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Riverdale: Reboot – I don’t own any rights to Archie Comics characters.
Author’s note: So now we have the new CW series called Riverdale based on Archie Comics. I’ve been a fan of Archie Comics since I was in elementary school. The first comic book I ever read was a 1969 Archie Comic titled ‘Betty and Veronica’. What I’m writing is a more traditional Archie Comic fan fic. What would it be like if Riverdale was more similar to Smallville minus the superpowers?
CW’s focus seems to be on a darker, meaner series. I really don’t like it. I get that this is the 21st century, and many old Archie Comics tended to be childish and overly idealistic. I’m going for a happy medium with my story. The problem is how to make Archie and his crew less uncool but not twisted, dark, and perverted like the current series. Archie, Betty, and Veronica’s love triangle is filled with classic angst. I could run the love triangle like the Clark - Lois- Lana script, but I prefer action.
I’ll be running my fan fic as a combination series of adventure, angst, and friendship. I’ll continue to challenge myself with this fan fic. Please enjoy and keep an open mind. Also, I have some similar fan fic series over on the Smallville section, as well as a lighter, more positive take on the Gotham TV series.
Scene – Riverdale High School Episode 1 - Pilot
A tall, thin, lanky boy lopes through the school’s well- lit corridor and stops before a door clearly labeled ‘School Counselor’. He sighs deeply before entering the secure room. Two teachers are seated on one side of a good-sized table. “Come in, William.” A middle aged female teacher with brown and slightly graying straight hair offers. She has her laptop open and a pad of lined ruled paper beside it.
“Yes. Hello William.” An older male teacher says as he smiles pleasantly. He is quickly balding and is heavy set with a large wide face, and thick puffy cheeks. “Miss Grundy. Mr. Weatherbee.” The teen greets them warily. The student has thick black hair about shoulder length tied in a short neat ponytail. His face is gaunt, and he sports a barely noticeable goatee on his thin chin.
Compared to the more trendy students, William is dressed oddly in a retro style. He is about sixteen, and is wearing a green army camouflage button down shirt, a black leather vest with a gold paisley print throughout. His open vest is decorated by a few pins. Among the pins of his collection are included a small American flag, two or three more that display the names of his favorite rock and punk bands, and a larger pin in the style of the 1960’s Peace sign.
He’s wearing wrinkled and torn blue jeans, and his shoes are actually low cut, low healed black leather boots. He takes a seat opposite the two teachers and respectfully removes his worn out looking US Marines style brown beret, which was highlighted with a tarnished brass American eagle pin at its center. “William, this is simply our yearly counseling check- up that is required by the local board of education, and thus is worth one class credit hour per semester.” Mr. Weatherbee informed him.
“The principal and I hold these sessions with every student.” Miss Grundy added. “Obviously not to ignore the five hundred pound gorilla in the room, but how did the recent tragic death of Jason Blossom affect you?” William slouched in his chair. “It was sad. I didn’t really know him well, but he seemed like a decent dude.” He replied casually. “Is his killer still on the loose?”
“We haven’t received any new information William.” Mr. Weatherbee answered. “I can assure you and the rest of the student body that the campus is safe, and we have increased security throughout. This is still one of the safest towns in the area, as we have recorded only three murders in the last three years.”
William made a mental note of that fact. Did one murder per year establish a pattern? He silently wondered. After Jason’s death, he and his best friend, Archie Andrews, had looked into the suspicious circumstances. Each of the three deaths occurred around the same date per year. Had it been a coincidence? The teen sleuths had been unable to add anything useful to the murder cases so far.
“In any event, William, have you had any major problems recently?” Miss Grundy asked the expected series of questions. “No. I’m good.” The teen responded shortly. “Good.” Weatherbee put in. “We’ve examined your file for the first two years here at Riverdale High School.”
Miss Grundy called up something on her laptop. “In the last four semesters you have received average to slightly above average grades in all of your electives and required subjects.” She added. “Your grade point average never wavered more than a few percentage points from 2.5, which is exactly in the middle of the scoring range. There’s nothing wrong with that, I must point out, provided that you are always doing your best. This places your class ranking perfectly in the middle of your classmates.”
“All of your homework has been turned in on time, and you have rarely ever been tardy.” Weatherbee jumped in. “On those few occasions, your mother has vouched for your tardiness, and we have seen some improvement.” By now, Grundy had finished her analysis and printed the evaluation out.
“Here’s what really concerns us, William.” Grundy continued. “You don’t have a single extracurricular activity listed in your credits. We’d like to see you volunteer for some after school activities, during your next two years at Riverdale High. If you add one extracurricular activity per semester, you can receive an additional two credits towards your graduation.”
“What do you like to do, William?” Weatherbee had thrown down the gauntlet. “Eat.” William Jones answered. “Uh…eating is good.” Weatherbee stuttered. “Anything else?” He prodded. “I like to do things with my hands, like fix cars, paint walls, and such.” William replied worriedly. “Great. You can now take auto shop class, and possibly carpentry and maintenance classes.”
“However, that is not an extracurricular activity.” Grundy pointed out. “Those are electives.” Weatherbee reddened slightly as Grundy corrected him. “I like music.” William Jones thought quickly on his feet while giving them both a blank stare. “Music is good.” Weatherbee responded excitedly. “What do you like, Bach, Beethoven, Vivaldi?” William gave him another blank stare. “Rock.” He replied simply.
Weatherbee sighed deeply. “What instruments do you like specifically?” Grundy seized the opportunity. “I always liked the drums, maybe the guitar and bass as well.”
To illustrate his point, William tapped his fingers on his laptop cover, pounding out an old Led Zeppelin tune. “How about joining the school marching band?” Weatherbee pitched. “No thanks. I’m not into marching.” William said flatly.
“Have you considered trying out for one of our fine sports teams?” Weatherbee pleaded. “We can sponsor football, softball, soccer, or volleyball teams.” William shook his head slowly.
“Sorry. No thanks. I’m not into sports unless it involves eating a few hot dogs at a ballgame.” Jones opined. Again, Weatherbee let loose a loud sigh, and Grundy typed a few sentences into her laptop. “William, I’m going to recommend that you take up professional cooking and music appreciation classes for your extracurricular card. You can acquire a half credit for each of the following semesters. We were actually worried that you may not have enough credits to graduate at this rate. You’d like to graduate with your classmates, and you don’t want to get left behind?” Grundy challenged.
“No, ma’am.” William responded politely. “Great. I’ll write the plan up for you.” Grundy finished up the printout and handed it to him. “You can go, William, and let’s get those science and math grades up higher, shall we?” Weatherbee encouraged. Grundy dismissed him as well. William nodded respectfully at them and headed back out into the corridor. Once outside in the bright late summer sun, William Jones put his battered beret upon his head and strolled slowly towards the center of town.
Back in the Counselor Room, Grundy and Weatherbee studied Jones’s file and began looking for their next appointment. “What do you think, Wilbert?” Grundy asked her superior and long-time colleague. “I don’t know, Mary. William Jones is a good boy from what I can tell, but he lacks any sort of initiative. I fear that he’s doomed to be labeled as mediocre for the rest of his life. How can he be happy ranked three hundred out of six hundred and twenty of his fellow classmates?”
“I’ve been following his school behavior since he was a freshman.” Grundy began. “He never gets out of line, never gets into trouble, never sasses back any teacher, and is always cool and collected. Frankly, it’s not normal for a teenage boy at all. I was worried that he may be a loner, and that’s why his name came up within the Blossom boy murder investigation. Thankfully, nothing came of it. His mother would have been heartbroken. He seems to have at least warmed up to Betty Cooper, Archie Andrews, and even that smart aleck, Reggie Mantle.” She sighed as she saved Jones’s file.
“Well, I guess we have that to be thankful for.” Weatherbee admitted. “Cooper and Andrews are fairly good role models, Mantle, not so much.” Grundy nodded in agreement. “I heard that! Even Mantle will only push it so much, before he backs off.” She critiqued. “We have a new student starting in September, Wilbert. Her name is Veronica Lodge. We just received her file. She seems exemplary, and frankly, I wonder why a student of her caliber is enrolling at Riverdale. It seems like a step back from her Texas Middle School.” Weatherbee reddened again. He hated to hear anyone talk down the school
.
The scene switches to a nearby café called Pop’s.
William Jones arrives at a popular local restaurant called Pop’s. Given the small town clientele of Riverdale, it was nothing short of amazing that Pops could ever make enough money to keep the business running. Pops was the solitary owner and worker of the ice cream shop slash burger joint. As William enters, he spots three teenagers seated in an old retro style booth near a window facing Main Street. “Hey Jughead!” a dark haired male teen waves and catches William’s attention.
“Really, Reggie! Don’t call him that!” A blonde haired teen female scolds, wagging her finger at him. “What?” Reggie flashes his best innocent look at her. “He doesn’t mind!” The obnoxious teen defends weakly. “Do you, Jug?” Reggie slides over in the booth to allow Jones to take a seat.
“S’no big thing!” Jughead responds. “Just don’t call me William.” He reminds his classmates. “Why not?” The puzzled blonde asked. “It’s just that I prefer Jughead.” Jones’ face was unreadable. “Anyway Juggie, how did it go with Miss Grundy and the Bee?” The third teen, a red-haired male put down the restaurant’s menu to address him. “Bout the same as I expected.” Juggie replies. “But this year, our junior year, Grundy and the Bee want me to take some extracurricular activities.”
Jones continued to drum his fingers on the edge of the table, apparently reacting to some rock song track playing in his head. “Ouch! That sucks buddy!” Reggie surprisingly empathized. “I got the same song and dance from Grundy and the Bee last semester. I ended up taking some odd ass philosophy class for my EXT. It bores the hell out of me, but it’s survivable to get them off my back.”
“How ‘bout this year, Reg?” The girl asks. “I don’t know Bets, I think that I already took every lame ass class the Bee threw my way.” Reggie replies. “Arch, did you have to take any EXT?” Betty inquired. “I humped it freshman year, so I had enough credits to keep the Bee off my butt. It looks like this year I’ll have to bite it, so I’m sure that the Bee will be hounding me.” Archie answered.
“Yeah, me too.” Betty adds as she scowled. “I’d rather just get a part time job, real world experience, as opposed to being stuck with some lame EXT. I wouldn’t have the time to work. It sucks being poor.” Archie, Reggie, and Jughead all nodded in agreement.
Archie’s eyebrows rose as he observed Jughead pounding out a recognizable tune on the tabletop. He assumed that it was just a nervous habit, or was it? By now, an older, heavy set man approached the chatting teens. He moved rather quickly even with that pudgy frame. “There he is!” The older man smiled brightly. “My favorite customer!” He took out a well- worn notepad and pen.
“Hey Pops!” The kids chorused. “Are you kids ready to order? You first, Betty.” Pops encouraged. “Sure Pops, can I get a cheeseburger, fries, and a coke?” She politely ordered. “Arch?” Pops readied his pen. “Yup. I’ll have two cheeseburgers, fries, and a coke. Thanks.” Archie shifted the menu across the table. “Reggie?” The business manager hurriedly scribbled down their orders. “Same as Arch, Pops. Thanks.” Reggie finished as he cast a sidelong glance at Betty, who was staring at Archie.
“Now for my best buddy. What’ll you have, Jughead?” Pops grinned broadly as he flipped the page on his order pad. “Hey Pops! I’m not too hungry, today. I’ll just have six cheeseburgers, fries, and a coke.” Jughead’s spirits seemed to lift as he ordered his food from memory. “Whoa! Juggie! Are you on a diet or something?” Reggie teased their friend.
“Naw! I had a big breakfast, and the Bee ruined my appetite!” Jughead deadpanned. The group laughed hysterically. After Pops left to grill their orders, the four of them chatted pleasantly. Such was a typical day in the life of the Riverdale teens. They had no idea that their world was about to be turned upside down. “Hey Arch, do my eyes deceive me or is there a big limo pulling up outside of Pop’s place?”
Reggie gazed at the unusual sight. Archie had stopped midway through the bite of his cheeseburger.
“Is the mayor in town? I thought that he was in a downstate conference.” Betty remarked as she took a big slug of her coke. Archie gaped as the limo’s driver side door opened.
Author’s note: So now we have the new CW series called Riverdale based on Archie Comics. I’ve been a fan of Archie Comics since I was in elementary school. The first comic book I ever read was a 1969 Archie Comic titled ‘Betty and Veronica’. What I’m writing is a more traditional Archie Comic fan fic. What would it be like if Riverdale was more similar to Smallville minus the superpowers?
CW’s focus seems to be on a darker, meaner series. I really don’t like it. I get that this is the 21st century, and many old Archie Comics tended to be childish and overly idealistic. I’m going for a happy medium with my story. The problem is how to make Archie and his crew less uncool but not twisted, dark, and perverted like the current series. Archie, Betty, and Veronica’s love triangle is filled with classic angst. I could run the love triangle like the Clark - Lois- Lana script, but I prefer action.
I’ll be running my fan fic as a combination series of adventure, angst, and friendship. I’ll continue to challenge myself with this fan fic. Please enjoy and keep an open mind. Also, I have some similar fan fic series over on the Smallville section, as well as a lighter, more positive take on the Gotham TV series.
Scene – Riverdale High School Episode 1 - Pilot
A tall, thin, lanky boy lopes through the school’s well- lit corridor and stops before a door clearly labeled ‘School Counselor’. He sighs deeply before entering the secure room. Two teachers are seated on one side of a good-sized table. “Come in, William.” A middle aged female teacher with brown and slightly graying straight hair offers. She has her laptop open and a pad of lined ruled paper beside it.
“Yes. Hello William.” An older male teacher says as he smiles pleasantly. He is quickly balding and is heavy set with a large wide face, and thick puffy cheeks. “Miss Grundy. Mr. Weatherbee.” The teen greets them warily. The student has thick black hair about shoulder length tied in a short neat ponytail. His face is gaunt, and he sports a barely noticeable goatee on his thin chin.
Compared to the more trendy students, William is dressed oddly in a retro style. He is about sixteen, and is wearing a green army camouflage button down shirt, a black leather vest with a gold paisley print throughout. His open vest is decorated by a few pins. Among the pins of his collection are included a small American flag, two or three more that display the names of his favorite rock and punk bands, and a larger pin in the style of the 1960’s Peace sign.
He’s wearing wrinkled and torn blue jeans, and his shoes are actually low cut, low healed black leather boots. He takes a seat opposite the two teachers and respectfully removes his worn out looking US Marines style brown beret, which was highlighted with a tarnished brass American eagle pin at its center. “William, this is simply our yearly counseling check- up that is required by the local board of education, and thus is worth one class credit hour per semester.” Mr. Weatherbee informed him.
“The principal and I hold these sessions with every student.” Miss Grundy added. “Obviously not to ignore the five hundred pound gorilla in the room, but how did the recent tragic death of Jason Blossom affect you?” William slouched in his chair. “It was sad. I didn’t really know him well, but he seemed like a decent dude.” He replied casually. “Is his killer still on the loose?”
“We haven’t received any new information William.” Mr. Weatherbee answered. “I can assure you and the rest of the student body that the campus is safe, and we have increased security throughout. This is still one of the safest towns in the area, as we have recorded only three murders in the last three years.”
William made a mental note of that fact. Did one murder per year establish a pattern? He silently wondered. After Jason’s death, he and his best friend, Archie Andrews, had looked into the suspicious circumstances. Each of the three deaths occurred around the same date per year. Had it been a coincidence? The teen sleuths had been unable to add anything useful to the murder cases so far.
“In any event, William, have you had any major problems recently?” Miss Grundy asked the expected series of questions. “No. I’m good.” The teen responded shortly. “Good.” Weatherbee put in. “We’ve examined your file for the first two years here at Riverdale High School.”
Miss Grundy called up something on her laptop. “In the last four semesters you have received average to slightly above average grades in all of your electives and required subjects.” She added. “Your grade point average never wavered more than a few percentage points from 2.5, which is exactly in the middle of the scoring range. There’s nothing wrong with that, I must point out, provided that you are always doing your best. This places your class ranking perfectly in the middle of your classmates.”
“All of your homework has been turned in on time, and you have rarely ever been tardy.” Weatherbee jumped in. “On those few occasions, your mother has vouched for your tardiness, and we have seen some improvement.” By now, Grundy had finished her analysis and printed the evaluation out.
“Here’s what really concerns us, William.” Grundy continued. “You don’t have a single extracurricular activity listed in your credits. We’d like to see you volunteer for some after school activities, during your next two years at Riverdale High. If you add one extracurricular activity per semester, you can receive an additional two credits towards your graduation.”
“What do you like to do, William?” Weatherbee had thrown down the gauntlet. “Eat.” William Jones answered. “Uh…eating is good.” Weatherbee stuttered. “Anything else?” He prodded. “I like to do things with my hands, like fix cars, paint walls, and such.” William replied worriedly. “Great. You can now take auto shop class, and possibly carpentry and maintenance classes.”
“However, that is not an extracurricular activity.” Grundy pointed out. “Those are electives.” Weatherbee reddened slightly as Grundy corrected him. “I like music.” William Jones thought quickly on his feet while giving them both a blank stare. “Music is good.” Weatherbee responded excitedly. “What do you like, Bach, Beethoven, Vivaldi?” William gave him another blank stare. “Rock.” He replied simply.
Weatherbee sighed deeply. “What instruments do you like specifically?” Grundy seized the opportunity. “I always liked the drums, maybe the guitar and bass as well.”
To illustrate his point, William tapped his fingers on his laptop cover, pounding out an old Led Zeppelin tune. “How about joining the school marching band?” Weatherbee pitched. “No thanks. I’m not into marching.” William said flatly.
“Have you considered trying out for one of our fine sports teams?” Weatherbee pleaded. “We can sponsor football, softball, soccer, or volleyball teams.” William shook his head slowly.
“Sorry. No thanks. I’m not into sports unless it involves eating a few hot dogs at a ballgame.” Jones opined. Again, Weatherbee let loose a loud sigh, and Grundy typed a few sentences into her laptop. “William, I’m going to recommend that you take up professional cooking and music appreciation classes for your extracurricular card. You can acquire a half credit for each of the following semesters. We were actually worried that you may not have enough credits to graduate at this rate. You’d like to graduate with your classmates, and you don’t want to get left behind?” Grundy challenged.
“No, ma’am.” William responded politely. “Great. I’ll write the plan up for you.” Grundy finished up the printout and handed it to him. “You can go, William, and let’s get those science and math grades up higher, shall we?” Weatherbee encouraged. Grundy dismissed him as well. William nodded respectfully at them and headed back out into the corridor. Once outside in the bright late summer sun, William Jones put his battered beret upon his head and strolled slowly towards the center of town.
Back in the Counselor Room, Grundy and Weatherbee studied Jones’s file and began looking for their next appointment. “What do you think, Wilbert?” Grundy asked her superior and long-time colleague. “I don’t know, Mary. William Jones is a good boy from what I can tell, but he lacks any sort of initiative. I fear that he’s doomed to be labeled as mediocre for the rest of his life. How can he be happy ranked three hundred out of six hundred and twenty of his fellow classmates?”
“I’ve been following his school behavior since he was a freshman.” Grundy began. “He never gets out of line, never gets into trouble, never sasses back any teacher, and is always cool and collected. Frankly, it’s not normal for a teenage boy at all. I was worried that he may be a loner, and that’s why his name came up within the Blossom boy murder investigation. Thankfully, nothing came of it. His mother would have been heartbroken. He seems to have at least warmed up to Betty Cooper, Archie Andrews, and even that smart aleck, Reggie Mantle.” She sighed as she saved Jones’s file.
“Well, I guess we have that to be thankful for.” Weatherbee admitted. “Cooper and Andrews are fairly good role models, Mantle, not so much.” Grundy nodded in agreement. “I heard that! Even Mantle will only push it so much, before he backs off.” She critiqued. “We have a new student starting in September, Wilbert. Her name is Veronica Lodge. We just received her file. She seems exemplary, and frankly, I wonder why a student of her caliber is enrolling at Riverdale. It seems like a step back from her Texas Middle School.” Weatherbee reddened again. He hated to hear anyone talk down the school
.
The scene switches to a nearby café called Pop’s.
William Jones arrives at a popular local restaurant called Pop’s. Given the small town clientele of Riverdale, it was nothing short of amazing that Pops could ever make enough money to keep the business running. Pops was the solitary owner and worker of the ice cream shop slash burger joint. As William enters, he spots three teenagers seated in an old retro style booth near a window facing Main Street. “Hey Jughead!” a dark haired male teen waves and catches William’s attention.
“Really, Reggie! Don’t call him that!” A blonde haired teen female scolds, wagging her finger at him. “What?” Reggie flashes his best innocent look at her. “He doesn’t mind!” The obnoxious teen defends weakly. “Do you, Jug?” Reggie slides over in the booth to allow Jones to take a seat.
“S’no big thing!” Jughead responds. “Just don’t call me William.” He reminds his classmates. “Why not?” The puzzled blonde asked. “It’s just that I prefer Jughead.” Jones’ face was unreadable. “Anyway Juggie, how did it go with Miss Grundy and the Bee?” The third teen, a red-haired male put down the restaurant’s menu to address him. “Bout the same as I expected.” Juggie replies. “But this year, our junior year, Grundy and the Bee want me to take some extracurricular activities.”
Jones continued to drum his fingers on the edge of the table, apparently reacting to some rock song track playing in his head. “Ouch! That sucks buddy!” Reggie surprisingly empathized. “I got the same song and dance from Grundy and the Bee last semester. I ended up taking some odd ass philosophy class for my EXT. It bores the hell out of me, but it’s survivable to get them off my back.”
“How ‘bout this year, Reg?” The girl asks. “I don’t know Bets, I think that I already took every lame ass class the Bee threw my way.” Reggie replies. “Arch, did you have to take any EXT?” Betty inquired. “I humped it freshman year, so I had enough credits to keep the Bee off my butt. It looks like this year I’ll have to bite it, so I’m sure that the Bee will be hounding me.” Archie answered.
“Yeah, me too.” Betty adds as she scowled. “I’d rather just get a part time job, real world experience, as opposed to being stuck with some lame EXT. I wouldn’t have the time to work. It sucks being poor.” Archie, Reggie, and Jughead all nodded in agreement.
Archie’s eyebrows rose as he observed Jughead pounding out a recognizable tune on the tabletop. He assumed that it was just a nervous habit, or was it? By now, an older, heavy set man approached the chatting teens. He moved rather quickly even with that pudgy frame. “There he is!” The older man smiled brightly. “My favorite customer!” He took out a well- worn notepad and pen.
“Hey Pops!” The kids chorused. “Are you kids ready to order? You first, Betty.” Pops encouraged. “Sure Pops, can I get a cheeseburger, fries, and a coke?” She politely ordered. “Arch?” Pops readied his pen. “Yup. I’ll have two cheeseburgers, fries, and a coke. Thanks.” Archie shifted the menu across the table. “Reggie?” The business manager hurriedly scribbled down their orders. “Same as Arch, Pops. Thanks.” Reggie finished as he cast a sidelong glance at Betty, who was staring at Archie.
“Now for my best buddy. What’ll you have, Jughead?” Pops grinned broadly as he flipped the page on his order pad. “Hey Pops! I’m not too hungry, today. I’ll just have six cheeseburgers, fries, and a coke.” Jughead’s spirits seemed to lift as he ordered his food from memory. “Whoa! Juggie! Are you on a diet or something?” Reggie teased their friend.
“Naw! I had a big breakfast, and the Bee ruined my appetite!” Jughead deadpanned. The group laughed hysterically. After Pops left to grill their orders, the four of them chatted pleasantly. Such was a typical day in the life of the Riverdale teens. They had no idea that their world was about to be turned upside down. “Hey Arch, do my eyes deceive me or is there a big limo pulling up outside of Pop’s place?”
Reggie gazed at the unusual sight. Archie had stopped midway through the bite of his cheeseburger.
“Is the mayor in town? I thought that he was in a downstate conference.” Betty remarked as she took a big slug of her coke. Archie gaped as the limo’s driver side door opened.
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