Elizabeth “Betty” Cooper is a fictional character of Archie Comics, the blonde-haired love interest of Archie Andrews. Betty was created by Bob Montana in December 1941. She first appeared in PEP#22, on the first page of the first Archie Comics story, along with Archie Andrews. Betty was created as a love interest for Archie, but Archie has almost always preferred Veronica Lodge, and uses Betty as a back-up plan. Betty’s infatuation with Archie makes her strive for his attention using whatever means possible, and that is one of the running themes in the Archie Comics stories. Betty Cooper was ranked 66th in Comics Buyer’s Guide’s “100 Sexiest Women in Comics” list.
Betty is portrayed as a nice, beautiful, smart, sweet, tomboyish and funny girl with blonde hair. Her eyes are typically described as blue, but are only drawn as such in later years and during close-up shots of her face; at all other times, her eyes are simply drawn with black ink.
Betty Cooper is the daughter of Hal Cooper and Alice Cooper. Her older brother Chic Cooper and older sister Polly Cooper have both 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 17-year-old girl next door, Betty’s middle class upbringing is a world apart from the flashy lifestyle of her wealthy friend and rival, Veronica Lodge. Nowhere is this more evident than when she and Veronica are competing for Archie Andrews’ heart, and yet they remain best friends.
Contrary to the “dumb blonde”-stereotype, Betty actually has an above-average intelligence and is one of the smartest students at Riverdale High School. In one story she won an award and was sent to compete in New York and has won numerous academic awards. At one point, she gained ESP when an encyclopedia accidentally fell on her head. This ability took away all hope for the future; Archie asked her for a date, but she knew that Archie would dump her for Veronica. She lost her ESP power when a ball that Reggie kicked accidentally hit her; in her gratefulness, she gave him a thankful kiss.
Betty’s many talents and accomplishments often make her rival Veronica jealous, who then tries to sabotage Betty to steal her glory and make her look bad.