Archie weds Veronica.

I thought it was the end of an era last year when Bruce Wayne aka Batman died last year in comic land.

But this is truly heartbreaking. After 65 years of keeping kids laughing as they grew up while these characters stayed teenagers, finally the gang of Riverdale High are growing up and graduating from college. And there's a marriage in store this year.

Only it ain't the one we all dreamed of. I mean, C'mon. We've all grown up rooting for our favourite blonde in the whole wide world, Betty to one day win over Archie with her eternal goodness and make him look beyond the money and ooh-laa-laa of Veronica.

As per the news release from Archie Comics Publications though, that ain't gonna happen. After 6 decades of entertaining us, Archie will finally be settling down. And well... the title says it all, doesn't it ?

"Archie weds Veronica Part 1 of 6 - The Proposal"

Sure, they were THE AMERICAN stereotypes. Sure, it's probably been a decade since any of us has picked up an Archie comic, what with Ross, Rachel, Chandler and Monica taking over. But can you deny you don't feel something when you hear that 'Archie is finally gonna marry Veronica' ? That after watching this depiction of American culture pass hands from generation to generation, we've finally reached this stage where it feels like we're hearing that a childhood classmate's getting married and a flood of pleasant memories wooshes past you ? 

It's funny how people from all over the world. across 150 countries. have voiced their opinions on how attached they feel to these characters... actually, it ain't funny. It's in fact heartening to see that, atleast for a moment in time, people can be united in sharing joy, surprise and supporting each other's opinions irrespective of caste, creed, country, God etc etc. It's heartening to have people remember that point in their childhood when they were hiding an Archie digest in their textbook and smiling everytime Jughead made an ass of Reggie or Mr Lodge pulled one over Archie. Back when life was still all 'fun and games.' Remember those times ?

As for me, maybe I've read too many Jeffrey Deaver novels or seen too many 'underdog wins the day' movies, but I'm still rooting for Betty to not end up with the stigma of being the eternal doormat . C'mon. Juggie !! Knock some sense into him before it's too late.  

What about you guys ? What do you think of Archie marrying Veronica ? 

Final thought : I can't shake the mental image in my head about how, if this were an Indian comic strip, there'd be some mindless social activist registering a court case against the publishers for hurting Indian sentiments !! Maybe a Sati Savitri Betty Sena running amok in their offices and burning effigies of Veronica in the streets and cultural icons... doing poojas and breaking coconuts in temples to change Archie's mind. Sari clad ladies beating their chests on the street and wailing, come September 9, 2009 ( The wedding day. )

Thank God you weren't Indian, carrot-top.