"The Party" - A Jughead Christmas Tale featuring Betty and Veronica

One thing that I find about Archie comics is that in some cases, a story might be credited to one person, but actually has a character in it that sort of acts as the scene stealer.  And sometimes that scene stealer can take over the whole story even though they're meant to be the supporting character.  I can think of many stories that credit Archie as the main character, but Reggie might have more to do in the story than Archie does.

On Day #17 of the PEP CULTURE ADVENT CALENDAR, we're going to be looking at one of these tales.

The story appears in "Betty and Veronica Digest #189".  And as you notice in the cover, Betty and Veronica are front and center in the cover...but here comes Jughead in the foreground, ready to steal the cover shot.  As it so happens, the opening story also features a Betty and Veronica story, but as it turns out, Jughead manages to steal the glory by doing a rather selfish act and making up for it afterwards.

Which is why even though "The Party" is credited to Betty and Veronica, I think Jughead is actually the star of this story - hence the reason why the title of this blog has Jughead as the star, and Betty and Veronica as supporting players.

The story does start with Betty and Veronica though (and I do apologize for the quality of this images as my scanner is still down for the count).  Veronica's chef, Gaston has whipped up some lovely treats for the Christmas party at the local orphanage, and Betty and Veronica have volunteered to take the treats down the day before the party.  Now, if you know anything about Gaston, you know that his pastries and cookies are irresistible, and nobody can ever eat just one.

So it might be a bit of a bad omen when Betty and Veronica are driving through the streets of Riverdale and they pass by Jughead wearing a Santa costume.

As it so happens, Jughead has been doing some charity work as well, collecting money on the streets by ringing a bell by the kettles.  It looks as though he's collected a lot of money, but it also looks like he's about ready to pass out.  In keeping with the Christmas spirit, Betty and Veronica offer to give Jughead a ride home, and while they are out buying party decorations, they will let Jughead have a rest in their van.  Jughead accepts the offer, but has to drop off his funds that he raised for charity first.  While Jughead is gone, Betty suggests that maybe they offer Jughead one of Gaston's treats, but Veronica nixes that idea, saying that they need every last one for the party.  

Jughead returns, promptly passes out in the back of Veronica's van, and snoozes as Betty and Veronica run around town to buy decorations.  But when Betty and Veronica run into a store, the sweet smell of Gaston's baked goods passes by Jughead's nose...

Yeah, I'm sure you see where this is going.  Jughead starts eating the treats for the children's party.  And like a bag of Lay's Potato Chips, you betcha believe he can't eat just one.  He eats them ALL.  Oh, Jughead...why don't you just paint your skin a neon green and smile the largest evil smile possible, because you sure acted like a Grinch here!

Suffice to say, when Betty and Veronica return to their van, and they discover that Jughead has eaten all of the pastries, they are NOT amused.  In fact, Veronica literally throws Jughead out of the van and forces him to walk home after blasting him for being so greedy.  But here's the deal.  Before the Grinch's heart grew three sizes on Christmas Day, the Grinch had zero remorse and zero regard for the citizens of Whoville.  Jughead, on the other hand, is very sensitive, and feels genuine remorse for spoiling the party at the orphanage, and he is determined to make things up...not just to Betty and Veronica, but to the kids at the orphanage.  But with the Christmas party being the next day, that's not a lot of time.

Fortunately, Jughead has a plan.  A couple of days earlier, Archie suggested that Jughead help him shovel snow from people's driveways to make some extra cash, but Jughead was too lazy to take Archie up on his offer.  But now that Jughead is a man on a mission, he seeks Archie out and together they clear the driveways of Riverdale. 

And boy, does Jughead work his little tail off.  You can tell that this is probably the most work that he has done in the last five years.  Even Archie seems shocked by it all.  Though, Archie probably has the belief that Jughead wants extra money to spend at Pop's, or to buy an entire grocery list of food.  

The truth is...Archie's not wrong.

The night of the party arrives, and Betty and Veronica are trying to make the best of a bad situation.  The bad news is that they don't have any of the treats that Gaston made and that they promised.  The good news is that they managed to recruit Chuck Clayton to draw caricatures of each of the kids.  Still, there is a bit of disappointment in the fact that there is nothing for the kids to snack on.

At least that is until Santa Jughead comes around to save the day.  The money he made shoveling driveways and sidewalks he used to purchase dozens of tasty treats from the best bakery in town, and he has taken these treats to the orphanage.  And he didn't even eat any on the way!  Now that is the way to redeem yourself.  

You know, sometimes one of the themes of Christmas is doing good deeds in hopes of redeeming any bad things that you might have done.  Certainly, Jughead did a bad thing by gobbling up all of the treats for the party.  But Jughead more than made up for it, and regained the trust of Betty and Veronica and saved the party in the process.  Nicely done, Jughead.

Tomorrow on Day #18 - you know that movie "Deck the Halls"?  The one where the two guys get into a fight over Christmas lights?  Mr. Andrews is one of those guys who wants to win the neighbourhood holiday decoration contest...but this tale has a surprise twist.