With tomorrow’s release of Veronica #202 the world meets Archie Comics’ first openly gay character: Kevin Keller. According to The Daily Beast, bringing a gay student to Riverdale High School is “a sign of changing attitudes toward homosexuality.” But we’re not so sure. Archie artist Dan Parent told them that Kevin is “well-dressed” not “too flamboyant.” In other words, the kind of gay teen who shouldn’t ruffle the feathers of more conservative Americans — and absolutely nothing like the tiny fringe-wearing illustration that accompanies The Daily Beast’s article, which was done exclusively for them by Donatella Versace.
According to co-chief executive of Archie Comic Publications Jon Goldwater, this move is “about keeping the world of Archie Comics current and inclusive.” Which is a nice sentiment, if over a decade late. But rather than breaking new ground, the proposed storyline for Keller sounds a lot like what happens in a little movie called Clueless — and remember, that came out way back in 1995:
“We’re batting story ideas around and Dan says, ‘What if Veronica, who’s able to get everything she wants, isn’t able to get something? What if a new good-looking boy comes into town and Veronica wants to date him and he turns her down?’” Goldwater recalls in an interview. “And I say, ‘Why would he do that?’ And Dan says, ‘Because he’s gay.’ And I say, ‘Now that’s funny. That’s a good premise.’”
Because what are gay characters good for if not comic relief.
That said, Parent promises that Keller is not just a temporary plot device: “Especially in the gay community, we’ve reassured people that we’re not going to dump him after this. The Kevin character is here to stay.” What remains to be seen is whether he’ll ever have more than a supporting role as a hunky gay loner in the series. And of course, whether he’ll ever date Reggie.
Preview a panel from the new issue below.
Comments (10)
Reggie? Nah. For my money, Kevin’s first date in Riverdale will be Svenson the Janitor. Enyoy, by Yiminy!
I’m not into commics at my old age, but this is great. Gay kids need positive role models in all area. Bigotry against gay people has been just another variation of hatred by people who defame the very word “Christian”.
But the world is changing, and the real shame is that with almost every west European country, and a majority of the larger latin American countries providing gay people with marriage or a similar structure, the USA is so far behind. We should all be ashamed.
BTW, besides Latin America and W. Europe, countries as diverse as Chech Repub, Israel, Nepal, Australia, Austria, Hungary, New Zealand, Canada, etc also provide gays with marriage or a similar structure to recognise theor love and committment.
I have never really been into reading comic books of any kind but reading this amazing news just made me feel like a big warm hug, lol. BTW, before I forget, Stan J…your comment was great…love it!
Anyway, I do agree it’s a bit overdue for something like this but that really doesn’t matter at this point. What matters is that they’re doing it…period. And they have absolutely no fear of doing it so that makes it even better. Just PLEASE don’t ever make this Kevin Keller into any cliche in the future. Always make him real. Awesome news!!!
I’m amazed that the Archie comic books are still with us and doing so well. I started reading them in 1962 and here they are in 2010 and kids are still buying them (some adults too)! To last so long the people who create Archie know what the are doing and adding the gay character keeps the Archie gang current.
Gay practice is a disgrace to humanity and should not be advocated,in any way,to kids.
[...] Via Flavourwire. [...]
I grew up reading comic books, Why did you guys wait so long to display that being gay is ” normal” …
This new Kevin character in the Archies compic isn’t the first gay comic book character. In Darker than black it features a character that is a lesbian.
[...] being “out” in comics had been a somewhat iffy subject. In honor of the news that Archie comics introduced its first openly gay character last week, here’s a look back at the evolution of open [...]
The gay bit is fine. But what is with the last scene? All the kids having group sex orgies now? No there not, but Archie can’t tell the difference between Gay, and profligate apparently. Also, just let the character BE gay, this example seems contrived so Kevin can explicitly state his sexuality. Hetro’s don’t have to go around telling everyone their strait. Lets have some nuance, if Kevin’s really about including gays it’ll take time for readers to know him.
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