Riverdale’s first gay character: first reactions

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I’m glad that Archie Comics, Inc. has now come into the 21st century. Their output as of late has been nothing short of prolific for this nostalgic comic company rooted in the early ’40s-updating their lines to have “New Look” stories, having Archie marry both Veronica and Betty in separate scenarios, giving their lineup of diverse characters more to do than just being tokens, and even acknowledging real-world events and people like President Obama’s election, Lady Gaga, Beyonce and The Black-Eyed Peas. By the way, these musical acts are also mentioned in another groundbreaking comic story in which Archie and Valerie from Josie and the Pussycats start dating. And even before Archie/Valerie, Cheryl Blossom, Jughead, and Dilton were the first notable interracial daters (Cheryl dated a black guy on her Bachelorette-esque quest to find the perfect guy; Jughead and Dilton were after Anita Chavita, a black parapalegic girl).

Now, Archie Comics is setting their bar even higher by including the first openly gay character in the repertoire. As you’ll see in the page below, the character, Kevin Keller, is introduced as the “hot new guy”, and Veronica is ready to give up Archie completely for him. However, she doesn’t know he’s gay. Kevin tells Jughead, who thinks the whole Veronica/Kevin situation is hilarious. Instead of telling her, Jughead decides to see just how long it’ll take Veronica to figure out Kevin’s gay.

My reactions: Just hearing the plot makes it seem like the writers are not only in tune with current society, but it also seems like they’re okay with it and actually welcome the idea of having a gay character. Being willing to have fun with a character and create a fun story surrounding him is evidence of this. The route they could’ve gone-and have gone in the past with other characters-is create a heavy-handed, “I’m just like you” story, which can not only be boring, but also a bit insulting to the audience. This plot with Kevin, however, is written in a way that expects their readers to know about homosexuality and what it means, allowing the writers to get past the “I’m just like you” part and jump straight into some entertaining hijinks (EDIT-read what Archie writer/cartoonist Dan Parent has to say about Kevin here).

With that said, however, the one place Archie Comics could shoot themselves in the foot is if they fall into the “gay but asexual” type of thinking. It’s one thing to make a gay character, but it’s a totally different thing to make a boyfriend for said character. Archie Comics has every reason to pat themselves on the back for creating Kevin, but if they don’t expand his future storylines and just regulate him to the sidelines-especially if they don’t make him interested in other men-it could make the company seem just as stodgy as before. It could make it seem like the company is pushing the idea that as long as Kevin doesn’t fall in love and becomes the stereotypical, fun. gay best friend, he isn’t “threatening”. Time will tell, however. For now, I say congratulations, Archie Comics.

EDIT-Here’s a video interview with Parent about Kevin and his inclusion in Archie Comics:

Veronica #202 comes to comic book stores September 1, 2010 and September 14, 2010.

More Archie Comics articles:

Analyzing Jughead: gay or straight?

Archie for Today: updated plots and characters will attract teenage buyers

Archie and Valerie: Good, bad, or ugly?

REVIEWS: Archie #600, 601, and 602

Tags: analysis, Archie comics, Jughead, Kevin, Perez Hilton, Veronica