This has been far too long in coming. I bought these over probably over a year ago. They’ve been sitting in a pile in my living room all this time, mocking me. These digests are all from Coas Books. Their supply of Archie digests ebb and flow and I picked these up when they had a bunch over a couple of trips. I’ve mentioned before that Archie Comics has stopped making traditional digests. (Now they’re sort of miniature magazines.) I haven’t decided what I’ll do with this batch, since they’re likely not going to be around in used bookstores much longer.
Betty and Veronica Jumbo Comics #242
This is not a “double digest.” This is truly a jumbo-sized digest with maybe 30 more pages. I might not have picked this up but for the size just to get a look at. This one will keep you busy for a while.
It starts off with Archie trying to date Ginger, but her cat keeps getting between them, including getting Archie stuck in a window. Finally, the cat ends up falling for Archie and approves of him. There are then several Betty and Veronica stories, including Veronica doing some matchmaking for her butler, Smithers.
There’s a Sabrina section featuring stories by Holly G. In the first one, she meets Jay and Silent Bob as ghosts in a haunted house. They quickly make nuisances of themselves, just like in the movies. This was an odd crossover for a kid’s book with an R-rated movie, but there was an actual official crossover with Archie a couple of years ago.
Sabrina also twins herself in another story to go out with Harvey and her magic school schoolmate, Shinji, at the same time. This was more a romance story than Sabrina usually is and it has continuity. Holly G. also draws Sabrina’s aunts more pleasant and normal-looking than they ever are elsewhere.
Lots more Betty and Veronica, including a shower scene. Various Archie artists love putting the girls in the shower. There’s a long Veronica story with her researching the Revolutionary War with the aid of a ghost.
There’s section of 50’s Archie. They seem slightly embarrassed by this material for some reason and even put a disclaimer on it. The girls are all-out fighting over Archie in this era. Betty is “Crazy Betty” here, but also sort of Hard Luck Betty, who has trouble getting a date.
The girls are pretty fashionable. In this story, Betty gets knocked on the head and insists she’s actually Veronica. It turns out to be a scam on her part, but Mr. Lodge sets her straight. This material, I guess, could be shocking to someone only familiar with Nice Girl Betty.
There are further stories with Veronica getting help from her cousin Marcy and the computer Geek Patrol, she becomes a glamorous teen detective to solve a mystery at school, and joins the circus as a clown.
Isn’t this a sweet pinup by Dan Parent? This was a pretty good volume. Certainly, it was big enough that some of it had to be good.
Betty and Veronica Halloween Annual #237
This Halloween digest begins with a rather un-Halloween story of Archie on a talk show being confronted by all of girls he’s going out with. That could be horror story, but all of these girls still want him.
This is by no means a complete list. It even includes an out-of-season Noelle, Santa’s daughter. It’s actually not much of a confrontation, as everyone agrees to adore Archie. I’m so jealous, but not angry enough to stop reading his comic books.
This more in spirit with a Halloween party with the gang. Betty manages to scare everyone with an elaborate prank. Who would have suspected her?
There’s a good-sized Sabrina section. There’s a couple of Gravestone Heights era stories, though I wonder if there’s only a couple of stories from this era, since that’s all I’ve ever seen.
Sabrina then introduces a warlock to the concept of love. I’ve seen these Sabrina stories before, though.
It’s an ad from the Good Old Days of 2015, when Archie was publishing a bunch of digests and putting new stories in them.
Ronnie in a tie. So 80’s. So fashionable. Sigh. So cute.
Okay, it’s not Melody from Josie and the Pussycats. She’s Betty’s Fairy Godmother, sort of. She ends up stealing Archie from her and Veronica. We’ll add her to Archie’s girlfriend list. (This does seem to be about as close as Archie has ever gotten to dating Melody. How are these two immune to each other’s attractiveness?)
This is cute with Betty imagining herself as a flapper with the rest of the gang in the Roaring 20’s. The short hair style doesn’t look good on Veronica here, not like it does in the 60’s. There’s also a story with Betty Cooper, Girl Detective. She gets her man, the criminal, but loses her man, Archie, to Veronica.
Great Rex Lindsey drawn story with Mr. Lodge explaining that he’s spoiled his daughter, but she’s not a bad kid thanks to her relatively normal friends. There’s a Little Betty and Veronica Halloween story and a couple more Halloween stories in the back. It’s a fun digest, but I’ve read a bunch of the material inside in other digests. Archie’s been around for over 80 years, but they’re not drawing on enough older material and keep just recycling the newer stuff.
Betty and Veronica Holiday Annual #248
A couple of stories about decorating start this Christmas digest, including Betty’s grandma reminiscing about falling in love with her husband. Betty then does some shopping for Veronica, who’s out sick. Betty makes the mistake of haggling on the prices of the high-end gifts on Veronica’s list. “Veronica Lodge does not pay ‘reasonable’ prices!” Veronica insists on being billed for the full amount.
Great Dan Decarlo drawing of Veronica unhappy at a party. The Sugar Plum Fairy tries to help her and Betty get time with Archie, but they just ending up fighting each other before finally making up and agreeing to share him. What is it about this redheaded kid?
A holiday section with Sabrina follows, but its 70’s Sabrina. Nothing to get too excited about. Various random Betty and Veronica stories follow. There’s one with Veronica dressed in disguise with a wig. In another, Betty thinks Veronica has had a nose job. Then, Veronica goes snooping in Betty’s room to find her diary.
You just have to love this panel with the chickens. There’s a Little Betty and Veronica Christmas story, along with a Little Sabrina story with a snowman brought to life. More Christmas stories with the girls follow, including a two-part story where Veronica isn’t sure what to get her parents before she goes to Jamaica for the holidays. She decides on canceling her trip to spend it with them.
Unfortunately, I’d read most of these stories before, so I didn’t get much out of this. Still, it’s an Archie Christmas digest and it’s great for the season.
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