About me: Veronica Lodge is the only child of Hiram Lodge, the richest man in Riverdale, and his wife Hermione Lodge. She is called both by her name "Veronica" and her nicknames "Ronnie" and "Ron". Bob Montana knew the real-life Lodge family, because he had once painted a mural for them. Montana combined that name with actress Veronica Lake to create the character of Veronica Lodge. Her character was added in Pep Comics 38, just months after Archie Andrews, Betty Cooper, and Jughead Jones debuted, and just a few months before Reggie Mantle debuted.
Veronica is a beautiful young woman with raven hair, favoring expensive, up-to-the-minute fashion. In some comics, Mr. Lodge claimed that he moved his family to Riverdale in order to avoid Veronica becoming spoiled, like many of the children he knew and grew up with. His plan did not succeed as well as he had hoped, as Veronica is often depicted on spending sprees, in which she maxes out her credit cards. In one story she buys out every shoe store in Riverdale to prevent any other girl from buying a pair of shoes that she herself wanted.[volume & issue needed] (Ironically, Veronica is often depicted going barefoot, both at home and away.) At times, Veronica's vain and conceited attitude infuriates her father to the point that he has to somehow "teach her a lesson" and Veronica is forced to get a job of some kind or loses access to Archie.
In the earliest Archie Comics, there were a few different 'Veronica origin' stories. In her debut story, in Pep #26, April 1942, Veronica was referred to as a 'sub-debutante', daughter of 'Money Bags' Lodge of Beacon Hill, who had just come to live in Riverdale. In Pep #31, September 1942, Veronica was revealed to have lived in Boston before coming to Riverdale. Her father Burton K. Lodge was introduced as a 'big shot Boston politician'.
