Arche-Lady Primer: the allies

Delving into the world of Arche, we first look to her myriad of friends and side-kicks.

From the start (and much to Miriam’s chagrin), a side-kick (often inept) has been attached to Arche-Lady. Her first (and the only she liked) was her telekinetic, telepathic, super-smart retriever named Dog-Matic. He bow-wowed out of the series at its start, having found Astro-Boy as his replacement.

Astro-Boy was a fixture for many years, and the first 50 episodes of the comic. Never quite able to control his awesome “astro-blast,” he was captured and beaten up quite often. Over the course of the series, he was replaced by a robot, irreversibly change into a fish for 11 episodes, permanently encased in crystal for 27 episodes, and sent to the realm of the What-Not as their cosmic prince, forever. He returned just a few months later, with amnesia, but soon regained his memory.

After Astro-Boy, came a string of sidekicks, some lasting but a single episode: Twister (whose tornado powers were a result of the tornado virus, which ultimately exploded him from within); Cave-Boy (a prehistoric teen paired with Arche-Lady the devilish Devil-Toe to annoy the heroine); Gravity-Girl (a former villain turned good, who was apparently crushed by an exploding dam); Nova-Boy (who gave up the hero biz to become a dentist); Perfect-Boy (who turned out to be Astro-Boy’s surplus genetic make-up, and merged with his doppelganger in episode #100); and Multi-Boy (boy of 1000 talents).

Tired of sidekicks, she sanctioned the formation of her Teen Auxiliary (a nod to my favorite teen team, the Teen Titans). The initial roster included recurring teen allies Better-Girl and Rachel Moon, plus Perfect-Boy and Multi-Boy. Rachel was swapped out immediately for Johnny Magnet, and later Sunflower joined. The new Lady-Bird Beetle Lady and Cave-Boy became reserve members, and it was revealed that Better-Girl, Sparky, and Moon-Beam had been unofficially banded together prior to Arche-Lady’s official sanction.

Her doddering mentor, Professor Emile Peppercorn appeared throughout the series. His invention/plot device, the Ximometer, saved the day more than once. He maintains a lab in the science district of Arche-City, as well as an entire facility on Science Isle in the south Pacific. He cured Tiffany of the dreaded Hell-Hound curse, therefore curing another of Arche-Lady’s teen allies, Flying Boy, of his insanity. He also invented a power-dampener so that another teen ally, Kid Jinx, could live a normal life.

Mimi Chandler was introduced into the series as a friendly rival to Arche-Lady after being the protagonist in my mini comics Sigmund & Friends, which I created in junior high school. Mimi could and had done anything: model, astronaut, police woman, short order cook, reporter. She now runs a travel magazine. Another friendly rival was the “can-do dare-doll” Lorna Van Duane. Far less versatile, but far more action-y than Mimi, Lorna was a strong, graceful, beautiful ass-kicker.

In the man-department, Arche-Lady had three fellows she could rely on in a pinch. It was always ambiguous to what extent did their relationships reach with the heroine. Certainly, there was much innuendo. The Week-End Jock, Doc Marten Man, and Christopher Gallant, though each a masculine power house in his own right, could never quite hold a candle to the amazing Arche-Lady.

Most (but not all) of the allies are based on my friends and people I admire.

TOMORROW: the villains