Betty & Veronica Bad Boy Trouble

This is a fantastic story, in my opinion. All Archie fans will be delighted when they read this.

Early in 2007, Archie Comics announced that they were going to try a "new look" for Betty and Veronica. I grew up on Archie, so while I was initially skeptical, I was intrigued enough to pick the book up and try it out. In Bad Boy Trouble, a new kid comes to town. Nick St. Clair is the sort of rough kid who cuts up in class, stars fights, sneaks into movies and has no qualms about putting the moves on Betty while dating Veronica. Betty and her friends have to convince Ronnie to dump the bad boy before it's too late. The aim of this book is pretty clear -- Archie Comics is hoping to hold on to readers (particularly female readers) who are starting to get a little too old for the typical Archie fare. The art style is less cartoonish and the storyline is a little more mature than we're used to seeing out of Archie and the gang. It actually reads like an old-fashioned romance comic, except the writing is a bit more sophisticated. As a lifelong Archie fan, I'm okay with this. It's not a brilliant comic, but it's decent enough, and it's one that I think may appeal pretty well to the target audience. As long as Archie doesn't abandon the classic look, I have no problem with the occasional story in this "new look."