Betty and Me #121

Archie's budget-conscious dining makes for a delightfully awkward evening in Betty and Me #121 from 1981. The cover — penciled and inked by Stan G. — plays out in two panels: first, a smartly dressed Betty asks Archie what he's ordered for them at what looks like a fancy restaurant, and he cheerfully admits it's "something I could afford"; then the cloche is lifted to reveal a decidedly modest plate, leaving Betty wide-eyed with shock. It's a charming snapshot of Archie's eternal struggle between ambition and an empty wallet, and the comic timing of that two-panel reveal is hard to resist.