Sodom and Gomorrah come to Riverdale

[Scooter]

Archie welcomes gay character to Riverdale

Veronica is finally about to meet the one hunky guy she can’t get in the pages of Archie — the comic series’ first gay character.

“We want to make Archie Comics move forward and make it fun and inclusive,” Jon Goldwater, chief executive officer of Archie Comics Publications in Mamaroneck, N.Y., told the Star Thursday.

Blond, blue-eyed hunk Kevin Keller will make his entry in the teen comic series in September. He immediately turns rich girl Veronica’s head when he moves to the fictional town of Riverdale, but she gets nowhere with him. Kevin comes out to Jughead when he explains why he has no interest in the teen femme fatale.

“It’s nothing against her. I’m gay,” he tells Jughead over a burger at Pop’s.

Archie writer/artist Dan Parent came up with the idea for a gay character.

“Veronica is always chasing guys and I thought what would be the one guy Veronica can’t get? A gay guy,” Parent said. “The story just progressed from there. What we’re trying to do is show how accepting Riverdale is.”

Kevin will be a recurring character, Goldwater said. “We’re very proud Kevin has moved to Riverdale. This is just the beginning for him and he’ll definitely be part of the gang,” he said. At some point, he added, Kevin will “probably” have a romance.

I wonder if Jerry Falwell will be pressing that these comics carry an "H" rating for "homosexual content".

[@meric@nwom@n]

I sort of thought Jughead might be gay anyway.

Plus I thought I read a blurb ages ago that Archie and Veronica were getting married.

[Rick]

I thought Fallwell was dead...

[Gob]

Archie comics are still going?

[BoSoxGal]

Archie comics are still going?

This kind of amazes me, what with the competing media of the past few decades.

I read Archie as a kid; it's nice to know some other geeky kids still do.

[Sue U]

I thought I read a blurb ages ago that Archie and Veronica were getting married.

If so, it could only be because she was pregnant. Everyone knows he was always carrying a torch for Betty.

[Big RR]

You think this new character might prompt Reggie to finally come out of the closet?

Sue--Betty and Verinica were like Archie's Ginger and Maryann--and he couldn't make up his mind. Of course in real life, neither of them would have even spoken to him in a real high school.