Hiram Lodge

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Hiram Lodge

Image:Hiramldg.jpg

Background information
Gender Male
First appearance Pep Comics #31
Hometown Riverdale
Job Tycoon
Family Hermione Lodge (wife), Veronica Lodge (daughter), Leroy (nephew), Marcy (niece)
Hobbies Car collecting, antiques

Hiram Lodge is a fictional character by Archie Comics. He is married to Hermione Lodge and they have a daughter, Veronica Lodge. He is also the richest man in Riverdale (in fact, according to one story, the Lodges founded it). Bob Montana, creator of the original Archie characters, knew the Lodges, a Massachusetts Brahmin political family because he painted a mural for them. Montana used that name when he created the character of Hiram Lodge.

[edit] History

A common theme of the Archie comics is Mr. Lodge's ongoing feud with Archie Andrews and his disapproval of his dating Veronica. Hiram tries to avoid Archie whenever possible because it seems that whenever Archie visits the Lodge mansion, something (usually something expensive or Mr. Lodge himself) gets damaged. He lets Veronica date Archie in spite of that, because deep-down he does like Archie and knows he treats Veronica well. He also fears Veronica may be spoiled by other, wealthier young men. Ironically, Lodge spoils Veronica quite extensively himself. Mr. Lodge is also able to accept Archie because in various stories he has saved Mr. Lodge from a number of thieves, blackmailers, and underhanded business rivals who were trying to rob him or steal various priceless treasures Lodge owns. On at least one occasion Archie and Jughead save Mr. Lodge and his butler Smithers from death.

Hiram Lodge is a millionaire, but in one story, Veronica contradicts this, saying that "Daddy has billions." This may also be attributed to inflation and the rapid creation of new wealth in the last half century, that would require him to be a billionaire rather than a millionaire in order to be considered extremely wealthy. He is usually portrayed as an industrialist rather than a financier or banker and is frequently involved in international business ventures. He has a keen eye for unusual business opportunities that many other people write off-in one story, after a fellow businessman thought he had outsmarted Mr. Lodge by selling him a garbage dump for $2,000, Lodge easily retorted that he had covered the dump with artificial snow and turned it into a ski resort, which made him over $2 million in its first year of operation, a revelation which the other businessman did not take well.

Despite being a business genius, in his younger years his amazing work ethic and determination never actually paid off. He actually married money, and has built on the resulting fortune.

Note: In some 'Archie' stories dating from the 1960's, he is referred to as J. P. Lodge.