Archie's 80th anniversary: Debut of Cheryl and Jason Blossom

[alicemacher]

Long before Cheryl and Jason Blossom were the victim and victimizer within a taboo relationship in Afterlife with Archie, or respectively mentally disturbed and dead in the Riverdale TV series, they were more lighthearted elitist troublemakers in the old Archie Comics continuity. That doesn't mean what they got up to wasn't envelope-pushing in its own way for the relatively family-friendly venue. Especially in this, their first appearance, 1982.


From "Dare to Be Bare," Archie's Girls Betty and Veronica #320 (Oct. 1982). Story by Frank Doyle, art by Dan and Jim DeCarlo.





Exit Cheryl. Enter Jason, who shows Betty and Veronica how to get around the "no beer on the beach" rule.








I'd be willing to bet that was the one and only time anyone described one of the Blossom siblings as a "liberal."

Anyway, this was pretty daring stuff for the company's output at the time. Of course, it helped that the story treats the implied public nudity and drinking as The Wrong Thing to Do, thus satisfying both the Comics Code Authority and Archie Comics' internal standards. That said, although Cheryl and Jason were regular characters for awhile, they were abruptly dropped two years later. Rumour has it that the publisher decided Cheryl was too racy for kids, but I've also seen the claim that neither she nor Jason were popular with readers at the time.

In any case, they wouldn't return until the nineties, when Cheryl appeared as the surprise "third girl" ending option for Archie, who'd been pressured to choose between Betty and Veronica once and for all in the four-part 1994 Love Showdown arc. It seems that appearance did the trick, as both Cheryl and Jason have been fixtures of Archie Comics ever since, Cheryl even getting a series and a few minis of her own.

Comments

[zachbeacon]

I don't know why anyone is ever surprised by all the Archie artists who also do porn comics.

[donnblake]

What? Just because it's got a sultry redhead trying to remove her top, as a blonde girl next door type sprints towards her with the intent of tackling her to the sand and physically restraining her?

Good wholesome teen hijinks, I say!

[zachbeacon]

Probably reading too much into it, I guess.

https://dearest--gertrude.tumblr.com/post/616754507174510592/the-comics-are-so-so-gay

https://www.reddit.com/r/archiecomics/comments/hdbyi2/random_archie_panels_taken_out_of_context/

https://cybercomicsandtoys.com/blog/archie-comics-infamous-beating-cover/

[tripodeca113]

Well that was something I didn't expect to see in an Archie comic.

[zachbeacon]

*eyes my copy of Pin-Up Art of Dan DeCarlo*

Well, I think he found a different outlet for that kind of thing.

(Honestly not sure if he was doing that kind of work alongside his Archie stuff like Gisele Lagace or after like Dan Parent)

[lbd_nytetrayn]

Of course, it helped that the story treats the implied public nudity and drinking as The Wrong Thing to Do, thus satisfying both the Comics Code Authority and Archie Comics' internal standards.

They wouldn't even allow it for that purpose originally, yeah?

I think it was Marvel or DC saying "fine, then we'll run the story without your seal of approval" that made them loosen their standards, wasn't it? So I guess this came after?

[tinygaylaura]

So glad that the world of comics is completely rid of the garbage that was the"comics code" these days

[alicemacher]

Yeah, in 1971 the CCA rejected an Amazing Spider-Man arc, which a government agency (the National Institute of Mental Health) had commissioned, simply because it featured drug abuse, even though it took an unquestionably anti-drug stance. Marvel did indeed publish that arc without their seal of approval. The ensuing negative publicity for the CCA embarassed them into modifiying the Code such that depicting drug abuse was acceptable if presented in a negative light.

[thezmage]

And thus the absolute best part of Riverdale was born

[tinygaylaura]

I adore Cheryl. Her and Toni's relationship is the only actually good thing about Riverdale as opposed to the rest of the show which is so bad its good. And sometimes so bad its bad

[lilacsigil]

They're redheads! They're going to fry under that sun!

[zachbeacon]

Yeah, I'm not a redhead but I'm just Irish enough that I don't tan so much as burst into flame.

[tcampbell1000]

Y'know, I was a very "rule-abiding" kid, and I probably would've liked this story for that reason. And yeah, Doyle and DeCarlo probably felt they had to show Cheryl as Absolutely Wrong. But I find Betty and Veronica's characterization tough to fathom now, even with the canon reinforced that Riverdale's a conservative town.

Like, it'd be one thing if they were worried what would happen when Archie got a look at this display (an entirely justifiable concern) or if they experienced a wave of adolescent insecurity next to Cheryl's beauty and confidence. Everyone, teenager and otherwise, sets limits on what they're comfortable wearing, and the story could've touched on what it feels like to stand next to someone who draws the line in a very different place. Might they feel bullied by Cheryl here? Might they be conflicted and craving her friendship? Might they even ENVY her lack of inhibitions?

Even the stand they take against Cheryl here would be interesting if it were presented as a mask for those insecurities or intersecting with them somehow. Instead, they just seem like they've become the Concerned Mothers of America about 25 years too early. "Nooo, not our precious fabric of society! How COULD you, Cheryl? The police would never approve!"

This is, of course, a frequent feature of Archie Comics, especially pre-2010 or so, and it's what gives the newer stuff its subversive edge. Traditional Archie stories perform this delicate balancing act between being "mother-approved" and actually relatable. Sometimes they did really well, and sometimes they... were more enjoyable as camp, in retrospect.

I will give points, though, for Cheryl's "they do things differently overseas and nobody minds" line of argument. Including it in the story could be read as anti-European, I guess, but anti-European and anti-French sentiment weren't really prominent in 1980s America, and Betty's only counter is "that's there, this is here." The cosmopolitan perspective gives Cheryl a little more nuance than the role she and Jason usually took in stories I saw, which was basically "Ha ha, you townie prudes are so cute, clinging to your... MORALS (snicker, snort)!"

[leahandillyana]

^^^

[lilacsigil]

To be fair, they did say "that's a suit to get arrested in"...and then she got carted off the beach in a towel!

And I find it funny, in a sad way, that you absolutely can go topless on the beach in much of France, but you're not allowed to be too "modest" (because you might be a Muslim). I'm very fair-skinned so I cover up!

[leahandillyana]

Old women on cold Polish beaches wear swimsuits skimpier that Cherryl's .

[tinygaylaura]

Cheryl is my kind of girl


Also I wouldn't call her "mentally disturbed" on Riverdale. She's my favourite character on the show and one of the two best characters to ever appear on it.

[alicemacher]

Oh, she's my favourite character too, no question. She gets all the best lines. And to be fair, she does behave rationally (by Riverdale standards) a good part of the time. But her attachment to her late sibling sometimes goes well beyond normal sisterly grief. (No, I don't mean incestuous necrophilia; it's clear nothing of the sort ever crossed her mind.) Remember when, after she discovered that the Evernevers had disinterred Jason's corpse, she didn't have him reburied but instead placed him in a chair in the family chapel so she could have daily conversations with him? Even her beloved Toni thought that wasn't healthy, and repeatedly told her so.

And there have been other times when her mental instability surfaces. Remember when she attempted suicide? Or when she went through a phase of jealous fixation on her then best friend Josie, to the point where she sabotaged her potential relationship with Chuck by framing him for stalking Josie?

By stating that she's mentally disturbed I intend no condemnation of her. Believe me; I'm a social worker and judging those who live with mental illness is the very last thing I'd ever do. I'm simply telling it like it is. As I said, there's much more to her character than that, in any case.

[tinygaylaura]

Thank you for clarifying what you meant here :)

[deh_tommy]

That saddens me that Riverdale is probably what people will remember and define Archie by.

[donnblake]

I mean, for a while, sure, but I don't think the show has so much staying power that ten, fifteen years down the line, someone won't dust off the Archie IP for something completely different.

[iamrman]

I'm glad I decided to start reading the Archie comics. I do love a redhead, so I'm looking forward to seeing more of Cheryl.

[tinygaylaura]

Especially a redhead like this

And if it weren't for those beach patrol dicks we'd be seeing a lot more of Cheryl here

[iamrman]

*shakes fist*

Curse you, Comics Code Authority!

[tinygaylaura]

Damn you to hell!