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Elizabeth " Betty" Cooper is one of the main characters appearing in American comic books published by Archie Comics. She is the lead guitarist, percussionist and one of the three singers of The Archies. The character was created by Bob Montana and John L. Goldwater, and first appeared in Pep Comics #22 ( Dec. 1941), on the first page of the first Archie story, serving as a love interest to Archie Andrews.
Betty is in love with Archie, which drives her attempts to win his affections by whatever means possible, and her rivalry with her best friend, the vocalist and keyboardist Veronica Lodge, have been among the longest-running themes in the comics. She is portrayed by Lili Reinhart in Riverdale and Khushi Kapoor in The Archies.
In addition to appearing in many Archie stories, Betty was the star of two long-running comic book titles published by Archie Comics during the period 1965–2012: Betty and Me (later styled as Betty & Me), which published 200 issues from Aug. 1965 to Aug. 1992; and Betty, which published 195 issues from Sept. 1992 to Jan. 2012. She also was featured in Betty's Diary, which published 40 issues from Apr. 1986–Apr. 1990.
Currently, Betty is the co-star of Betty and Veronica Lodge Digest Magazine, now known as B&V Friends Double Digest, which was launched in Nov. 1980 and has published more than 250 issues; and Betty and Veronica Double Digest, which has published 250+ issues since June 1987.
She was the co-star of Betty and Veronica, which ran for 347 issues (and eight annuals) from March 1950–April 1987. A new Betty and Veronica series published 278 issues from June 1987–late 2015. The limited series Betty and Veronica, taking place in their rebooted New Riverdale universe, was published in 2017. Betty and Veronica also co-starred in:
The quintessential girl next door, Betty's middle class upbringing is a world apart from the flashy lifestyle of her wealthy friend, Veronica Lodge. Nowhere is this more evident than when she and Veronica are competing for Archie Andrews' heart, and yet they remain best friends (Veronica once told Archie that she and Betty are only rivals in unimportant matters, like boys).
In the late 1960s, the two girls joined Archie's band, a garage band appropriately named The Archies. Both sang, and Betty played a tambourine, while Veronica played an organ. Some stories indicate that Betty is the better vocalist. Additionally, there is little consistency in the instruments she is able to play. Betty has played the recorder, tambourine, maracas, guitar, banjo, keyboard, saxophone, cello, and the bongos.
Betty's hobbies include playing sports (particularly baseball), cooking (the gang thinks her cooking is excellent), and looking after animals (she owns a cat, Caramel). She is also concerned with the environment and other social issues and encourages the rest of the gang to clean up after themselves. She loves children and sometimes babysits Jellybean Jones with Jughead as well as other children in Riverdale. Occasionally, families hire Betty to keep their elderly members company. Betty is a skilled mechanic who frequently helps Archie with his broken down car Betsy. Betty is also good at skiing and car-racing. She is often said to be the best pitcher in the girls' baseball team. Betty is a scuba diver, wearing a red shorty wetsuit, breathing with an air tank she carries on her back and a regulator in her mouth, wears red fins on her feet and a mask on her face, but she prefers to swim underwater.
Betty has an above-average intelligence and is one of the smartest students at Riverdale High School, along with Dilton Doiley. In one story she won an award and was sent to compete in New York and has won numerous academic awards. At one point, she gained ESP when an encyclopedia accidentally fell on her head. This ability took away all hope for the future; Archie asked Veronica for a date, but Betty knew that Archie would dump Veronica for her. Betty lost her ESP power when a ball that Reggie kicked accidentally hit her; in her gratefulness, she gave him a thankful kiss.
Betty's many talents and accomplishments often make her friend Veronica jealous, who then tries to sabotage Betty to steal her glory and make her look bad.
During a stay at the Lodge mansion, while the family are in Europe, Betty is waited on hand and foot by the servants and, true to her personality, she quickly begins to feel guilty about being waited on. Wanting to do something very special for them in appreciation for the tough jobs that they do (and for what also seems to be a thankless job in serving someone like Veronica, who tends to be harsh and rude towards those who serve her), she throws them a pool party which surprises Mr. and Mrs. Lodge and Veronica. In return, Smithers, the butler, and the rest of the staff, who are amazed by what Betty did for them (since they never seem to get any appreciation from Veronica), offer to help Betty with the next party she throws, for free. Mr. Lodge would then scold Veronica about her harsh treatment towards them, much to her embarrassment.
On the TV show Riverdale, Betty participates in many extracurricular activities at Riverdale High School, including cheerleader with the other members of The River Vixens, writing for The Blue and Gold with Jughead Jones and discovering the true identities and intentions/actions of many people in Riverdale, including Clifford Blossom (Cheryl Blossom's father), Penelope Blossom (Cheryl Blossom's mother), Hal Cooper, and Robert Phillips (a.k.a. The Sugarman).
Frequently, Betty has been shown to flirt with and date bassist Reggie Mantle early on in the titles' runs and occasionally still, more often than not as a casual date. Once Betty said that sometimes the way Archie and Reggie fight over her, it sounds like she has the plague. In the Life with Archie magazines that depict a future timeline in which Archie marries Veronica, Betty and Reggie are portrayed as a loving couple. Betty It has been hinted they may be planning to get married.
Betty's relationship with Jughead Jones has mostly been that of close confidant and close friend, as they normally discuss their issues more candidly with each other than anyone else; Jughead will provide commentary on her feelings for Archie, and Betty will attempt to "better" Jughead, by getting rid of his slothful attitude and laziness. Once when she had a sprained ankle, Veronica told both Archie and Jughead to visit her. The four of them were having dinner together when people from the school mistook Jughead as Betty's boyfriend because he was carrying chocolates to her house. Jughead appears to care more about Betty than other girls and there have been hints of a potential romantic relationship between them. He once accidentally asked her out to a school dance. When he was telling Archie what to do, Betty walked up behind him and thought he was asking her even though he was just demonstrating how to ask Betty to the dance. In one story, Jughead even says that if the time ever comes that he would willingly kiss a girl, it would be Betty. A happy tear is seen sliding down Betty's face at this comment.
She had a friendship with an elderly woman named Lydia Wyndham, whom she found when doing research about World War I. With this acquaintance, Betty got to know an accomplished writer and poet with a sharp mind (and a sad past—Betty's research had turned up a beau of Ms. Wyndham's who was killed in combat), but after a while, Ms. Wyndham herself died.
At times, Betty is seen to have a close friendship with Cheryl Blossom, especially in Cheryl's own title. However, at other times, Betty and Veronica regard the seductive Cheryl as a threat because she tries to lure Archie away from them, and the two best friends unite against Cheryl to protect their interests. Jason Blossom, Cheryl's twin brother, is sometimes seen to have a genuine interest in Betty, which makes Archie jealous.
In the late '90s, Betty started dating Adam Chisholm. It was thought by some people that Betty had chosen Adam over Archie. This event made Archie jealous and he concentrated his attention on Betty, ignoring Veronica, as he always does when he thinks someone else may take Betty away from him. Though in actuality, Adam has rarely been seen in the stories after that story arc, and Betty has continued to prefer Archie.
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