Jughead and Sexuality: Rhythm & Blues

Last time we took a look at Jughead's sexuality it was with a story called, "Brain Campaign". If you haven't seen that one yet, maybe you need to check it out.

That time we looked at a story that didn't have much subtext, and looked at how it pretty much threw out the possibility of Jughead having any sexuality at all. He just loves food! Well let's look at a story that's the polar opposite of Brain Campaign, one that's laden with subtext. So laden with subtext that it's nearly impossible to tell which of it is intentional and which of it isn't. Ladies and gentlemen I give you Rhythm & Blues. 

This is a story written by the amazing Frank Doyle and drawn by the titanic Samm Schwartz, so you know you're in good hands from the start. (For those not familiar with Frank Doyle or Samm Schwartz, believe me I'll have more to say about these two masters of the comic arts in the future, but for now know that they're among my top three Archie creators, with Dan DeCarlo filling out the rest of the list.)

Archie Metaphors: Sex and Al Hartley.

Steamy as always, Al!

Okay, so it's about time I came back to this subject. You know how in Archie comics kissing basically means the same thing as sex? Of course you do. I already did an article about it! If you haven't read that article go there, then come on back.

So kissing = sex in the universe of Archie comics. But what does that mean for the work of Al Hartley? As we know, Hartley wrote a series of official comics about Archie for Christian publisher Spire Comics... wait, why do we know? Well because I already told you. That's right, here at 80 Page Giant we believe in having continuity between our articles! We are a comics blog, after all.

So you've got those two elements. Wholesome Christian comics and kisses that are basically a metaphor for sex. How do you reconcile the two? Did Al Hartley realise that kissing was the same thing as sex? Maybe, in his ignorance he didn't realise about the metaphor, and there was some hilarious results?

Let's find out!

Archie Metaphors: Kissing = Sex.

Best guess at the artist? Dan DeCarlo

When reading Archie comics it's important to remember that they were written and drawn (for the most part) by a bunch of dirty old men.

They're comics aimed at pre-teens, with stories about teenagers, written by men in their 30s and 40s. As such there tends to be a surprising amount of layers to the stories. They can't, for example, show full-on sexual relationships in these comics. On the other hand, it would be pretty realistic for Archie, Betty, Veronica and the gang to be sexually active, right?

So Archie comics get around this using a really simple metaphoric formula.

KISSING = SEX.

Now as always (and as we discussed when talking about Jughead's sexuality) it's basically impossible to talk in absolutes about Archie comics. The degree to which kissing = sex therefore changes from story to story. In some stories kissing is a straight up substitute for sex. For example in the strip we're sharing today.