Jaime found this and passed it along:
It’s the blissful expression on Betty’s face, combined with the sheer terror on Archie’s, that really sells the last panel. Her parents are away on a weekend vacation. Jughead is in Shelbyville at a chess tournament. Veronica is distracted, thanks to tipping off Reggie that Archie would be “otherwise occupied.” Moose and Dilton are useless. Archie is all hers, and as she lies glibly to Ronnie, she knows at last the sweet taste of triumph.
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The image just isn’t working.
I’m waiting for the Betty Cooper/Golden Age Wonder Woman crossover.
Oh, gosh, I think I’ve actually seen this one during my Archie days. What memories.
Jaime, don’t leave us hanging. When/where can we see the rest?
Y’know, and I mean this as kindly as possible, there is a certain point at which ‘Oh those wacky teens’ really no longer suffices as an explanation. Clearly, this – and many of the previous Betty Cooper Is Insane posts – featured highlight stories which, in-setting, seem to just… accept this insanity as day-to-day life in Riverdale. Sooner or later though, the attempted murder, recreational drug use, kidnapping, stalking.. oh, the list goes on.. sooner or later, all that stops being ‘oh those wacky teens’, and starts becoming ‘tried as an adult’.
Though of course, I doubt it’ll happen. The only reason Betty Cooper will ever go to jail is if she’s following Archie in. Archie will have broken Jughead’s kneecaps in order to get the message across to him that no, he cannot borrow another five dollars for hamburgers, what with his outstanding debt of approx. $20,000 for same. Betty will commit a crime with roughly the same sentence, not thinking that men and women tend to go to different jails..
Jughead at a chess tournament? Shouldn’t it be a hamburger eating contest? Dilton can be at the chess tournament.
In Shelbyville, Jughead paused as he looked at the chess board. He’d faced easy opponents the first three rounds, but this time something was… odd. He glanced up across the table towards his fourth opponent of the day, calmly glaring into the poor teenager’s eyes. His opponent had beads of sweat across his brow, and couldn’t maintain a cool composed glare back at Jughead.
Outward, Jughead appeared collected, focused. Inward, his mind frantically played out the scenario not on the board but in the room, in the entire school. This was all being manipulated, the school, the setup, the players. Every player he had faced became pawns in his mind, not rooks or knights or…
…queens…
This isn’t a tournament, Jughead screamed into his own brain. This is a trap.
He stood, turning to face an audience that had not applauded or cheered all day. “All right,” he shouted, risking it all in this uncertain moment. “What did Betty promise you to have you kill me?”
And the room erupted, knives and clubs pulled from concealed locations, as they charged from the arena benches…
Haha, total PaulW win.
That said, some people pay good money to get tied up by a leggy blonde. I doubt Archie is that horrified.
“Poor Jughead,” Archie thought, ruefully. He had been a good pawn in all his machinations, keeping Betty at a safe distance during her most psychotic attempts to force him into choosing between Veronica and her.
“He might still survive,” Archie thought. Jughead had proven himself highly resourceful, if naive and unwitting in his role in Archie’s web over Riverdale.
“But tonight,” Archie thought, “tonight Betty’s ‘plans’ for me are just perfect.” A perfect opportunity to enjoy the pleasures of her impressive if crazed skills, while still remaining in control of Veronica, her father, and his vast fortunes and control over the Riverdale PD.
I imagine she prepared for this by dancing naked to “Goodnight Horses”.
I was here earlier in the day and only the last panel was shown then. I assumed that was all you were showing us. I wonder why I couldn’t see the first part then.
I find it interesting that Jughead’s chess tournament is in Shelbyville, which, as everybody knows, is right next to Springfield. So clearly, Riverdale is in that same general area. No wonder I’ve never been able to figure out what state they’re in! It makes more sense now that I think of the time the gang pulled up in front of Homer’s house in Archie’s car, and tossed him out with a warning to ‘stay out of Riverdale’. I guess Riverdale’s hatred of Springfield is even greater than Shelbyville’s. Local rivalries can be so fierce sometimes.
Archie, keep your hands at the level of your eyes!
From what I remember, Betty took up the hobby of macrame, and begin making all kinds of hideous, useless stuff. All her friends and family complained and were getting tired of ugly gifts. So that’s how it led into Betty exclaiming she was going to make something “real handy.”
Hope Archie remembers the safeword!
I remember this comic. There was a copy was in the massive collection stashed away at my grandparent’s cottage.
@MDF, wait. You have more evidence?