Undercover Archie

The BETTY COOPER, BETTY COOPER Saga!

BETTY and ME #79-81 

(Oct 1986 - Feb 1977)

PART ONE

In October of 1986 with issue #79 of the long running Betty and Me comic, writer Frank Doyle and artist Stan Goldberg took an interesting turn with the story, riffing off of the TV melodrama 'Mary Hartman, Mary Hartman', and creating the 8 part 'Betty Cooper, Betty Cooper' storyline.

Some of the bizarre story lines, mixed with typical Archie humor, made for a good fit and it spiced the title up in a way, that Archie fans even talk about today! It started off a bit clumsy (vampire uncle, kidnappers, face splotches) but no less at full speed ahead.

(from Betty and Me #79)

By the second issue things start to get rolling as they get mostly through the Vampire Uncle storyline and Betty annoys her kidnappers enough that they escape HER. That's when the fun really begins...

Betty becomes possessed by the spirit of 'Felicity Goodbody!', an evil gypsy, and starts causing havoc for everyone! If this was a TV show, it'd be the type of episodes that a normal reserved Betty Cooper would love to play out!

Doyle and Goldberg go to town with, and take great pleasure in giving Betty's 'Dark Side' a chance to shine!

There are plenty of laugh worthy moments, that taken out of context are surprising...

(from Betty and Me #80)

(from Betty and Me #80)

So, Archie's in a coma, the 'Limping Man' is after Jughead, and Felicity Goodbody is going wild!

What's not to like?

It's no wonder they kept this going for almost a year! What Archie fan could resist it?

Frank Doyle's story is funny and right on target with it's homage to TV soaps of the day (especially the newer type of TV soaps of the late 70's, early 80's) and I not only wonder what made them go this route in the first place, but... why they didn't continue it?

Sure, at times, it's rather bizarre, most of the Archie titles didn't exactly vary all that much from book to book, and for a little while, Betty and Me really stood out. Maybe they figured they could always do these kinds of stories in Life with Archie.

(from Betty and Me #81)

Stan Goldberg's art is solid as usual, in it's Dan DeCarlo house style. I like Stan's work, he tells a solid story, understands body language and expression, and knows what funny is. He's a workhorse and I'm sure Archie Comics loves him especially for that.

(Betty gets a spanking from Betty and Me #81)

These books are still cheap, so if you can find them, pick them up!

And there's always:

Buy comic books at mycomicshop.com

Join me next Friday for Part 2 (issues #82-84) of my look back at 'Betty Cooper, Betty Cooper!'

It's what I consider the best stories of the run!

(from Betty and Me #81)