Well, today's tale could fall under the heading "Petty Revenge". Or, maybe even "Pro Revenge". It's what happens when a woman makes some horrible comments about someone and crosses the line a little too much, and ends up getting mud all over her face.
The best part? The person who gets the revenge isn't a person at all. It's a dog!
Jughead's dog, Hot Dog, to be exact. And Hot Dog's victim? Veronica Lodge, of course.
I mean, let's face it. Jughead and Veronica have never really been best friends with each other in the comics. In fact, Jughead and Veronica can have a hot/cold relationship. Mainly because Jughead doesn't think that Veronica is good enough for Archie because he thinks Betty would be a better choice. And also because Veronica thinks Jughead is stale bread in her upper crust world.
But if Jughead's feelings towards Veronica can flip flop, Hot Dog makes it clear in this tale that he is #TeamBetty, and makes his feelings known in a story that first appeared in "Archie's Pals 'n' Gals #51".
It's a story that is called "It's Friendship", and it begins outside of the Lodge Mansion.
It's hard not to feel for Betty, who is sitting on the curb next to a giant puddle (this becomes important later in the story). When she sees Archie literally going head over heels in love with Veronica, Betty vents to Hot Dog about how she will always be second best in Archie's eyes. Hot Dog (who I am assuming Betty is taking care of for Jughead, as he doesn't appear in this story) listens with sympathy as Betty talks about how Veronica has Archie's heart and how she will never measure up. You know, I feel for Betty because in the 1960s era Archie tales, Betty was always written to be the handmaid while Veronica was the queen, and I am happy that in the 1970s and 1980s, Betty developed more of a backbone and realized that she was worth more than that. But as Betty walks home sadly, Hot Dog decides that he wants to play with Archie and Veronica, and enters Veronica's house - as Archie has left the door open.
Right off the bat, Veronica comments about Hot Dog, calling him a horrid beast and just being incredibly mean with him. Archie - knowing Hot Dog is a good dog - tries defending Hot Dog, telling her that he's a good dog, but Veronica yells at Archie and really makes me wonder yet again what Archie sees in her. She may look good in a miniskirt, but boy does she have a short fuse!
Veronica continues to berate and belittle Hot Dog, claiming that because Hot Dog isn't a pedigreed dog, he has no place in her house, and you have to give it to Harry Lucey - he drew Hot Dog's dejected and upset face incredibly well. I feel terrible that Hot Dog had to go through that, and had Jughead been there, I'm sure that Princess Veronica would have been told off. Archie tries to tell Veronica that Hot Dog is friendly which is better than being a pedigree (which, good on you Archie for saying that). Nevertheless, Hot Dog's feelings are hurt and he understands how Betty feels as he leaves the house.
But he then notices the mud puddle on the curb outside of Veronica's house and he gets an idea. If Veronica wants a friendly dog, he'll be the friendliest dog she has ever seen. But before he shows his true friendliness to Veronica, he has to get ready first...
Yeah, I don't think that's going to end well.
Sure enough, Hot Dog paws at Veronica and licks her face, completely covering her blouse and skirt with mud. Veronica screams at Archie to get Hot Dog off of her, but Archie can only stand in horror as Hot Dog continues to jump all over Veronica. Veronica is furious and all she sees is rage. I almost think that Veronica would actually go after Hot Dog with a baseball bat, but thankfully that doesn't happen.
What does happen is that Veronica decides that she will chase Hot Dog outside. Archie tries to tell her that Hot Dog was just playing and he just wanted to be her friend. But Veronica doesn't want to be his friend and she wants Hot Dog to leave. But Hot Dog decides that he's not finished playing, and pretends that he's a bump on a log, and wants Veronica to leap over him. Unfortunately, Veronica's tunnel vision caused by fury causes her to not see Hot Dog, and she trips over him and falls face first into the mud puddle!
It's quite a sight to behold. Archie crying on the sidewalk, begging Hot Dog to stop. Hot Dog licking a screaming Veronica in the middle of a mud puddle. And two random girls who make a joke of their own that would absolutely work as a cover gag for an Archie comic. Of course, once Hot Dog decides that he's had enough fun, and a dirty and angry Veronica pulls herself out of the puddle, Archie is literally about to burst into tears. He knows that Veronica is about to explode and he is trying his best to apologize to her for ruining her outfit and for Hot Dog causing this mess. Um, wait, Archie. VERONICA caused this herself by insulting Hot Dog in the first place.
Surprisingly, Veronica is calm and cool about this, and she asks Archie if she really thinks that she would blame him for the actions of Jughead's dog? I should note that there is a panel in this story that looks like it was done by two different letterers, and there's a reason for that. Initially the writer of this story didn't initially do his research and accidentally thought that Hot Dog was ARCHIE's dog, not Jughead's. So the story had to be changed for that one panel - and it does explain why Jughead is absent in this tale.
But, it's all for show...but hey, that's how you get revenge...Hot Dog style!
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