What does it say about the perception of comic books in the mainstream media that the comic book news story with the most traction in the MSM so far in 2009 involves the impending marriage of Archie Andrews and Veronica Lodge?  The fact that the ditzy redhead (Archie) made an unexpected choice gave the story a kind of “man bites dog” novelty, but can that alone explain the media frenzy?  Last week the story made headlines across the media spectrum from a teased feature on that bastion of liberalism, the Rachel Maddow Show on MSNBC, to a full-page spread in Rupert Murdoch’s conservative New York Post.

The question is how many of these savvy media commentators are aware enough of the vicissitudes and "what if" subterfuges of comic book-style serial storytelling to realize that All-American boy Archie might not end up with the snobbish brunette for ever and ever?  The clever folks at Archie have already gotten two news cycles out of this story, once when it was announced and once when the Veronica proposal became public.  Looks like there might be one or two more bites of the apple as the twists and turns of this future storyline play out in the media.