Archie: The Married Life Review (with photos)

Archie: The Married Life is a 24-part limited series written by Paul Kupperberg and penciled by Norm Breyfogle and inked by Andrew Pepoy and Joe Rubenstein. The series delves deeper into the "What If?" storyline written earlier by Michael Uslan and drawn by long-time Archie artist Stan Goldberg entitled "Archie: Will You Marry Me?", where Archie Andrews was married to either the rich and beautiful Veronica Lodge and the sweet and down-to-earth Betty Cooper.

The "Married Life" maxiseries is divided into 2 realities, one where Archie is married to Veronica, while the other one is married to Betty. Each reality has it's own set of trials that are thrown at them while also exploring their friends' foray into the harsh "real world". The series is like a reminder of how young couples start out and how you need to make some tough decisions in life.

For me, this is a lot better than the "Will You Marry Me? series. As much as I respect the previous work for laying out the groundwork and finally showing to the whole world Archie and the gang actually growing up, this series was given a lot of freedom (more issues) and challenges that we all can relate to. Paul Kupperberg wrote one hell of a story and while Norm Breyfogle is famous for his realistic pencils on DC Comic's Batman, his art is not alien to the whole theme of the story. Although the colors look rather dark. And being in 2 realities where we get one story of Veronica then Betty the next, it can get pretty confusing at times (which reality is Chuck having difficulty maintaining a job, which reality is Jughead angry at Archie, etc.) Even the writer expressed his disorientation on mapping out the plot.

Now with giving some story bits while not giving everything away, here are some images to help me illustrate some of the good (and bad) points of the maxiseries (and also to help those who get bored easily on seas of texts.) Take note that I have only read the first 6 chapters of both realities. I'm still waiting for the second part to be on sale.

First, we go to "Earth-Veronica": (a DC Comics nod) Click to enlarge picture.


                                       This is one of best covers of the series. Money isn't everything.

                               
                                   You can see from the start that Archie is not pleased with the decision.
                                                          And that this will cause conflict.

                               
                                                Mr. Lodge was made into an antagonist in the series,
                                                      here he is giving Archie a reality check.

                                           

                     Here we are shown a glimpse of "Earth-Veronica" Betty talking to Cheryl Blossom.

                             Is it me, or does she look like Mary Jane Watson of "Spider-Man" series?

                                Even this scene looks something out of the "Spider-Man 3" movie.  

                                         

                         Mr. Lodge wants to buy off Pop Tates' Chocklit Shoppe to make way for

                    franchised fast-food restaurants. This angered Archie's best friend and future owner

                           Jughead Jones on  Archie because he's not doing anything to prevent it.

                           

The planned reunion was a mess.

                                                     
                                                 One of the good moments of the "Earth-Veronica":
                                                 Moose Mason running for Mayor of Riverdale.
                                                                     (it won't be easy.)

                                           
                                                          trouble in married land.

                                                           

                                        here we are shown how much Mr. Lodge is being made into

                                  a hated person. Sometimes it's so much that it's almost ridiculous.

                                 

                                        these panels sums life well. As to who this grill cook is,

                                                              find out in "Earth-Betty".

                               
                           Reggie Mantle has a lot of great moments in either of the realities. The writer
                              showed how much he has grown from his childish, prank-pulling behavior.

                                 

                                 Another great Reggie moment. Veronica is so confused on what she

                                 needs to do to her marriage that she almost had an "affair" with Reggie.

                                              But Reggie showed how much he has matured...

                                 
                                   When you look at it, Mr. Lodge is just business-minded in this reality.
                  He just wants progress in the little town of Riverdale. But in the "Earth-Betty"? Ummm..

                       Now don't feel bad about Reggie not getting Veronica. He's got someone too...

Then we go to "Earth-Betty":

Also one of the best covers of the series...You can sense the bittersweet feeling here..

Aaaannnnnd this is the part where Mr. Lodge becomes the 

complete antagonist.

This is the part where we are shown how many

"Earths" there are in the Archie Universe. Sounds weird, 

but DC and Marvel comics been doing it for years...

   

Mr. Weatherbee found out Ms. Grundy is ill.

So he did the most sensible thing when couples are in love..

 Archie is alone in New York, out of his element in Riverdale, 

he feels down than ever. 

                                                               

The grill cook is none other than...

"Earth-Betty" had more romantic bits than "Earth-Veronica"

The third panel is a preview of things to come...

Some of them are pretty shocking...

Archie realizes his luck in big city New York. 

The fourth panel is almost like that part in "Spider-Man" 

quitting his costumed caper. 

Ambrose has been through a lot in this reality, 

so he knows how hard it can be.

In "Earth-Betty" Reggie is in a career slump, 

dealing with people like this.

Ms. Grundy gave out one of the best lines ever in the second panel...

Here we are shown Reggie being confused with life.
(but of course, he bounces back. not gonna tell you how.)

One of the funniest moments in the series, despite 

the overall serious theme ( I blame the colors, for one)

The penciler showing some of his "Batman" influences.

Ms. Grundy just shows that even after you've graduated, 

you are still "her student".

This page just shows the nature of Archie choosing either

Betty and Veronica on his dates. Y'know, I never even thought of  the

reason of Archie 's behavior until Ms. Grundy says it all. 

So there you have it. One of the great moments and observations of the maxiseries. While there are also some story elements of Midge Klump , Jughead Jones, Chuck Clayton, Nancy Woods and Ethel Muggs, they are overshadowed by Archie and his wife on the 2 realities. And Jughead's dilemma with the overtaking of the Chocklit Shoppe is redundant that you'd want to just say "C'mon!!! Get it over with!!!" Dilton Doiley, on the other hand, seems to just be playing spectator on it all. But I feel that he will play a big role on the last parts.

Archie: The Married Life is a wonderful story for those people growing up reading the comics. It's a delight seeing them all grown up and being in the same place that you were before when you were starting out as either newlyweds or a yuppie. While there are some bits that are off ( kinda dark colors, Mr. Lodge being overly antagonistic) and it is difficult to buy this trade paperback at any bookstore, ( I bought mine at a special comic-book store) they do not hinder the experience and worth the hunt. I say track it down and smile as you relate to Archie and the gang's hard lucks.

all images and characters Copyright Archie Comic Publications, Inc. 2012

- "the king"

The Rise and Fall of the Pakwan Queen: Ilonah Marquez

Being a bold star can be difficult. Besides disrobing in front of the camera and making out with a co-star you’ve just met a few minutes ago, sometimes you get labeled as a mistress of a politician or a rich businessman and being an airhead. Some use their fame to get big money appearing and “performing” in nightclubs in or outside the country. That is mostly a life cycle of a bold star. It’s like getting fame on borrowed time.

Now besides Lolita De Leon that is featured on my post a few weeks ago, there is another bold star that is famous for her enormous breasts and having less information on her. She is none other than Ilonah Marquez. She is almost synonymous to Lolita De Leon because they almost have the same cup size, with Ilonah having a larger one and more obviously doctored. Ilonah Marquez looks petite and has a very captivating smile. As usual, I became intrigued on her whereabouts, even any information on her. So I searched again on the net for anything on her.

With Ilonah Marquez she’s an example of a catch-22: you realize that she starred in a handful of bold movies that you can download and appeared on a few men’s magazines, but got almost nothing on any personal information on her. I tried hard to find anything on where she lived before, what her real name is, who are her influences, dreams, etc. but got nothing except a few mentions on some forums and a multiply site.

Aside from a single article on her and an interview on FHM Philippines, I made use of what I had, while making my own interpretation of her answers to the questions thrown at her. Call it investigative journalism, if you may.

Ilonah Marquez was a bold star who went by the nickname of “Pakwan Queen” and “Pamela Anderson of the Philippines” because of her 40D breasts, appeared in titillating films from 2001-2003. She was discovered by a scout who was looking for local talent for a Korean movie. She got the part for the movie (although it was never mentioned what movie it was). Eventually the talent scout became her manager and helped her get into local showbiz in 2001. Her local movie debut was called Blondie 2. The first Blondie flick starred a different actress named Ilonah Jean. The “Pakwan Queen” recounted that she got her screen name because possibly her management or producers said that she resembled Ilonah Jean. A quick change on her last name and Ilonah Marquez was born.

Her movies are Blondie 2 (with Sabrina M. and Rey “PJ” Abellana), Ira, where she got the lead role and had an axed sub-title by the local censors it had double-meaning because when you reverse Ira you get something suggestive in the tagalog language, the subtitle almost would give it away with “Ako Ang May-Ari” (with Raffy Anido and Derek Dee), S.E.L.D.A (with a bevy of bold stars Natasha Ledesma, Rosalinda Rosal, Pam Lacson and Elaine DIzon) , the cleverly-titled amd notorious Kapag Ang Palay naging Bigas… May Bumayo (with Rose Valencia and Lara Morena), Mga Babae sa VIP rooms (with Rose Valencia, Mike Magat and Kat De Santos) and lastly Motel (with Mon Confiado and Allona Amor). There were other movies mentioned, like “Ang Paninda”, and “Ako, Siya o Ikaw” but there was no further information on them other than the title itself.

Even at an early start she already got into heated arguments with her fellow bold stars, like with Katrina Paula where she commented on Katrina offering herself to the Abu Sayyaf ( as a means to appease them, I suppose) , saying it is a cheap gimmick. And with Pyar Mirasol being furious with jealousy over Ilonah because she is being close to her Blondie 2 co-star Raffy Anido. Even Aiza Seguerra reacted when she said that she saw her in Thunderdome. Her answers to the accusations are pretty feisty and honest. She can defend herself well.

And as bold stars go, she temporarily vanished. She said in the 2004 FHM interview that she just took a break and that the offers got few, because a lot of bold stars appeared. If I remember correctly, 2003-2004 there were a lot of bold films that got shown that had “substance” and the supergroup Viva Hot Babes was born. So other bold stars got pushed back in the spotlight.

her last media appearance

Her last media appearance was when she decided to have her breasts be reduced and she was featured on TV Patrol World and in Charlene Gonzales’ lifestyle show “At Home Ka Dito”. She had it done because she had frequent back pains; she can’t jump, can’t sleep on her stomach and said that “[my breasts] were grossly disproportioned with my body” but credits them for making her well-known in local showbiz. Two doctors and an anesthesiologist from the famous Belo Medical group removed almost a kilo of mammary mass from the pair and her cup size was reduced to 36C. She was set to do movie awkwardly titled “La Tumba Cama” (another forum called it “La Tumba Casa”) but never saw production.

Upon cross-referencing the dates her last web mention was that she was seen performing in the infamous nightclub Takusa 3000 in Cubao last 2008.  The user said that her breasts still looked big despite the reduction. Apparently she used her fame to get good prices when men would “table” her.

And that’s it. Like Lolita De Leon, we no longer have any recent news on her. I recently saw a Facebook user using her name and that she comes from La Trinidad, Benguet. It may seem too good to be true to see her again and it seems so. I doubted if it really is her because there are no self-taken pics, pics of her with her dog, house, tourist attraction, etc. There are only her magazine pictorials gracing on her photo albums, so it leaves a lot to totally believe that she is the real deal. We could also think that she got married, had kid/s, went to Brunei or Japan as an escort girl and the like. It seems that she almost has the same fate as Lolita De Leon.

But when you think about it, bold stars have nothing to go once they’ve lost their sizzle. Sure they can try acting on teleseryes but they need a good manager to promote them to networks and such, and there are not a lot of managers willing to do that. So instead they go the usual way of a bold star’s end of a life cycle: a famous and high-end nightclub. After that, it’s anyone’s play of destiny. Life can be like that sometimes.

I'd like to think that like what she was called, the "Pakwan Queen" has already lived her royal life. So it is customary to say in this kind of situations; "The Queen is [Gone]!!! Long Live the Queen!!!"

EDIT:  10 years later, I have an update.

Someone following this blog post gave me new information about her whereabouts.

I cannot verify if it is REALLY her, but one comment called her by her screen name.

She is currently living in Rizal, is married to a foreigner that looks like of middle-eastern descent, and has a child that is 5 yrs old. She studied as a caregiver 4 yrs ago (2018), but is currently busy selling bags, beauty products, clothes, etc.

She looks very different now (although, you know, its a given, since people age) but it looks like she has some work done on parts of her face.

I have tried to reach out to her but as of now she has not yet replied to my message.

My Blog Has A WHAT???!!!

 - It's amazing how you can be ignorant at times.

- I have just recently updated my blogspot settings, as well as seeing that blogspot also tells you who or how many viewed your coveted blog.

- SON.OF.A.MOTHERF*CKIN'.BITCH. The new settings made it super-easy to place pictures. I always had extreme difficulty moving the pictures to my desired spot, even taking me hours to finish. Blogspot has been notifying me countless times to update my format, but I just kept on ignoring it because I'm afraid that it might alienate me. Sh*t. Times like this I remember the short story "Who Moved my Cheese" by Spencer Johnson, M.D. Do check it out.

- My ego also had a "polishing" time when I saw how many people viewed my blog. There are people from the U.S., U.K., The Netherlands, Greece, Germany, Portugal and even Russia!!!

- Granted I do not know if they did just view it momentarily when they are just trying the [ Next Blog>>>] feature or they really read my post from start to finish, or even  if they are Filipinos just working/staying in the said country. but hey, it works for me.

- For people new to blogging, I recommend that you label your posts. It helps add traffic to your blog when people are searching something. Why, my most-viewed post was me ranting about the heat and about British comic strip star Andy Capp. Check it here. I guess he is pretty famous, despite the recycled humor.

- Speaking of traffic, one of the most-viewed "Torpe Road" post I did was on Bacolod, followed by Singapore then Paranaque and lastly my cream de la crepe, New Zealand. "Torpe Road" fans unite!!! For newcomers, check out the rest here.

- Speaking of the "The Torpe Road", I've been wanting to publish it in paper format, either by a known publisher or go "indie" (i.e. Xerox)  with some never-before-seen ( always wanted to use that phrase for some time now ) articles. I have maybe 4 or 5 articles in mind, but knowing me, it might take 2015 to finish.

- So that's all, fellow bloggers!!! In closing don't be afraid to experiment, always make blog posts with substance and make sure you can back up your claim or rant when someone is bashing/trolling you. And oh, double-check your spelling/grammar...

- I guess it also wouldn't be right if I didn't post some pics that I stumbled on the net. There are some really awesome pics sprouting and being seen by dozens of people, thanks in part to the popularity of humor website 9gag.com. So here they are:

                                                                  - rock-hard skin

                                                                   - God's Eye
                                                         

                                                                    - heeeelllpppp....

                                                     - the occasional unknown chick stolen from 'net...

               - ...and the totally unknown body/cleavage shot. check out more at "Palibahasa Lalake" page, search it on Facebook..

- "the king"