Riverdale #12

I Wanted To Like It, But I Didn't

So, here's the thing. This is overall a fun, amusing story for the first few pages, but it goes downhill fast and once again is completely non-compliant with canon.

Jughead after becoming a Serpent just isn't the goofball he used to be - the one he's portrayed as here. And Alice Cooper giving a crap about the kind of silly, juvenile??thing she does here? No way, no how! Especially at any point during any of the seasons following Jug becoming a Serpent! And the Serpents definitely wouldn't be on Alice's side over Jug, considering he's either son of the King or the King himself (he calls himself royalty and the actual timepoint is unclear) and Alice is a literal traitor of a former Serpent. Moreover, FP wouldn't play knight in shining armour for Alice or destroy something Jug cared so much about; he was trying to be a better Dad after getting out of prison.

But most importantly, and what really bothers me??as a bisexual woman myself, is the bi erasure happening in this issue. Toni Topaz is bisexual with a leaning toward liking girls more, NOT a??lesbian. This issue, however,??has her being annoyed by Jughead's obsession with a video game and saying the incredibly sexist??(and unlike her!) line: “Ugh! This is why I'm into girls!” What, because girls can't be gamers? Girls can't be geeky?

Toni Topaz in canon is far too much of an advocate of social justice and gender equality to say stupid crap like that! And again, she is bi. She also likes guys. At one point, she somewhat liked Jug himself. We bisexual women do exist. It's bad enough canon partook in bi erasure to retcon Cheryl's interest in Archie from season one, but at least she'd never outright stated her preferences. Toni has. She is bi. Please don't try to steal away??one of the very few characters I can relate to on that level.

Sorry for the tangent, but that really struck me the wrong way. Enough that, combined with the wildly inconsistent characterizations, I'm giving this one star. I wanted to like it, honestly. I was so happy to see a story about Serpent Jughead,??so excited for a lighthearted tale that I was almost willing to forget that Jug usually doesn't behave so lightheartedly anymore. And then Alice happened and everything fell apart.

I'm so disappointed right now.