Writer: George Gladir
Pencils: Dan DeCarlo
Inks: Dan DeCarlo
Colors: Barry Grossman
Letters: Bill Yoshida*
Original Publication: Betty and Veronica, No. 110
Cover Date: April, 1997
Length: 6 pages
I’m reviewing this story from the digital edition, which came out on November 15, 2023.
Betty and Veronica are on the slopes. Betty notices Archie is snowboarding. Ronnie laughs and says it’s a ridiculous sport. Cheryl doesn’t think it’s so ridiculous. She wants to “pick up some snowboarding tips from the master”. Betty angrily says Cheryl is trying to make a fool of Archie, despite the fact that we haven’t seen Archie to be a bad snowboarder. Ronnie says it’s their job to make a fool of Archie.
Ronnie has them race to a store, because they “don’t have a minute to lose”. Ronnie quickly buys two snowboards.
While on the ski lift, Betty notices Cheryl is leaving Archie.
When they join Archie, he explains Cheryl went to see her brother and will be back. Ronnie doesn’t like that. The girls drag Archie off to “conserve [his] energy” for tonight’s dancing.
That night, at the dance, it’s 7:00 PM (or after), and Archie hasn’t shown up yet. Actually, he has, but Cheryl got to him first. So how did Ronnie and Betty not notice them? In a moment of clarity, Ronnie says it’s demeaning to be chasing Archie like this. They try to get Eric and Jacques, the skiers that they met yesterday, to dance with them. The guys want the girls to do them “a great big favor”. The girls think they know what it is.
Actually, they want them to mind their table, because Cheryl promised to dance with them. Ronnie and Betty are shocked (for some reason). It’s okay with Archie, who will wait with the girls. Ronnie sees a poster for tomorrow’s Snow Valley Snowboard Contest and asks Archie if he’s entered. He is. Ronnie drags him to her snowmobile to take him back to his cottage to get some rest (which confuses him, because it’s not even 8:00). Betty is “sure” the competition is getting plenty of rest.
The next day, at the Snow Valley Freestyle Snowboard Contest, Ronnie is pissed that Cheryl got here first again. Cheryl kisses Archie and tells “Archiekins'” that she’s sure he’ll win. What’s with the apostrophe? Archie is “rarin’ to go” but immediately wipes out. Ronnie and Betty run to check on him. The doctor says it’s no fracture, just a severe strain, but tapes up Archie’s right foot, anyway. Archie landed face first, and his legs were dangling in the air. How did he strain his foot?
The doctor tells the girls that Archie will need plenty of rest. Betty spots Cheryl approaching. She and Ronnie get Archie on Ronnie’s snowmobile.
Back at the Lodges’ place at the resort, Hiram and Hermione are hanging out. Hiram asks where the girls are, and Hermione tells him. When they get back, Hiram says “I hope Archie brought back a trophy!” Why would he care? Ronnie says she and Betty brought one back. *vomits*
This story was okay, I guess, but they did a kind of similar one not too long ago.
Later in the issue is an outdated order form that refers to the “all new ‘Cheryl Goes Hollywood mini-series”. All of the issues had already come out last year.
A bit later, in his Editor’s Notebook, Victor Gorelick announces Cheryl’s ongoing series, starting “next month”. According to the January 1997 sales chart, the first issue actually came out in the same month as this issue. Gorelick claims “Over the last year I’ve received millions…maybe thousands…at least a few hundred letters, and definitely more than fifty, requesting CHERYL BLOSSOM in her own regular comic series. Being the editorial ‘Genie’ at Archie Comics, I’ve been empowered (by the publishers of course) to grant your wish.” He previews the first issue and also asks for feedback on the new Sabrina the Teenage Witch sitcom.
Riverdale Reviewed 