Riverdale is a series based on Archie Comics that follows the life of iconic characters like Archie, Jughead, Betty, and Veronica in the town of Riverdale. It is without a doubt one of the most successful series out there that can brag about its huge fan following. Although the premise of the show is based on the comics, the TV series has selectively chosen the plotlines that it depicts on-screen.
Be that as it may, Archie Comics has certain arcs that are so much more captivating and interesting than Riverdale could have picked up. The comics incorporate different universes and their characters and merge realities and fandoms to create something so ensnaring that it is hard to stop reading.
10 Obama And Sarah Visit Riverdale
In this arc of Archie Comics, an election is taking place in Riverdale High. Archie and Reggie are running against each other and use Obama and Sarah for their campaign promotions respectively. This leads to a commotion that ends up catching the eye of the real Barack Obama and Sarah Palin and brings them to Riverdale High.
The comics showcase two people from two opposing political ideologies coming together to pique the interest of a whole new section of the audience. Although entirely absurd, it would make for an intriguing episode to see the two sides (Obama and Sarah Palin) come to Riverdale High to settle the conflict in a teen drama.
9 Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles At Riverdale High
The comics took an opportunity to incorporate TMNT into its storyline. Archie and Betty first saw them enter Riverdale High through Cudley The Cowlick, a transdimensional being, and in a panicked state, they attempted to warn the others of an alien invasion. No one believed them until Veronica was kidnapped and the same was witnessed by the ninja turtles.
The incident forced the two parties to combine their efforts to get Veronica back. This arc manages to cleverly combine two worlds that otherwise would not have collided–this particular comic, due to its popularity, drew in the attention of the regular Archie Comic readers and also brought in viewers from the TMNT fandom.
8 Archie And The Weird Mysteries
“The Weird Mysteries” is an arc in the Archie Comics where a complication takes place at the Riverdale Chemistry Lab, which effectively turns Riverdale into a magnet for supernatural forces. Each character has run-ins with mystical artifacts and peculiar monsters.
Together they form a plan to solve the weird happenings around Riverdale and promise to save their town. Archie Comics and Riverdale are already known for their mystery-centric plots, so adding this one in the tv-series would take it up a notch and enthrall the viewers.
7 Archie Meets Batman
In this arc, the battle of Gotham City expands to Riverdale. It features the United Underworld, a villainous organization that is set on targeting Riverdale to control the minds of the male citizens living there. Hiram Lodge and the Police Chief have already been influenced by the organization and Veronica is first to notice her father’s strange behavior.
This leads Batman to team up with Archie and his friends to save Riverdale. More action leads to more drama, and Archie crossing paths with Batman is in itself enough to categorize this as an amazing arc. Once again this brings in readers from different genres and keeps all of them entertained.
6 Sabrina and Sonic Go To Riverdale
It starts with a boy named Stevie noticing Sabrina reading a comic–she explains to him that she’s reading the same for her friend Salem and accidentally recites a spell that transports her into the book. It turns out to be a “Sonic The Hedgehog” comic where they find Sonic and Knuckles fighting Doctor Robotnik.
Sabrina once again recites a spell that takes her, Sonic, and Knuckles to Riverdale. Dumbfounded by this, Sabrina calls Salem for help. This arc works fantastically well as it captures the audience by surprise and keeps them on their toes to see what happens next.
5 Predator Attacks Riverdale
The plot begins with the introduction of an alien predator that is set in the jungle near a resort. As it so happens, Archie and his gang happen to visit the same resort. Betty and Veronica get into a huge argument that catches the attention of the predator–this irks him and to avenge the same, he follows them back to Riverdale with Veronica as his target but ends up killing other people on the way.
They devise a plan to lure in the predator which eventually fails and unfortunately costs Archie and Jughead their lives–the incident also leaves Betty and Veronica with deep injuries. The Predator, however, starts having feelings for Betty and feels guilty for hurting her, so he helps Betty revive others using a healing machine. Betty uses the same technology to transform the predator into an Archie look-alike, however, Archie and Archie’s look-alike never meet.
4 Jughead Weds Midge
At the start of the comics, Jughead’s sexuality was suggested to be asexual. This was until he met Midge, (Moose’s girlfriend), who broke up with Moose due to his possessive tendencies.
Midge and Jughead got close and eventually got married and had a child. Although Jughead is paired up with Betty in the show, his match with Midge would have made for a much more interesting plot. Many fans claim that their chemistry and compatibility would be much better than his and Betty’s. However, since the real-life actors had been dating in real life, they bought in the chemistry which made Betty and Jughead a more sought-after couple.
3 Jason Blossom and Betty Cooper
Archie Comics shows Jason Blossom, the town’s rich kid, as someone who only dates rich girls, however, this is later revealed to be false when it was disclosed that he had a crush on Betty Cooper. Although Betty was not interested in Jason, she did date him to make Archie jealous.
This arc creates a lot of tension between Jughead, Archie, and Jason as each of them had liked Betty. It has made fans crazy and kept them on the edge of their seats to see the drama and competition unfold. For many Archie loyalists, it bought in a lot of fun to see the dynamic between the four of them change, and fans hoped to see the same drama on television.
2 Sabrina’s Visits To Riverdale
There have been multiple arcs featuring Sabrina and each of the main characters, Archie, Jughead, Betty, and Veronica, have been seen interacting with her on different occasions. Sabrina has gone out of her way to help Archie and his gang through various problems throughout the run of the comic series.
She eventually revealed to Jughead that she was a witch and went on to have an arc where she got into a relationship with Archie. Sabrina’s entrance to the series and her chemistry with the characters would have been one plotline that would’ve changed a lot of things in the series.
1 Zombie Apocalypse At Riverdale
This arc starts off with Jughead’s dog, Hotdog, being run over and killed by Reggie. Devastated, he takes his dead body to Sabrina in hopes of reviving him. Sabrina performs a spell that resurrects Hotdog.
As it turns out, reviving the dead is never a good idea, even when it comes to reviving a dead dog. Hotdog turns into a zombie dog and bites Jughead. This starts the zombie apocalypse and devastates the town of Riverdale. This arc was brilliantly thought out and executed and managed to engage different audiences.
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