked right back into their world. At some point I’ll start buying vintage Archie so I can turn my childhood obsession into an acceptable adult hobby. My fingers are crossed that, with all the Hollywood adaptions of comic books (like Josie and the Pussycats from a few years back), we'll see a film version (Taylor Lautner as Reggie??) soon, too.

Nicole Nalls is a Venus Zine intern.