Archie Cancelling Betty?

During the discussion resulting from my post on last year’s Archie sales patterns, the question of whether the company had cancelled some titles came up. A commenter mentioned that Betty and Archie & Friends had been taken off the company’s subscription sales page. This Archie fan thread mentions:

Betty‘s last issue solicited so far is #191 out in March
Archie and Friends is running at least til #154 due to the Little Archie story being promoted out in April.

But a reference in the Veronica solicits says that a story will continue in Betty #192. Someone else claims they got confirmation of the cancellations from Mr. Goldwater, co-CEO of the company, who mentioned an “overall revamping”. When I asked their press contact, the statement I got back said:

There are no plans to cancel ARCHIE & FRIENDS or BETTY at this time. We’re often updating and tweaking what’s made available on our store. The temporary absence of the titles shouldn’t be taken as a sign that they’re ending.

That’s about what I expected — and it’s not wrong. If this brings more attention, and sales allow Betty to continue, then we worried for nothing. If they don’t, then plans changed from the time that statement was made. And this wouldn’t be the first time that marketing contradicted company insiders in order not to cause a further sales drop. Then again, we are talking about a publisher that announced they’d be renaming Archie & Friends in 2008, and that never happened.

Since I prefer reading about the blonde girl next door, I’d be sad if the title ended and Veronica’s book continued. It looks like I should get used to disappointment, since according to this fan’s report from the subscription department, “The final issue for Archie and Friends is 156 and Betty will be 193. Both will be out this summer.”