ARCHIE COMICS FIRST LOOKS: FERNANDO RUIZ

Writer/Artist Fernando Ruiz talks about Archie & Friends #136, due in stores on Oct. 14.

Question: Who is Bella Beazly?

Ruiz: Bella Beazly is the beautiful daughter of Ms. Beazly, Riverdale High's cafeteria cook. Bella's been away at cooking school, but when her mom needs to take a week off, she is asked to fill in. Bella's beauty makes her a hit with all the guys at Riverdale High. Her cooking, though, creates a crisis in the kitchen with everyone except for Bella's biggest booster, that food fanatic, Jughead!

Question: How did the extremely unattractive lunch lady, Ms. Beazly end up with such a pretty daughter?

Ruiz: Genetics can be unpredictable sometimes but in this case, we can look to MISTER Beazly, Ms. Beazly's never-before-seen husband. He makes his first appearance in this issue and he might explain a lot!

Question: Will she be a reoccurring character?

Ruiz: We certainly hope so. We hope to serve up more stories featuring Riverdale's new cute cook! Hopefully the readers will send us lots of letters and e-mails letting us know what they think of Bella's dazzling debut!

Question: As a culinary school graduate, will Bella be preparing the type of foods the kids are used to getting from a school cafeteria?

Ruiz: After all these years of Ms. Beazly's cooking, Bella's dishes will definitely take Archie and the gang by surprise! She'll become the culinary controversy of the kitchen!

Question: Could Jughead ever truly be attracted to a girl if he didn't like her cooking?

Ruiz: Jughead is very open minded but good cooking does go a long way with him. His food fascination may cause a cooking crisis between him and Bella. Readers will have to get this issue to see what trouble they "cook" up!