Archie's Girls Betty and Veronica #156
☆ Be the first to review + Add to your collection — Join freeArchie's Girls Betty and Veronica #156 (December 1968) is a representative issue of one of Archie Comics' longest-running and most culturally durable titles — a series that ran 347 issues from 1950 to 1987 and defined the comedic love-triangle formula that underpins nearly all Archie storytelling. Its inclusion of a Li'l Jinx backup — featuring Hap Holliday, Jinx's long-suffering father — reflects the anthology structure that let Archie Comics cultivate a stable of distinct characters across a single title, broadening the readership beyond the Riverdale teen crowd. Stories from this issue were later selected for the 2014 archival collection Best of Archie Comics Betty and Veronica, affirming that editorial regarded at least some of #156's content as representative of the series at its mid-run best.
In "The Trainer," Veronica sets a test for Archie by suggesting Jughead’s been seen with a redhead—just to see how he’ll react when faced with a juicy rumor. Written by Frank Doyle and brought to life with Dan DeCarlo’s signature style, this 1968 issue captures the playful tension of teenage gossip, with Rudy Lapick’s inks and Barry Grossman’s colors adding warmth to the familiar Riverdale charm. The cover by Dan DeCarlo and Rudy Lapick perfectly captures the moment’s mischievous energy.
When Veronica tells Archie that Jughead’s been seen with a redhead, she sets off a chain reaction of rumors and misunderstandings—just to prove a point about the difference between gossip and simple news. The moment becomes a small but telling test of how quickly words can spiral, even in Riverdale’s quietest corners.
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We Buy Collections ▸History
By late 1968, Archie's Girls Betty and Veronica was deep into its Silver Age stride, with Dan DeCarlo's clean, expressive line art having set the visual standard for both Betty and Veronica since his early contributions to the series. The issue was published under the Close-Up, Inc. indicia — the Archie Comics imprint used during this period — and carried the standard 36-page, 12-cent cover price common to Archie titles of the era. Li'l Jinx, created by Joe Edwards and first published in Pep Comics #62 in July 1947, was a fixture as a backup strip across numerous Archie titles by this point, with her father Hap Holliday serving as her primary comedic foil.
Trivia · 8 facts
- Published December 1968 by Archie Comics (Close-Up, Inc. indicia); 36 pages; 12-cent cover price.
- Part of Archie's Girls Betty and Veronica, a series that launched in March 1950 and ran for 347 issues, ending in April 1987 — one of the longest continuous teen-humor comic runs in American comics history.
- The series was the primary showcase for the Betty Cooper / Veronica Lodge rivalry, the female half of Archie's foundational love triangle in place since 1942.
- A story from this issue ('Aren't you Archie's girl?', featuring Betty Cooper, Archie Andrews, and Pop Tate) was selected for reprint in Best of Archie Comics Betty and Veronica #1 (2014), an archival collection curated to highlight standout stories across the run.
- The issue includes a Li'l Jinx backup feature with her father Hap Holliday — Li'l Jinx (created by Joe Edwards) having debuted in Pep Comics #62 (July 1947) and become a recurring presence in Archie anthology titles through the Silver Age.
- Li'l Jinx's stories in titles like this one typically ranged from short gag strips to multi-page narratives, with Hap Holliday's exasperated-father dynamic providing the central comedic engine — a formula Joe Edwards based on his own experiences as a parent.
- Dan DeCarlo, whose pencil work defined the look of Betty and Veronica throughout the Silver Age, was the dominant artistic voice on this title during this era, having begun his work for Archie as early as issue #6 of this series in the early 1950s.
- The anthology format of the title — typically five or six stories per issue — allowed characters from different corners of the Archie line (such as Li'l Jinx's suburban-kid world) to coexist alongside the Riverdale teen cast, a hallmark of Archie's Silver Age publishing strategy.
Cast · 8 characters
Full credits
Reprints
Reprinted in Archie Giant Series Magazine #226 (1974), Betty and Veronica Annual Comics Digest Magazine #4 (1982), Laugh Comics Digest / Laugh Comics Digest Magazine / Laugh Digest Magazine #44 (1983), The Jughead Jones Comics Digest #25 (1983), Archie... Archie Andrews, Where Are You? Comics Digest Magazine #27 (1983), Betty & Veronica (Jumbo Comics) Double Digest #1 (1987), Archie's Double Digest Magazine #33 (1988), Betty & Veronica (Jumbo Comics) Double Digest #15 (1989), Archie: His First 50 Years #[nn] (1991), Archie's Double Digest Magazine #54 (1991), Archie Americana Series #3 (1995), Archie's Americana Series #3 (2012), Best of Archie Comics Betty and Veronica #1 (2014)
Key issues in Archie's Girls Betty and Veronica
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