When I was in Montreal this past July, I searched the newsstands (that city still has newsstands) for French-language Archie comics. Found a few digests, including Sélection Betty et Véronica #808.

When I was younger, Canadian Archie comics were ramshackle affairs—black and white reprints of the color originals, with French translations poorly pencilled in to the whited-out speech balloons. These days, the Canadian editions are identical to their American cousins, the text professionally done and fitting cleanly into the balloons. The stories are in color and the covers seem even slicker and more colorful than the U.S. versions.

The translations are fully wrought, right down to vernacular interjections and sound effects. When our heroines see a picture of someone they believe to be Mr. Weatherbee on a “Most Wanted”-type TV show and are informed he’s a master criminal, Veronica’s reaction is “Gak!!” while Betty’s is “iiiii!!” A sign on a building is redone to read “Alors,” while an artsy coffeehouse has the name Hargne du Petit Patelin.

Each culture should own their own Archie. Canada’s modified theirs admirably..