An Archie Comics issue from almost a quarter-century ago took a fanciful look at the then-future of 2021 and happened to capture one aspect of today’s living: school at home.
Archie Comics tweeted the splash page of “High School 2021 A.D.” in Betty #46, published February 1997. The story is written by George Gladir, penciled by Stan Goldberg and inked by Mike Esposito. It shows Betty’s mom rushing her to class, with Betty answering, “Relax, Mother. I still have all of thirty seconds!”
As Betty sets up in front of her computer, her dad says, “Kids today are so lucky! They’re able to go to school in their own home! … They never have to carry books to school … and they never have to worry about the weather!”
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This vision of the future has the family wearing space-age fashions that would fit right in on The Jetsons. However, the house still has an analog clock, and Betty’s computer has a bulky CRT monitor and a closed-circuit video camera like the ones Wonder Woman destroyed in Wonder Woman 1984.
In the rest of the adventure, Betty calls Veronica on her videophone and then visits her. Veronica has a wide-screen TV and a walk-in detention closet full of the latest fashions and gadgets. Veronica also uses a lookalike dummy to sit before her monitor when she doesn’t want to be in class. Betty and Veronica later pick up Archie and Jughead in a hovercraft and visit Riverdale High School, now a museum. On the tour, Betty says the old style of school was “cool,” and remarks, “What fun they must have had socializing and discussing the day’s events.”
“High School 2021 A.D.” in Betty #46 is written by George Gladir, penciled by Stan Goldberg and inked by Mike Esposito.
Source: Twitter
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