Photo: The Canadian Press. All rights reserved.

In this image provided by Archie Comics, the comic book cover for issue "Veronica 202," is shown. Tension has been mounting between the two co-Chief Executive Officers at Archie Comic Publicationsí suburban New York Headquarters. The CEOs, a son of one founder and the daughter-in-law of another, are locked in a bitter and sometimes bizarre feud. (AP Photo/Archie Comic Publications, Inc.)

The past three years have been upbeat ones for Archie, the everyteen hero of one of America's most enduring comics. He's gotten married, twice, no less. His social circle has expanded to include his first gay friend. He's even appeared on a postage stamp.

But behind the scenes, a bitter and sometimes bizarre feud has brewed at the company that produces the more than 70-year-old comic. Its two CEOs, a son of one founder and the daughter-in-law of another, are accusing each other of all sorts of funny business.

He and some other staffers say she's a volatile, abrasive menace who has sexually harassed employees with vulgar remarks, made bad business moves and even paraded a former football player around the office to intimidate people. She says he's a scheming chauvinist who has demeaned her, kept her in the dark about Archie Comic Publications' finances and invented allegations to try to force her out and seize control of the company.

He's asked a court to strip her of her role at the company. She's sued him for defamation and $100 million in damages. A judge has at least temporarily barred her from the company's suburban New York headquarters, fined her $500 over the ex-football player's visit and vowed to appoint a temporary receiver to protect the company's assets amid the fight if the two sides can't choose someone on their own by Wednesday.

Altogether, it's a far cry from the congenial environs of Riverdale, the fictional town where Archie, Betty, Veronica, Jughead and friends have navigated dating quandaries and high school hijinks for generations.

The corporate tug-of-war has gotten tongues wagging in the comics world, where "it's pretty much the same as if two movie studio bosses fell out," said Rich Johnston, the founder of Bleeding Cool, a London-based comics news and gossip site.

It's unclear whether the clash has had any financial impact on Archie Comic Publications Inc., which declined to release sales figures. But "it's bad for image" at a time when the company has been eagerly looking to line up movie and other deals, said writer and comic book historian Mark Evanier.

There has been some concrete fallout: A Cleveland-area group cited the court fight in cancelling speeches that Archie co-CEO Nancy Silberkleit was to give at three schools in December, according to news reports. And the other co-CEO, Jon Goldwater, has cast the stakes in dramatic terms.

"An iconic American company is in serious danger of failing and being liquidated" if Silberkleit stays, Goldwater said in court papers.

The trouble began after the 2007 and 2008 deaths of former Archie Comic leaders Richard Goldwater and Michael Silberkleit, sons of two of the company's three founders. Silberkleit's widow, Nancy, and Goldwater's half-brother, Jonathan, became co-CEOs in 2009.

Nancy Silberkleit, a former elementary-school art teacher, was to oversee scholastic and live theatrical endeavours. Jon Goldwater, who'd been a rock and pop music manager, would have final say on everything else, according to her employment contract. Each controls 50 per cent of the company.

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