Regarding Betty's love interest have you heard of Dex, a love interest introduced near the end of Betty and Me. His story is well......
I will add I do apprecciate they gave her consistent black interest since then. https://old.reddit.com/r/archiecomics/comments/1uj2xb5/betty_consistently_having_a_black_love_interest/
But as a black fan I will say Trev is dissapointing as a love interest for Betty. Like aside from the fact he has no real character being real (He's Valerie's BROTHER but we have no idea of their dynamic and he has no dynamic with anyone or quirks). And that ties into his relationship with Betty. The two of them have no chemistry. We don't know why they like each other (especially for Betty to be so over Archie so quickly and they don't even use the Adam angle of he treats her better than Archie), what habits they have in common, what they do on dates, etc. Even in the original story in Archie Marries Valerie Betty ended up soley defined by her relationship with Trev. Like at least Archie and Valerie did things like open a school for kids based on their shared love of Music, Veronica joined the Pussycats while also having a thing with Alexander and also struggling to get over Archie. The only thing we saw with Trev and Betty was him replacing Archie in the Archies (Valerie's brother being good at music....so creative) and even then that became about their relationship with the only thing being told is how the audience likes him and Betty's chemistry and then the Archies disband because Betty and Trev elope.........Glad the story exists for Betty to have a black love interest fully but the way they wanted to give it the same weight as Archie and Valerie didn't work.
Hi!! I have not heard of Dex but I agree with your take on Trev and Betty’s relationship. I tend to stick to the Pep Squad for Betty ships but I do casually enjoy some others, and Trevetty is one of them. I would take him over Adam any day tbh, tho Adam does make a fun rival for Archie. I think the problem is that, like you said, they aren’t given much substance. They’re just kinda propped up as an alternative, healthy ship for Betty that we’re supposed to root for solely on the basis of “they’re cute.” They both like music, and they get very flustered around each other, but there’s not a whole not to explore there. I like my Archie ships to have conflict so I find it hard to get super invested in them
I love that Betty has such a notable black love interest but with what they’ve been given so far, the writers do veer dangerously close to the disposable black love interest trope. From what I’ve read, I haven’t seen much of Trev outside of his relationship with Betty, which is a problem. Valarchie avoids this (except in Riverdale. Sigh) because Valerie is a lead character in her own comic. Archie is as much a crossover love interest for her as she is for him. Even if he doesn’t “choose” her, that’s sort of okay because he’s not the most important thing in her life. Trev kinda disappears if he’s not with Betty. I would love to see some solo stories that center him, and especially more of his relationship with Valerie. He could be a really cool addition to the Pussycats cast. I’d also like to see more friction in his relationship with Betty, something to give them depth beyond being cute. I still like what we’ve seen of them but the writers could certainly do more with their relationship, and with Trev’s character
I will use this as an excuse to share my take that if modern writers REALLY care as much about diversity as they claim, Chuck and Nancy should make more appearances. Put them with the main gang instead of Kevin or Midge & Moose. Lots of ship potential to be unlocked there as well (as long as they ultimately end up with each other bcuz we need more black couples in media)
