History YMMV / ArchieComics

** The much bigger values dissonance comes from any depiction of gender roles throughout the years. Mild stuff like what it means when a guy in the '50s gives a girl his class pin / class ring (that he wants to go steady with her), to more heinous things like how just the ''idea'' of a woman being a doctor or a lawyer is ''a punchline'', or how Jughead used to be called a "woman-hater", which sounds needlessly misogynist, while today he'd be called asexual.

** And how! (the trope was originally YKTTW'd as [[TropeNamers Emo Jughead]]). Despite the fact that Jughead is usually the most offbeat and non-conformist of the group, he was always the one shown experimenting with new fads or subcultures of fashion. He's been an EmoTeen, a {{Goth}}, a skateboarder, a punk, etc. over the years, generally hopping on as a sign of his own counter-culture compared to the more milquetoast cast.

* StrawmanHasAPoint: One of the Love Showdown comics has Cheryl's {{Jerkass}} brother Jason taunt Archie by saying, "At least I'm not some freckled-face goofus who can't make up his mind about a woman." That's a perfect description of Archie.

* SnarkBait: The company, due to its horrendous ScheduleSlip thanks to overextending itself incredibly badly. Whenever a new title comes out, expect comic readers to muse how long it'll last until the comic either gets cancelled or gets put into DevelopmentHell

* {{Shipping}}: A common FanFic concept features Jughead paired up with someone, usually Betty. Some writers themselves have commented that they'd like to see the two put together, but ultimately can't break up the ultimate Love Triangle at the heart of the stories.
* ShipToShipCombat: It's borderline encouraged. Betty/Archie vs. Ronnie/Archie has been a long-standing debate for decades, even if many people are basing it on second-hand knowledge as they've never read the series. Archie/Jughead, Betty/Jughead, Ethel/Jughead, Betty/Reggie, and Reggie/Veronica are often added into the mix, too.

** One particular issue from the 60s involved a predator on the loose kissing all the high school girls and running off before they can be identified. Archie and Reggie assume it is Jughead until the person kisses Archie. Reggie [[MistakenForGay still thinks it's Jughead]] however Archie thinks it's a girl. It turns out it was Betty. She wanted to secretly kiss Archie but devised a plan to kiss random girls and throw him off. Yes, including Veronica. Betty's plan doesn't make much sense but she has at least kissed girls in canon.

** Every main character, especially Betty. Each character drifts from likable to completely insane. The disparity is due to CharacterizationMarchesOn.

** Is Archie a milquetoast goodie-goodie who borders on being a Canon Sue instead of the everyman he's meant to be? Also, is he just an absent-inded date, or is he so selfish, fickle and manipulative as to be after AnythingThatMoves?

** Why exactly Betty and Veronica like Archie, to the point of fighting over him constantly, but don't mind his fickle heart, is up for multiple interpretations. Some fans think that the two have UnresolvedSexualTension and may not even know it.
** Jughead has been interpreted as asexual by many, or as being in love with Archie but hiding it. The latter got especially popular when Kevin appeared, and he and Jughead got along easy. However, there was a story arc that addressed this directly; it turns out it's a case of TheOneThatGotAway.

*** Also, his obsession with Archie. Some fans believe he is in love with Archie but hiding it. Others insist that every action Reggie takes towards him, no matter how violent or cruel, is actually his reaching out to Archie in his own twisted way. It's hinted in-series that Reggie is [[GreenEyedMonster jealous]] of how Archie is loved by everyone for who he is while Reggie has to put on a strong front.

** Reggie's jerkassery has become something of an InformedAttribute over the years, as his character has definitely softened and become more sympathetic while characters (including himself) still describe him as "Rotten Reggie". It's gotten to the point where many readers consider Reggie to be the everyman who represents teens as a whole instead of the {{Jerkass}} ProudElite.

*** Also, his obsession with Archie. Some fans believe he is in love with Archie but hiding it. Others insist that every action Reggie takes towards him, no matter how violent or cruel, is actually his reaching out to Archie in his own twisted way. It's hinted in-series that Reggie is [[GreenEyedMonster jealous]] of how Archie is loved by everyone for who he is while Reggie has to [[JerkassFacade put on a strong front]].

** On the other hand, considering how notoriously cheap Archie's dad is, this joke might be even funnier now.

* RecycledScript: Used often and unabashedly, due to the incredible number of stories already in existence and the short timeframe of an Archie Comics reader. And, of course, no one would notice because they were for kids. Anyone who's been reading for more than a decade could easily pick up a Digest collection and find that only the cover story was new to them.
** One digest ''twice'' featured short strips with Jughead walking into a haberdashery and asking the man behind the counter to take a tie out of the window because he couldn't stand the sight of it or it was so ugly it gave him a headache every time he walked past the store.
** The same Jughead gag showed up in two different digests released ''in the same week'' of that month.
*** It's been worse. One digest reused a near-exact version of a joke in two comics ''on the same page''.
** This was (possibly) lampshaded on one of the covers. Archie mentions that the comics will now be printed on recycled paper. Either Jughead or Reggie responds, "Your jokes have been recycled for years!"
*** Both, actually. They did the same gag twice.
** A big, current example: several of the "New Look" stories have just been taken (characters, whole sections of dialogue, etc.) from the "Archie Novels" series from the early 1990s. Moose & Midge's break-up, Veronica & Betty fighting about Nick St. Claire, and Archie moving away were all topics taken.
** There's also the faithful Archie Joke Generating-Laugh Unit 3000, always good for an oldie but goodie, and noted courtesy http://joshreads.com/
** Joked about in an episode of ''Series/{{Friends}}'' where Chandler sells a story to the company where Archie temporarily becomes Reggie's butler to earn some extra money, based on his own time working as Joey's assistant. Joey fails to see the parallel but does wind up remembering that they've done a similar story in the past.

* LesYay: Betty and Veronica also have quite a bit between them. Which in modern times has had many a fan wonder why they don't just forget Archie.

* LesYay: Betty and Veronica also have quite a bit between them. Which in modern times has had many a fan wonder why they just don't forget Archie.

*** Also, his obsession with Archie. Some fans believe he is in love with Archie but hiding it. Others insist that every action Reggie takes towards him, no matter how violent or cruel, is actually his reaching out to Archie in his own twisted way. It's hinted in-series that Reggie is jealous of how Archie is loved by everyone for who he is while Reggie has to [[JerkassFacade put on a strong front]].

** The much bigger values dissonance comes from any depiction of gender roles throughout the years. Mild stuff like what it means when a guy in the '50s gives a girl his class pin / class ring (that he wants to go steady with her), to more heinous things like how just the ''idea'' of a woman being a doctor or a lawyer is ''a punchline'', or how Jughead used to called a "woman-hater" which sounds needlessly misogynist, while today he'd be called asexual.

* HoYay:
** Frequently with Archie, as Jughead's famously not interested in girls. Jughead dating a future descendant of Archie doesn't help matters. With Jughead the woman-avoider, though, this is usually more on Jughead's side.

** Betty and Veronica also have quite a bit of [[HoYay Les Yay]] between them. Which in modern times has had many a fan wonder why they just don't forget Archie.
** One particular issue from the 60s involved a predator on the loose kissing all the high school girls and running off before they can be identified. Archie and Reggie assume it is Jughead until the person kisses Archie. Reggie [[MistakenForGay still thinks it's Jughead]] however Archie thinks it's a girl. It turns out it was Betty. She wanted to secretly kiss Archie but devised a plan to kiss random girls and throw him off. Yes, including Veronica. Betty's plan doesn't make much sense but she has at least kissed girls in canon.

** Reggie's jerkassery has become something of an InformedAttribute over the years, as his character has definitely softened and become more sympathetic while characters (including himself) still describe him as "Rotten Reggie". It's gotten to the point where many readers consider Reggie to be the everyman who represents teens as a whole instead of the JerkAss ProudElite.

** Believe it or not, arguments have popped up surrounding Betty: Is she a HouseWife[=/=]ProperLady in waiting (pro) or a {{Yandere}} in waiting (con)? This [[http://mightygodking.com/index.php/2009/06/03/it-puts-the-lotion-on-its-skin/ article]] from [=MightyGodKing=] is definitely in the Beyond-Yandere column. A large portion of this is due to CharacterizationMarchesOn.

** Is Archie a milquetoast goodie-goodie who borders on being a CanonSue instead of the everyman he's meant to be? Also, is he just an absent-inded date, or is he so selfish, fickle and manipulative as to be after AnythingThatMoves?

** One digest featured a series of stories wherein the conditions within the school after Mr. Weatherbee had installed surveillance cameras brought up comparisons to ''Literature/NineteenEightyFour'' and was followed up with a series of stories dealing with corrupt bankers, crippling regulatory edicts from the government against private business owners[[note]]though Mr. Lodge's resolution of that one is a CrowningMomentOfAwesome for him as he basically told the Pentagon to stick it where the sun don't shine[[/note]], and stifling the freedom of the press by arresting a journalist [Reggie's father] for printing a negative story. Such incidents have not only happened in real life, but in greater magnitudes since the time of printing.
** Ever since Jughead got confirmed as asexual, Trula Twyst's attempts to get him "interested" in girls seem a lot less like a gag and a lot more like [[CureYourGays Cure Your Aces.]]

** Betty and Veronica also have quite a bit of LesYay between them. Which in modern times has had many a fan wonder why they just don't forget Archie.

** The much bigger values dissonance comes from any depiction of gender roles throughout the years. Mild stuff like what it means when a guy in the '50s gives a girl his class pin / class ring (that he wants to go steady with her), to more heinous things like how just the ''idea'' of a woman being a doctor or a lawyer is ''a punchline.''

* JerkSue: DependingOnTheWriter, as usual, but for a time, Reggie was basically Archie's AlwaysSomeoneBetter. He was portrayed as a better student, a better athlete, and a better [[TheCasanova Casanova]]. Reggie's only real fault was that he was so unbearably '''smug''' about all of this.

* RecycledScript: Used often and unabashedly, due to the incredible number of stories already in existence and the short timeframe of an Archie Comics reader. And, of course, no one would notice [[ViewersAreMorons because they were for kids]]. Anyone who's been reading for more than a decade could easily pick up a Digest collection and find that only the cover story was new to them.

*** Also, his obsession with Archie. Some fans believe he is in love with him but hiding it. Others insist that every action Reggie takes towards him, no matter how violent or cruel, is actually his reaching out to him in his own twisted way. It's hinted in-series that Reggie is jealous of how Archie is loved by everyone for who he is while Reggie has to [[JerkassFacade put a strong front]].
** Believe it or not, arguments have popped up surrounding Betty- is she a HouseWife / ProperLady in waiting (pro) or a {{Yandere}} in waiting (con)? This [[http://mightygodking.com/index.php/2009/06/03/it-puts-the-lotion-on-its-skin/ article]] from [=MightyGodKing=] is definitely in the Beyond-Yandere column. A large portion of this is due to CharacterizationMarchesOn.

** Jughead has been interpreted as asexual by many, or as being in love with Archie but hiding it. The latter got especially popular when Kevin appeared and he and Jughead got along easy. However, there was a story arc that addressed this directly, it turns out it's a case of TheOneThatGotAway.
** Is Archie a milquetoast goodie-goodie who borders on being a CanonSue instead of the everyman he's meant to be? Also is he just an absent minded date, or is he selfish, fickle and manipulative that is after AnythingThatMoves?

* BestKnownForTheFanservice: A few readers know the series only for the beautiful girls drawn by Dan De Carlo, especially Betty and Veronica. There is a reason why they appear so often in bikini or other skimpy outfits..

** ComicBook/SabrinaTheTeenageWitch become so popular to get her own series and several shows.
** A recent comic had Sabrina switch everyone's gender. Fans really want more of Reggie's counterpart, Regina, who is a proper AlphaBitch.

** If Big Moose is too dumb to tell what 2 + 2 is, or where the Leaning Tower of Pisa is, then how the heck did he make it all the way to being a Junior in High School?
** He's a star athlete, usually the best one in any sport they compete in. And, Dilton DID tutor him well enough to get a 75 on a science test so he could stay on the basketball team.
** One VerySpecialEpisode tries to establish him as a dyslectic, which could at least explain some of his poor schoolwork.
* GermansLoveDavidHasselhoff: The franchise is (or was, at least in the 80s and 90s) very popular in Mexico, to the grade a ''theater play'' existed there, not to mention many of the spin-offs are still published in Mexico to this date.
* HarsherInHindsight:

** One digest featured a series of stories wherein the conditions within the school after Mr. Weatherbee had installed surveillance cameras brought up comparisons to ''Literature/NineteenEightyFour'' and was followed up with a series of stories dealing with corrupt bankers, crippling regulatory edicts from the government against private business owners[[note]]though Mr. Lodge's resolution of that one is a CrowningMomentOfAwesome for him as he basically told the Pentagon to stick it where the sun don't shine[[/note]], and stifling the freedom of the press by arresting a journalist (Reggie's father) for printing a negative story. Such incidents have not only happened in real life, but in greater magnitudes since the time of printing.

** Frequently with Archie, as Jughead's famously not interested in girls. Him dating a future descendant of Arch's doesn't help matters. With Jughead the woman-avoider, though this is usually more on Jughead's side.
** The most closeted character is probably Reggie, a classic over-compensator whose obsession with Archie frequently turns into an open man-crush. Him becoming attracted to Archie in drag a few times doesn't help.
** Betty and Veronica also have quite a bit of LesYay between them as well. Which in modern times has had many a fan wonder why they just don't forget Archie.

* JerkSue: DependingOnTheWriter, as usual, but for a time, Reggie was basically Archie's AlwaysSomeoneBetter. He was portrayed as a better student, a better athlete, and a better [[TheCasanova Casanova]]. His only real fault was that he was so unbearably '''smug''' about all of this.

* RecycledScript: Used often and unabashedly, due to the incredible number of stories already in existence and the short timeframe of an Archie Comics reader. And, of course, no one would notice [[ViewersAreMorons because they were for kids]]. Anyone who's been reading for more than a decade could easily pick up a Digest collection and find only the cover story was new to them.
** One digest ''twice'' featured short strips with Jughead walking into a haberdashery and asking the man behind the counter to take a tie out of the window because he couldn't stand the sight of it/it was so ugly it gave him a headache every time he walked past the store.

** A big, current example: several of the "New Look" stories have just been taken (characters, whole sections of dialogue, etc.) from the "Archie Novels" series from the early 1990s. Moose & Midge's break-up, Ron & Betty fighting about Nick St. Claire, and Archie moving away were all topics taken.

* {{Shipping}}: A common FanFic concept features Jughead paired up with someone, usually Betty. Some writers themselves have commented that they'd like to see the two put together, but ultimately can't break up the ultimate Love Triangle at the heart of the stories
* ShipToShipCombat: It's borderline encouraged. Betty/Archie vs Ronnie/Archie has been a long-standing debate for decades, even if many people are basing it on second-hand knowledge as they've never read the series. Archie/Jughead, Betty/Jughead, Ethel/Jughead, Betty/Reggie, and Reggie/Veronica are often added into the mix too.
* StrawmanHasAPoint: One of the Love Showdown comics has Cheryl's {{Jerkass}} brother Jason taunt Archie by saying "At least I'm not some freckled-face goofus who can't make up his mind about a woman." That's a perfect description of him.
* ValuesDissonance:

** And how! (the trope was originally YKTTW'd as [[TropeNamers Emo Jughead]]). Despite the fact that Jughead is usually the most unique and non-conformist of the group, he was always the one shown experimenting with new fads or subcultures of fashion. He's been an EmoTeen, a {{Goth}}, a skateboarder, a punk, etc. over the years, generally hopping on as a sign of his own counter-culture compared to the more milquetoast cast.

* WhatDoYouMeanItWasntMadeOnDrugs: ''Jughead's Diner'' was a bizarre story even by Archie standards. He was the owner of a restaurant in Dinersville, which inhabited a parallel universe.

** Believe it or not, arguments have popped up surrounding Betty- is she a HouseWife / ProperLady in waiting (pro) or a {{Yandere}} in waiting (con)? This [[http://mightygodking.com/index.php/2009/06/03/it-puts-the-lotion-on-its-skin/ article]] from [=MightyGodKing=] is definitely in the Beyond-Yandere column.

* BaseBreaker: Every main character, especially Betty. Each character drifts from likable to completely insane. The disparity is due to CharacterizationMarchesOn.

* BestKnownForTheFanservice: Few readers know the series only for the beautiful girls drawn by Dan De Carlo, especially Betty and Veronica. There is a reason why they appear so often in bikini or other skimpy outfits..

** Jughead is pretty popular, at least with nostalgic fans.

** ComicBook/SabrinaTheTeenageWitch become so popular to get her own series and several animated/live show.

*** Archina and especially J.J. are very popular ''(a picture of them and Regina can be found [[http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-yKw3LNA8R5A/UDVEUqWkmQI/AAAAAAAAArQ/HRn5YVJh0yU/s1600/gang1.jpg here]])''. Archina has cute GirlishPigtails and people enjoy her reverse harem more than the usual version, while J.J.'s fashion choices, apathetic personality, and BigEater qualities make her attractive to people (much more so than normal Jughead).

* HarsherInHindsight: Of course, being such a long runner, this is to be expected. In one comic, done when mobile phones were new, Sabrina (''way'' before her sitcom days) crashes into a telephone pole while talking to one while flying on a broomstick. (Little would anyone realize how dangerous distracted drivers would become.)

* {{Shipping}}: A common FanFic concept features Jughead paired up with someone, usually Betty. Some writers themselves have commented that they'd like to see the two put together, but ultimately can't break up the ultimate Love Triangle at the heart of the stories.

* ValuesDissonance: One old strip had Archie's dad flip out over Archie asking for ''ten whole dollars'' for gas.

* WereStillRelevantDammit: And how! (the trope was originally YKTTW'd as [[TropeNamers Emo Jughead]]. Despite the fact that Jughead is usually the most unique and non-conformist of the group, he was always the one shown experimenting with new fads or subcultures of fashion. He's been an EmoTeen, a {{Goth}}, a skateboarder, a punk, etc. over the years, generally hopping on as a sign of his own counter-culture compared to the more milquetoast cast.