Wednesday, July 17, 2013

Veronica's Passport, No. 1

1992, first edition, from Archie Comic Publications
Archie Comics (written by Robert Fleming and Kathleen Webb, illustrated by a bunch of people
Veronica's Passport, No. 1)
Bought new for $1.50
Slightly worn paperback
C

As the title suggests, Veronica travels around the world, specifically the increasingly unspecific Hong Kong, Paris, Japan, and Africa.  Although Veronica can be intelligent at times, the emphasis here is on her love of shopping and flirtation.  While she does have adventures, she constantly has to be rescued, including when she's twice used as bait for a kidnapping.  (Little Veronica was more resourceful in the 1977 Little Archie collection.)  I also got tired of the unsubtle way that information about the various locales was parceled out.  Even when she's running for her life, we still have to hear about major industries and such.  

None of the romances work out, although she is with a no-longer-short no-longer-bespectacled geek at the end of the Japan story.  (He's white, as are most of the characters, even in Africa.)  At one point, she claims (to French policemen!) that Archie is unimportant to her and she only wants to "lure him away from Betty Cooper."  Even the fashions aren't that interesting.

Only for the most die-hard Veronica fans, or those curious to see how travel and technology (including the numerous video game ads) were presented to children twenty or so years ago.

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