Pop Culture References of Wizard101: Marleybone – Betty Furlington

Betty Furlington – Betty Cooper from Archie Comics
https://wiki.wizard101central.com/wiki/NPC:Betty_Furlington
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Betty_Cooper

Betty Furlington

Old Sage the Myth Weaving Tree has sent your Myth-weaving wizard to Marleybone to summon the Myth Icon, Archibald Ratfink. He suggests that the citizens of Regent’s Square might aid you in your quest. Reggie Toadsworth invites you to the Archie Fan Club. Betty Furlington is one of the members.

Elizabeth “Betty” Cooper is one of the main characters appearing in American comic books published by Archie Comics. She is the percussionist and one of the three singers of The Archies. The character was created by Bob Montana and John L. Goldwater, and first appeared in Pep Comics #22 (cover-dated Dec. 1941), on the first page of the first Archie story, serving as a love interest to Archie Andrews.

Betty is in love with Archie, which drives her attempts to win his affections by whatever means possible, and her rivalry with her best friend, vocalist/keyboardist Veronica Lodge, have been among the longest-running themes in the comics. She is portrayed by Lili Reinhart in Riverdale and Khushi Kapoor in The Archies.

Betty Cooper

Betty was named for, and originally based on, Betty Tokar Jankovich, a Czech immigrant who briefly dated Archie co-creator Bob Montana in 1939 when she was 18. Created to serve as a love interest for Archie Andrews, she is portrayed as a smart, talented, sweet, tomboyish yet beautiful girl with blonde hair and blue eyes.

In addition to appearing in many Archie stories, Betty was the star of two long-running comic book titles published by Archie Comics during the period 1965–2012: Betty and Me (later styled as Betty & Me), which published 200 issues from Aug. 1965 to Aug. 1992; and Betty, which published 195 issues from Sept. 1992 to Jan. 2012. She also was featured in Betty’s Diary, which published 40 issues from Apr. 1986–Apr. 1990.

Currently, Betty is the co-star of Betty and Veronica Digest Magazine, now known as B&V Friends Double Digest, which was launched in Nov. 1980 and has published more than 250 issues; and Betty and Veronica Double Digest, which has published 250+ issues since June 1987.

Betty Cooper is the third and youngest child and second daughter of Hal Cooper and Alice Cooper. Her older brother Chic Cooper and older sister Polly Cooper have moved out of Riverdale, their hometown. Chic moved to New York City and Polly to San Francisco, but both occasionally appear in flashbacks to Betty’s childhood, and both occasionally visit their family.

The quintessential girl next door, Betty’s middle class upbringing is a world apart from the flashy lifestyle of her wealthy friend, Veronica Lodge. Nowhere is this more evident than when she and Veronica are competing for Archie Andrews’ heart, and yet they remain best friends (Veronica once told Archie that she and Betty are only rivals in unimportant matters, like boys).

Betty and Veronica #37 July 1958

In the late 1960s, the two girls joined Archie’s band, a garage band appropriately named The Archies. Both sang, and Betty played a tambourine, while Veronica played an organ. Some stories indicate that Betty is the better vocalist. Additionally, there is little consistency in the instruments she is able to play. Betty has played the recorder, tambourine, maracas, guitar, banjo, keyboard, saxophone, cello, and the bongos.

The current list of all the (known) Marleybone references are located here.

Although I am well versed in Pop Culture references but I do not claim to have caught them all. Let me know your favorites in the comments and if I’ve missed one you caught, let me know so I can add it to the list.

Text for this article is excerpted from the linked wiki pages

Betty Furlington image is from Wizard101, and is copyright of KingsIsle Entertainment.

Betty Cooper image is borrowed from Wikipedia and is copyright Archie Comics

Betty and Veronica #37 cover image is borrowed from quora.com It is copyright Archie Comics

Image usage qualifies as fair use under US copyright law.

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