‘Archie in The Land Of The Free’ at Riverdale High (1973) page 11

Archie the protagonist and his teenage friendship group are represented as heroic and
stereotypically ideal students as they fight to save American history and support young
children against a rich selfish antagonist.

Throughout the dialogue the group is portrayed as righteous and good as they promote the
wellbeing of the town. Betty’s dialogue “sitter service for working mothers” highlights her
encouraging, traditional, western values of family and women’s rights. In addition in the
panel Betty is upright and leaning forward with her finger up is suggesting she is passionate
about these values. Veronica’s dialogue “good, clean food” promotes the environmental
movement of the time, thus representing the group as caring and kind. Furthermore,
Archie’s dialogue, “grow! Expand! The possibilities are endless!” utilises the repetition of an
exclamation mark to highlight his excitement and shows the American value of hope and
development.

The teenage group goes against the antagonist in order to fight and save Riverdale’s
American History. The group’s heroism and promotion of traditional American values such as
conserving history can be seen when the group first resolves their big issue by running to the
“Riverdale Historical Society”. This represents the loyalty and commitment the teenagers
portray for their nation. The historian’s dialogue is a long complex syntax structure which is
symbolic of America’s long history and smirks while reading which further suggests the
delight it brings. In conjunction, as the issue is resolved bright colours such as greens and
yellows are used to show the purity of Riverdale and its society.

Mr Scurville is represented as the selfish disgusting antagonist firstly through his

appearance. His large, curved nose, dark curvy eyebrows and enlarged jutted chin goes
against the traditional American beauty standards of a small nose, thin eyebrows and a small
face, thus representing him as a problem to society as an outlier. He is costumed in a black
suit representing his hierarchy and formality, in majority of the panels his arms are raised
above his head. This depicts his frustration and anger towards preserving American History,
furthermore, suggesting that he is the antagonist that does not represent mid-Western
societal expectation.

Lara and Tilly