Known for: One of the main characters of the beloved Archie comic book series, as well as one of the main characters of the beloved television adaptation Riverdale. In the comics, she is the richest girl in all of Riverdale, & also one of the most beautiful. But because of this, she is often very self-absorbed, shallow, insensitive, easily jealous, has a very short temper, & has a problem with over shopping. Despite this though, she does have a good heart & will do the right thing most of the time, & she is also incredibly skilled at economics & playing the keyboard, which she does in the band The Archies. Her best friend is Betty Cooper, & she is also extremely close friends with Jughead Jones, & is one of the dueling love interests of Archie Andrews (interestingly enough, her rival is her best friend Betty Cooper, & this love triangle is infamous for creating the story trope “Betty & Veronica”). In the adaptation television series Riverdale, Veronica is a vastly different character, being much nicer & more likable than her comic book counterpart. Her backstory establishes that she was initially very much like her original comic book counterpart, only much more cruel & nasty. But after her father was arrested, she was deeply humbled, & since moving to Riverdale, she vowed to change her ways for the better. Now, she is much more empathetic & compassionate, generous, & a very strong feminist in her school. She is also shown to be very intelligent, a skilled cheerleader, & just like her comic book counterpart, she is a skilled musician who plays in her own band Veronica & the Pussycats, & she is also extremely good & loyal friends with Betty Cooper. Additionally, in the television series, she is depicted as Latin American, as opposed to her Caucasian comic counterpart.
Evidence of Faith: While there isn’t really any mention to her religious background in the original Archie comic books, the television series Riverdale establishes that Veronica is a practicing Catholic. Season 2 of Riverdale makes Veronica’s faith very clear. For instance, the episode “Chapter 14: A Kiss Before Dying” shows Veronica & her mother Hermione praying in front of a statue of the Virgin Mary in a Catholic church, & you can see a picture of it right here. Additionally, the episode “Chapter 25: The Wicked & the Divine” is all about Veronica’s confirmation ceremony, & all of her friends attend it to show their support (the ceremony is held later in Veronica’s life than typical due to her parents wanting the same Monsignor who baptized her to perform the ceremony). The Archie-verse Wiki has an entire article about Veronica’s confirmation ceremony, & you can read all about it here. So, in short, while comic book Veronica’s faith might be more ambiguous, television’s Veronica is most definitely a Catholic, & her story greatly reflects this!
Known for: One of the main supporting characters from the Wildstorm comic book series Crimson. He is a Mexican-Indian vampire who is the best friend & street mentor of main character Alex Elder. Despite being a vampire, he is actually one of the friendliest characters in the series, & was quick to take Alex under his wing when they first met. He is very loyal & strong in fighting evil, but he also has some quirks of his own - for instance, a running joke involves him wearing a different face paint pattern per comic issue. He also fully embraces being a vampire, despite their reputation as creatures of evil, & he certainly knows he’s not evil.
Evidence of Faith: Despite being a vampire & being content with this form, the comics make it very clear that Joe is Catholic & genuinely believes in God. He often makes his religious beliefs very clear, & he will often mention & swear to the Virgin Mary a number of times to illustrate his faith. Plus, many fans cite his Mexican heritage being a vital reason for his devotion to Catholicism, since Mexico is a predominantly Catholic nation.
Note:Apologies for the picture set being lacking in good pictures. The two pictures you see above are the only ones I could find that were good enough, so I hope this isn’t too much of a problem.
Lost Town is the first installment in a series of CYOA style books—the first of many to come. It marks the beginning of The Wyldemere Chronicles, its pages following the subterranean exploits of Devon, Sara, and Fang.
Subsequent books will introduce new characters, people such as Bulldirk, the one-armed blacksmith, Katie, the beautiful thief with a penchant for ruby rings and throwing knives, and Ashel, a blind mage whose tower has the unfortunate habit of transporting itself to random locations every other Tuesday—just to name a few. All books, regardless of storyline and characters, will be based in or around the lawless town of Wyldemere .
Three hundred years ago:
Wyldemere is a thriving seaport, a haven for sailors on their way to the southern isles. It’s said that coin changes hands faster on Barter St. than women change their minds. In part due to the amenities which spring up during economic booms, and in part due to Wyldemere’s singular geographic location, it’s considered one of the top destinations on the continent.
Wyldemere is within a day’s ride of virtually every type of terrain imaginable: There are the Cragstone Mountains and Iron Caves to the South, the Dreaming Desert to the East, Deeperdelve Wood to the West, the Bogslump Swamps to the Southwest, the Gildoren Grasslands to the Southeast, and, of course, the Deedlebrine Sea and islands to the North. It’s said that if a person can’t find what they seek in Wyldemere, they can’t find it anywhere.
Two hundred years ago:
Nothing, as most people know, lasts forever. Least of all good fortune. Dark days of blood and tears are here. The beating drums of war have come to the peaceful kingdom of Lariella . Trenches are dug. Armor is donned. Bunkers are built. And new seaports with high walls topped by cannon are raised—the blue and gold flags snapping in the salty breeze of a new age.
Shortly after the dark and bloody days of war reach their dark and bloody conclusion, Lariella falls into economic collapse. Entire towns are all but leveled (including Wyldemere), and the royal coffers are empty. Few know how close the kingdom came to total annihilation at the hands of the Malkynie invaders—their barbarian neighbors to the east. Some say it will take generations to recover. Others say they never will.
Present day:
What once was the thriving seaport of Wyldemere, is now a dingy, fading shadow of its former self, a sprawling, disorganized confusion of slouching buildings and twisting streets, a hodgepodge of new, old, and in-between construction. It has become one of those forgotten places, little more than a name on a map that most folks haven’t even heard of, a place for cutthroats and card sharks, conmen and drunkards, a place where one is either very rich or gutter poor, very lucky, very ruthless, or very dead.
Not to suggest that Wyldemere is without its charms, mind you. After all, it’s still within a day’s ride of some pretty incredible locales. And the ruins beneath town are said to be a marvel, a shifting labyrinth whose unplumbed depths call to young men such as Devon, to those born on the wrong side of the divide (down by the docks), promising them, in sweet, singsong voices, that they’ll find the fabled halls of gold before the denizens of Lost Town find them.
Needless to say, most who go down there never come back out. And the ones who do rarely return with more than a few baubles, some bumps and bruises, and an empty stomach for their trouble. We can only pray that Devon, Sara, and Fang will be the exceptions to prove the rule. For you see, as chance would have it, that’s where they’re headed this very moment, straight into the gaping maw of high adventure, into a heady amalgam of sword and sorcery from which only the nimblest of mind and stoutest of heart shall return.
