I might have mentioned on other blogs, in other places, that my first exposure to romance came via Harlquin/Silhouette. I can still remember the first category romance I ever read (Permanent Fixture by Janet Joyce), but in all fairness I can technically argue that the exposure goes back even farther. As a child my teacher parents enjoyed summers off, and packed us up on long vacations to see national monuments and oddities worthy of the “world’s largest” label. To quell the boredom of staring down endless miles of passing pasture and road signs, Mom kept the VW bus stacked with Archie comics.

At the age of ten, I already understood the concept of the love triangle. Like other Archie fans, I suppose, I secretly pulled for Betty whenever Archie hit one of his many emotional crossroads. Where Veronica Lodge appeared artificial and seemed almost incompatible with the gang at Riverdale High (Honestly, public school for the millionaire’s daughter? It’s one thing to keep your kids grounded, but I just don’t see the Lodges denying their only child the best education possible. Sorry Miss Grundy.), Betty was Everygirl – the one you wanted to win in the end. She had a charm and sweetness that went ignored, and that baffled me. I suppose the Archie comics were also my first exposure to the grim reality of the “mean girls,” and thus inspired hope in their comeuppance.

To read that an upcoming story arc in the Archie universe has our favorite redhead proposing to Veronica, I must admit, is unnerving. Granted, while the good folks at Archie Comics are keeping mum on the six-issue event – and Betty fans commenting on the news articles are holding out hope – there is just something that bothers me about the whole thing. To me, the entire Archie franchise hinges on the perpetual cycle of “Betty or Veronica”. It is a smooth-running train that, if one of these spokes is removed, will most certainly derail. I don’t read Archie comics anymore, but I always imagined I would buy some for my little one when she is old enough to read them. I suppose it would be difficult for me to share something that has so drastically changed.

Many reactions I’ve seen to this announcement indicate a “jumping the shark” moment for Archie. Indeed, this is the comic book equivalent to the Professor choosing between Ginger and Maryann, to Stephanie Plum choosing between Morelli and Ranger, to Maddie and David finally doing it…some things just should remain sacred. To be honest, too, the idea of Archie losing his virginity…shudder. I spent many years believing nothing had been drawn underneath those pants.

So my plea to Archie Comics is this: keep the romantic entanglements the way they have been for the last 60-odd years. The point of Archie is that he doesn’t grow up, and in a way those of us who grew up with him can look back with some fondness about the mistakes from which we learned, and our own romantic triangles, or trapezoids.

Of course, if this is merely a plot to sell comics, have Archie move to Iowa…