Life With Archie: The Married Life

Notice the lack of a cover gag?

Love or hate... life or death... Betty or Veronica... the end or just the beginning... the road taken or the road not taken...

—Dilton Doiley

Life With Archie: The Married Life is an ongoing storyline in Archie Comics. It was launched in its own series in September 2010.

Following on the heels of the Archie Marries Veronica/Betty storylines, the series follows Archie's life post-marriage. Each issue contains one comic set in the timeline in which Archie married Veronica, and one set in the timeline in which he married Betty. The comics differ from the norm in several ways, being printed in magazine format and having Darker and Edgier storylines, with Soap Opera plot twists and situations.

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Tropes used in Life With Archie: The Married Life include:

• Alternate Continuity: Not only do the two stories display different futures, but Archie Loves Betty sometimes differs from Archie Marries Betty. Most noticeably, Miss Grundy in Archie Loves Betty dies without seeing Archie and Betty become teachers.
• Alternate Universe: Dilton apparently keeps track of them.
• Beta Couple:
  • Moose and his blind yoga instructor, Ilana.
  • Mr. Weatherbee and Miss Grundy in the Archie Loves Betty stories, until Miss Grundy dies.
  • Jughead and Midge.
• Big Applesauce: Archie and Betty spend some time living in New York City.
• Break the Cutie: Betty undergoes a serious depression after Archie picks Veronica over her. Not even dating Richie Cunningham or Troy Bolton lifts her out of it.
• Break the Haughty: Veronica undergoes a serious depression after Archie picks Betty over her. It becomes so severe, Mr. Lodge tries bribing Archie to leave Betty for Veronica.
  • Cheryl Blossom is stuck waiting tables.
• Continuity Porn: Ambrose shows up and discusses the Little Archie stories with Archie. Little Jinx also appears.
• Corrupt Corporate Executive: Mr. Lodge and Fred Mirth.
• Darker and Edgier: In the first issue alone, Moose and Midge break up in order to avoid further Domestic Abuse, Miss Grundy contracts a fatal disease, and the Betty of the Archie Marries Veronica timeline has lost the will to live (as did the Veronica of the Archie Marries Betty timeline).
• Earn Your Happy Ending: While the Archie Gets Married storylines resolve to Babies Ever After endings pretty quickly, the Life With Archie series is suggesting that there will be a lot of work to get there.
• Fourth Wall Observer: Dilton.
• Go Mad from the Revelation: Mr. Lodge, due to the multiverse.
• Multiverse: Confirmed as of issue #18.
• "Previously On..."
• Soap Opera Disease: Leads to the death of Miss Grundy.
• Spiritual Successor: A melodramatic comic titled Life with Archie also ran during the 1960s and '70s, but took place while Archie and his friends were still high schoolers.
• Take a Third Option: So, is Archie going to end up with Betty or Veronica? Turns out, either one is canon.
• Unlucky Everydude: Archie in both scenarios to an extent, and, surprisingly, Reggie.
• Wham! Episode: Issues #10 and #18.