"Love Showdown" was a four part 1994 comic book story arc featuring the characters from Archie Comics

Archie Comics

Archie Comics is an American comic book publisher headquartered in the Village of Mamaroneck, Town of Mamaroneck, New York, known for its many series featuring the fictional teenagers Archie Andrews, Betty Cooper, Veronica Lodge, Reggie Mantle and Jughead Jones. The characters were created by...

. Publicized as a possible resolution to the decades-long love triangle between Archie Andrews

Archie Andrews (comics)

Archie Andrews, created in 1941 by Vic Bloom and Bob Montana, is a fictional character in an American comic book series published by Archie Comics, as well as the long-running Archie Andrews radio series, a syndicated comic strip, The Archie Show, and Archie's Weird Mysteries.-Character and...

 and his longtime sweethearts Betty

Betty Cooper

Betty Cooper is a fictional character of Archie Comics, the blonde-haired daughter of Hal and Alice Cooper. Betty likes sports, and is also a cheerleader. Betty was created in December 1941. Her older brother Chic Cooper and older sister Polly Cooper have both moved out of Riverdale, their hometown...

 and Veronica

Veronica Lodge

Veronica Lodge is a fictional character in the Archie Comics books series.-Fictional history and character:She is called both by her name Veronica and her nickname Ronnie...

, Love Showdown received more publicity than any other event in Archie history. The story, written by Bill Golliher and Dan Parent

Dan Parent

Dan Parent is an American comic book artist and writer best known for his work for Archie Comics. A graduate of The Kubert School, Parent began working for Archie immediately after graduation. His writing of the Love Showdown series from 1994 received widespread attention...

, was originally published in Archie #429, Betty #19, Betty and Veronica

Betty and Veronica Magazine

Archie's Girls Betty and Veronica and the subsequent series Betty and Veronica are comic book series published by Archie Comics focusing on "best friends and worst enemies" Betty Cooper and Veronica Lodge, both girlfriends of Archie Andrews...

#82, and Veronica #39. The storyline was also collected in trade paperback

Trade paperback (comics)

In comics, a trade paperback is a collection of stories originally published in comic books, reprinted in book format, usually capturing one story arc from a single title or a series of stories with a connected story arc or common theme from one or more titles...

 form.

Plot

Archie receives a mysterious love letter, and when Betty and Veronica find out, both girls think the other sent it. Spurred into action, the girls compete to make Archie choose between them once and for all. However, it's eventually revealed that Cheryl Blossom

Cheryl Blossom

Cheryl Blossom is a fictional character of the Archie Comics universe. She is a wealthy teenage girl, the privileged daughter of a software engineer.-History and character:...

, a girl from Archie's past, sent the letter, and at the end of the series Archie unexpectedly chooses Cheryl instead.

Although the publicity surrounding Love Showdown implied a resolution to the long-running Betty vs. Veronica dilemma, a 48-page follow-up story (Archie's Love Showdown Special) returned the love triangle to its former status quo.