November 25, 2018

"The Silks of Svengasi" - A Life With Archie Tale

One of the great things about Archie digests are the fact that you never really know what stories that you will find inside until you open them up.  After all, traditionally speaking, most original stories that have been printed in the standard comic series will be reprinted in digest format anywhere from four to seven years after they originally appeared.

While I was writing yesterday's blog entry, I mentioned that I had gotten my photos from Archie Digest #96.  As it turns out, I happened to find other stories within that digest that were really interesting that I had forgotten about.  One of those stories is one that I will be featuring on this lazy Sunday.  But perhaps the subject matter of this particular tale could make someone a little bit TOO lazy.  And fair warning, there are spoilers in this tale, so if you haven't read this one yet, you've been warned.



This story originally appeared in Life With Archie #222.  And if you have ever read any of the issues of the original "Life With Archie" series, you'll know that the stories in that serial kind of make you question reality a smidgen.  Remember how I said in yesterday's entry that the "Archie at Riverdale High" series featured Archie and the gang exposing Scooby-Doo type mysteries that happened at their school?  "Life With Archie" amplified it by a hundred.

This meant that you had stories which blended the Riverdale universe with true crime mysteries, science-fiction elements, natural disasters, and even time travel!  Considering that at the time Archie and his friends are still in high school, that's a lot to take in!  It suspends your belief in everything you think is real, that's for sure.



Such as today's tale - "The Silks of Svengasi".

I'm assuming that this is a play on words where Svengasi is meant to be like Svengali, which is a fictional character in the novel "Trilby".  In that novel, the character Svengali manipulates, dominates, and exploits the main character of Trilby...which is sort of what happens in this tale.  I mean, have you seen how Mr. Lodge looks in the opening panel of this story?  He's taken casual Friday into slobby Sunday.  No ambition, no desire, no need to do anything but lay around. 



When a new business partner of Mr. Lodge's named Mr. Snodgrass pays a visit to Mr. Lodge, Mr. Lodge signs over full control of one of his manufacturing plants to Svengasi Enterprises.  Veronica explains that Svengasi is a clothing manufacturer that is in direct competition with Lodge Enterprises, and that Mr. Snodgrass is the CEO of Svengasi.  So, it would be incredibly out of character for Mr. Lodge to co-operate with the enemy - especially in a business setting.  Veronica has noticed that Mr. Lodge is losing more and more ambition these days, and he doesn't even go to the office or even have the desire to shave.  She is genuinely worried that if this keeps up, the Lodges will lose all of their money.



Veronica also explains that the way that Svengasi Industries made their money was through manufacturing clothing made with the softest silk ever imagined.  Mr. Snodgrass gave Mr. Lodge a gift of several of these dress shirts, and since that day, those shirts are all that Mr. Lodge will wear.  Archie and Betty agree that the shirts are extremely soft, and Archie admits that he doesn't blame Mr. Lodge for wearing them all the time.  But at the same time, Archie suspects that something isn't right about Mr. Snodgrass and he doesn't trust him as far as he can throw him.

The next day, a sudden downpour strikes Riverdale, and Archie gets completely drenched on his way to Veronica's house.  Fortunately, Betty and Veronica are already there and Veronica knows exactly what to do.  She runs to grab one of Mr. Lodge's shirts and gives it to Archie while his shirt is thrown in the clothes dryer.



As soon as Archie puts on the shirt, he is taken aback over how soft and cozy the shirt really is.  It is the most comfortable garment that he has ever put on in his life.  In fact, Archie finds it so soft that he refuses to hand Veronica a book when she asks for it and actually asks for Betty and Veronica to remove his shoes for him so that he will be more comfortable!

At this point, the wheels in Betty and Veronica's brains are spinning and they seem to know what is going on.  But to put that theory to the test, Veronica tries an experiment.  She grabs another one of Mr. Lodge's shirts, goes into the kitchen, and gets the Lodge family chef Gaston to try one on.  And the results are fairly predictable.



The shirts are bad news.  They are not only the softest shirts ever created, but they are made of a material that is so soft that it actually drains the energy and ambition of those who wear them.  It essentially makes them under the control of anybody else who is NOT wearing the shirts.  The shirts are the Trojan horse that Mr. Snodgrass has bestowed upon Mr. Lodge, and it was done so that he could put Lodge Enterprises out of business.  It was a rather devious scheme for sure, and now that Betty and Veronica know the truth, they set on stopping Snodgrass once and for all.  But before they do that, they must rescue Archie, Mr. Lodge, and Gaston from the sap-sucking silk shirts once and for all.



Once they free Archie from the shackles of softness, the three of them put their heads together to come up with a plan to stop Snodgrass once and for all.  And Archie seems to have the idea that Snodgrass couldn't possibly be wearing his own clothing, or else he would end up being just like Mr. Lodge.  For Archie, it's proof enough that Snodgrass is a con man.  And while Veronica deals with the newly-lazy chef Gaston, Archie and Betty set out to trap Snodgrass.

It doesn't take long for Archie to realize that Snodgrass is actually buying his own shirts from a local men's wear shop - La Roma.  Archie comes up with a way to get even.  He goes into the shop, tells the man that he wants the shirts sent to Mr. Lodge's house instead because Lodge wants to give them to Snodgrass as a gift.



Once they get back to the Lodge Mansion, Archie gets Betty to grab whatever Svengasi shirts are left in Mr. Lodge's closet.  Archie then uses Betty's sewing skills to use by switching the labels inside of each shirt, so that the Svengasi labels go into the La Roma shirts, and the La Roma labels go in the Svengasi shirts.  That way, when Archie poses as a delivery boy to deliver Snodgrass his shirts, he'll actually be wearing his own creations.  Wow...Archie can be quite the genius when he wants to be.  It's too bad he doesn't show that same intelligence when he accidentally books dates with Betty and Veronica on the same night!

At the same time all this is going on, Veronica manages to get Mr. Lodge to put on one of the La Roma shirts, and once he comes back to his senses, Mr. Lodge is astonished at what has become of him.  And once he gets back on track following a hot bath and a change of clothes, he is furious to realize that Snodgrass had taken advantage of him for so long and vows to get revenge. 



Of course, as we all well know, most of the wacky tales of Life With Archie have a happy ending to them, and as you can see in the last panel of the story, Archie's plan has worked brilliantly.



Now, if you want a reprinted copy of this story, it's available in Archie Digest #96, as I mentioned earlier.  But if you can find a copy of the Archie 1000 Page Mega Comics Digest (the eighth in the series), that story appears in that book as well. 

Enjoy your Sunday, everyone...and try to avoid silk that appears TOO soft...

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