“Bad Boy Trouble” (part 4)
Writer: Melanie J. Morgan
Artist(s): Steven Butler, Al Milgrom (i), Stephanie Vozzo(c), John Workman
Publisher: Archie Comics
In this final chapter of the “Bad Boy Trouble” storyline, Betty, Archie, and the rest of the gang make one final effort to get Veronica to see what a creep Nick St. Clair really is. And in doing so, Betty risks losing her best friend forever.
A nice piece of plotting has the climactic action occurring at the movie theater where the girls first met Nick. Then a horror movie was showing, foreshadowing the “monster” who was about to destroy their peace of mind. Now “The Shield” is playing – subtly emphasizing Betty’s heroic actions and courage – as well as giving some panel time to one of Archie’s old superhero characters.
Betty has been in a difficult position this entire storyline. She hasn’t been able to make Veronica see what Nick is. Nick has continually been hitting on her. She’s had to lie to protect Veronica. And now no matter what happens with Nick, Veronica’s going to hate her. Facing the ultimate teen-age test of friendship, Betty basically sacrifices herself for her friend. It’s a great moment in the story, and the culmination of the theme that has been threading its way through all the installments.
Steven Butler and Al Milgrom have finished off the art in fine style. There are still the occasional odd-looking profiles that have plagued the series since it began, but the expressions on those faces are some of the best we’ve seen so far. Even without dialog, it’s obvious what the characters are feeling.
This chapter also has several breath-taking scenes. The opening panel with Betty and Archie sitting in the car looking up at the stars is beautiful. It’s so different from the usual Archie comic backgrounds, that it really catches the eye. In another departure from the usual there’s a full-length shot of Betty in a “Girl Power” t-shirt posed against a flowered panel that has a very anime feel to it. It’s akin to the familiar shot of the warrior against the backdrop of lightening. In anime and manga that usually signifies he’s about to fight to the death. This panel serves something of the same purpose here.
Although it’s Betty who gets the majority of panel time, Butler has given Veronica two extremely dramatic tear-strewn panels that have the look of a 1940s era Warner Brothers’ chick flick film. That look is accentuated by Stephanie Vozzo’s fantastic use of color. For the scenes inside the movie theater, she uses black, white, and grey, saving the color for the movie scenes playing on screen. The high contrast deepens and intensifies the drama of the moment.
This installment isn’t completely without flaw. At times the dialog sounds more like a plotted script than teen-agers talking and Nick’s “last words” seem out of character. However, the anxious readers who have been waiting to see how it all turns out probably won’t be bothered by either of those things.
So was Archie’s experiment in “realism” a success? That would have to be a resounding “Yes!” if the reactions of the tweens in my library are anything to go by. While the change in art and story styles put off some long-time readers, it grabbed the attention of others - which was what Morgan, Butler, Milgrom and the others were trying to accomplish.
“Bad Boy Trouble” isn’t going to go down in the annals as one of the all-time great comic book stories, but it is an example of a well-told tale, backed up with solid art and beautiful color.
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