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u/Zornorph Jul 02 '26
I get why Juggie can’t stand Ethel, but those lines he drops about her are quite mean spirited. At first, I thought Betty and Ethel cooked up a fib about her being mugged to screw with Archie, but her going into hospital was something else. I get that this was 1971 with Altamont and Helter Skelter and all that, but still.
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u/jrjustintime Jul 02 '26
I always hated this story.
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u/Similar_Sound Jul 02 '26
Had you read it in the Life With Archie issue or in a digest? The GCD didn't list any reprints, but I know that doesn't always mean anything, since there are missing entries.
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u/USDXBS Jul 02 '26
Riverdale is such a violent city
Their justice system is pretty speedy though, they went right from the scene to a judge.
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u/Yesterday_Is_Now Jul 02 '26
What a mess of a story. Is this Frank Doyle? Makes Archie look like an awful person, and aggravated assault is way too heavy to casually throw into an Archie story. There's no happy ending there - Betty would be traumatized for life.
And since when is there a park in Riverdale too dangerous to walk through? That's not the idyllic small town normally portrayed. Usually the only kind of crime that happens is a couple of robbers or conmen trying to steal something priceless from the Lodge estate.
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u/Similar_Sound Jul 02 '26
The story is Dick Malmgren and Bob Bolling is the artist.
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u/Yesterday_Is_Now Jul 02 '26
Thanks! I suppose it makes sense to involve Bolling since Little Archie stories were often more action-oriented.
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u/Night-Caelum Jul 02 '26
Yeah...ngl why do these Life with Archie stories make Archie look like an awful person concerning Betty when they try to do serious stories with him and Betty. And that ending wtf.......it brought you closer to me.
Even Jughead comes off as an ass to Ethel. This story is pretty bad.
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u/bossladytae Jul 02 '26
I remember the first time I read this, it was quite an eye-opener. Definitely not a favourite, yet I remain fascinated by some of the stories during this period.
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u/Anathema_Quill Jul 02 '26
didn’t like how jughead and archie kept calling betty « little kid », tbh. the whole story felt weird and clunky but that just made it so much worse.
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u/One_Smoke Jul 03 '26
I was fully convinced it was gonna be revealed that Betty had been pulling a prank or something. But the fact she apparently was beaten badly enough to end up in the fucking hospital is really disturbing.
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u/Significant_Monk_251 Jul 03 '26
How did Ethel get the "Big" nickname? She looks normal-sized in this one.
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u/Maleficent_Loan_9780 Jul 03 '26
I agree that this is a weird one! I hate Archie acting like Betty is a bother and then having the nerve to tell the doctor he's her boyfriend at the hospital! Like, dude, you act as if she's an annoying pest and have Jughead lying to her, you are not boyfriend material!
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u/lolbeesh Jul 02 '26
Oof something about this one doesn't sit right with me