Betty and Veronica, the two grizzly bears who have recently moved from the Bronx Zoo to take up residence at the Central Park Zoo, have been local media stars lately, appearing in the New York Times, the Post, and on several news stations.

But these two are no strangers to fame: in fact, in 2004, they were the cover stars of Archie Comic No. 550. 

Cover of Archie Comic 550. © 2004 Archie Comic Publications

In the issue’s first story, “Bear in Mind,” the human Archie, Jughead, Betty, and Veronica visit the Bronx Zoo to see their bear namesakes, who were taken in by the Zoo in 1995 after facing threat of euthanasia under US Fish and Wildlife’s “three strikes” rule.  The gang from nearby Riverside learns about the dangers facing wild grizzly bears and about the Zoo’s Animal Enrichment Program from WCS Senior Conservation Scientist Joel Berger and Bronx Zoo keeper Jeff Munson.

WCS’s Joel Berger in Archie Comic 550. © Archie Comic Publications

Along with their new digs in Central Park, Betty and Veronica have something else they’re no doubt thrilled about: with the ending of his show in December, Stephen Colbert ended his feud with bears, declaring them no longer the “godless killing machines” he had deemed them over the past nine years—including during a 2006 segment at the Bronx Zoo: