Can Archetypes be found in Archie Comics?

Let’s just say I’m major fan of Archie comics. Ever since I was little I have really enjoyed reading them. Over the past month I’ve been exploring archetypes in different books, movies, and even looking at how archetypes are evident in our own world. This week I challenged myself to find archetypes in Archie comics to prove my idea that archetypes our present everywhere, even in humorous and often silly comic books.

So after reading a few Archie comics, including a “Betty and Veronica Double Digest” as well as an “Archie’s Pal’s ‘n’ Gals Double Digest” many symbolic archetypes really stood out to me.

Color archetypes

1)    Veronica’s Black hair – Black symbolizes darkness, mystery or the unknown. Veronica can be a very plotting and cruel character. She is a very selfish girl, easily overcome by jealousy, who will do whatever it takes to get what she wants. For example, Veronica will go great lengths to ensure that Betty doesn’t have any kind of romantic relationship with Archie because she wants to have Archie for herself. She will even result to sabotage in order to get Archie for herself. You never know what Veronica will be up to next in her schemes and plots. Therefore, the color black obviously symbolizes Veronica`s nature.

2)    Betty`s golden hair- Betty is a very sweet girl, energetic and full of life, who is caring, kind and honest. She is smart and genuinely a nice person. The color gold symbolizes life and truth. This color definitely represent Betty`s kind hearted, honest character.

3)    Archie`s red hair- A few of the thing`s red symbolizes is disorder and violent passion. Archie brings disorder with him wherever he goes. When he tries to help people or do something nice, his kind hearted attempts often result in destruction or problems. Archie is also loved by Betty and Veronica, two best friends. The two girl`s compete for his attention and his desire but this often results in problems, and negative consequences for the girls.

I also spotted some nature archetypes

1) The name of the town, River Dale- A river symbolizes life force or life cycle.  Riverdale is the place where Archie and his pals live and the comic books tell the story of their eventful lives in the town. Therefore, the fact that the word `river` is present in the name of their town is symbolic.

2) The presence of trees in many of the images-  Trees symbolize learning and knowledge. A lot of the action in the comics takes place outside and there are always plenty of trees around. Archie and his friends are growing up, learning new things, experiencing new situations, and meeting new friends. Along the way they learn important life lessons through mistakes and experience. Because of this, it is evident that trees are often used for their symbolic meaning in the comic book.

My analysis of the symbolic archetypes within Archie comic books have proved to me that archetypes can be found in everything, even in the most silly, for entertainment only comic books. Are there any other comic books that you know that may contain archetypes?  And is it possible that comic books can contain other archetypes, such as situation, character, and journey archetypes?