‘Riverdale’: Betty and Veronica in a Classic Look for Halloween One-Shot Comic
Most new fans of the Archie comics characters come from The CW’s Riverdale and Netflix’s The Chilling Adventures of Sabrina. While a quick online search shows the classic comic adventures, not as many know the old comics still print. Betty and Veronica don their classic looks for a Halloween-themed one-shot comic, with an appearance from a certain teenage witch in Betty & Veronica Friends Forever: Halloween Spooktacular.
Betty and Veronica from two different Riverdales
Unlike The CW’s Riverdale, the Archie comics were much more light-hearted. Some aspects of the characters remain similar between the two versions, but Betty and Veronica can feel like totally different characters given the drastically different tones.
Betty Cooper in the comics was always the ‘girl next door.’ Played by Lili Reinhart, Riverdale explored her having a dark side to her. The darkest she got in the classic comics came from competing against her best friend, Veronica.
Veronica Lodge in the comics possesses a petty attitude and an ego. Her family was considered one of the richest in the world.
She is played by Netflix’s The Perfect Date’s Camila Mendes. Riverdale depicted the entire Lodge family as Latino and added more drama, especially concerning her father.
Betty and Veronica starred in their own series Betty & Veronica on-and-off since the 1950s. Daily Dead notes that Archie comics “release classic-style Halloween stories for kids of all ages every fall.”
And who better to guest star in a Halloween story than Sabrina the Teenage Witch?
Sabrina the teenage witch with more magic and less demonic forces
The comic includes both new and reprinted stories of Betty and Veronica as well as Sabrina.
Opening the comic is the new story ‘Best Witches.’ While shopping for Halloween costumes, the two girls come across a witch’s hat imbued with real magic. Initially only intending to play a few pranks, they accidentally unleash a spirit.
The two girls find themselves way over their heads until Sabrina shows up. With much more experience dealing with the supernatural, she’s able to take care of the spirit.
If there was a Dr. Strange of Archie comics, Sabrina would be the one.
The other adventures for Betty and Veronica
The issue comes with 5 main stories and a mini one-page story with Sabrina and Jughead.
The final two stories are actually parts one and two of the same story. When Archie and Veronica find themselves lost, they stop to ask for directions. However, the man they ask turns out to have some bizarre plans.
With a special elixir, the man, appropriately named Dr. Klaw, attempts to turn Archie and Veronica into cats with a special elixir.
The other stories follow more the fun, easy tone of the classic Archie comics and less of the adult-oriented Riverdale.
Whether the story follows Betty and Veronica watching scary movies, or discovering a strange man’s plot to turn people into cats, Betty & Veronica Friends Forever: Halloween Spooktacular provides an easy read to channel the Halloween spirit.
