Betty Comics

Archie: What type of writing training do you have?

Kathleen Webb: Technically, none!  I’m pretty much self-trained.  When I was growing up, my friends and I would make up stories, and I would draw those as well as write and draw new ones.  I never thought of myself has a writer until I started at Archie.  I thought of myself primarily as an artist.  People are often surprised to find out I can draw, too.  I think I also learned a lot reading the work of two of the best writers at Archie, Frank Doyle and Al Hartley.  They both had good pacing and great humor.  Al’s stories had a lot of heart.  His Betty’s Diary stories were gems, full of insight into Betty’s character.  Far and away he was also one of the best writers for Reggie, he had Reggie’s vanity and self-importance pegged.

Kathleen Webb: Oh yes.  It was my favorite title to read.  My sister was the one who got me started reading them.  My mom eventually had to buy two of each Archie title, to keep us from fighting over them.

Kathleen Webb: Betty & Veronica, Betty & Me, Archie and Sabrina.  My favorite artists were Dan DeCarlo, Al Hartley and Harry Lucey, and I used to follow titles that highlighted their work. 

Kathleen Webb: Dan DeCarlo, whom I wrote a fan letter to, encouraged me to try submitting a script to Archie.  He felt I had potential.  I sent in a four-page script that got sent back.  But the editor, Victor Gorelick, also felt I had potential, and he encouraged me to try submitting another story.  My second one sold, and I’ve been writing for Archie ever since.  I took that first rejected story and rewrote it into five pages, and sold it, too.

Kathleen Webb: The Golden Rule. Do unto others as you would have them do unto you.  Think more of others than yourself.  Encourage others.  Look for justice but also extend mercy.  And love each other, forgiving each other, especially since you’d want to be forgiven yourself.

Kathleen Webb: If I’m writing a story with that kind of message, I often ask myself, “am I being too preachy?”  Nothing turns off a reader more than being “preached” to.  In fact humor often helps in keeping a story from becoming too sanctimonious.  It also helps to keep a character aware of their own imperfections, so they don’t come across as “holier than thou.”

Kathleen Webb: Throwing Betty out of her “comfort zone” and into unusual situations.  Having her imagination run away with her, especially when it comes to Archie.

Kathleen Webb: Surfing the internet for the latest trends among teens.  Keeping my eyes and ears open in places where teens congregate, like the mall or church youth groups.

Kathleen Webb: There have been changes in their personalities since their inception.  I have a collection of Archie comics that goes back to the fifties, and I’ve read some from the forties.  In the late fifties Betty was very scheming, constantly trying to come between Archie and Veronica.  In the late sixties she became much more innocent, and hardly ever got to date Archie.  The eighties found her actually becoming more of Archie’s girl than Veronica.  Now Archie seems to divide his time evenly between the two girls.  Veronica in the fifties was much nicer than she tends to be now, less self-absorbed.  She started getting more conceited in the sixties.  Jughead’s always been lazy but he went through a faze in the eighties where he had four or five girlfriends, as opposed to absolutely hating girls prior to that.  I guess Archie’s pretty much been himself although in the eighties and early nineties it seemed like he lost a lot of his klutziness.  Fortunately he’s gotten it back (providing for good story material).  Reggie started off as mostly a well-to-do rival for Archie who was good at athletics.  In the late sixties there was a move to make him a prankster.  It sort of died down in the seventies but came back in the eighties.

Kathleen Webb: Some things never change, regardless of whether we use telephones to communicate or text message on cell phones.  Love triangles, rivalries, getting your heart broken, unrequited love, crushes, who’s the big man or girl on campus, misunderstood messages, hurt feelings, everlasting friendship, courting, studying, interacting with family members, dreams, hopes, aspirations, laughter, these things will always be timeless topics that everyone can relate to no matter what date the calendar shows.