Back in Winter 1941 one of the world’s comic heroes was born, Archibald ‘Archie’ Andrews, who went on to have decades of success with the Archie Comics. Interest for the peppy American comic book began to wane in later years, possibly due to the unchanged format of the comics since its very first issue from 1942. Teenagers are interested in modern forms of entertainment, so back in June 2015, Archie Comics rebooted their flagship series with a edgier art style and relatable characters for modern audiences. You are more likely familiar with the Netflix series ‘Riverdale’, which came off the back of the successful rebrand, but were you aware of how long it took for Archie comics to become ‘up to date’?
Meet Kevin Keller, Riverdale’s first openly gay character, who debuted in Veronica #202, published 2010 by artist and writer Dan Parent. Kevin’s premier issue was so immensely popular, Archie Comics had to order a reprint for the first time in its 68 year history. He was met with critical acclaim, even earning Dan Parent a GLAAD Media award in 2011 purely for creating him. To begin with, Kevin was pursued by Veronica, who he kept turning down. Through a conversation with Jughead Jones, an asexual in the comic, he admits to being gay, to which Jughead is completely a-okay with. It’s the kind of societal view Parent wants to promote and proves Riverdale really is a safe, happy town. Even in 2010, the climate for introducing LGBT characters wasn’t in full swing but the amount of success Kevin’s introduction in Veronica created, gave him his own miniseries, that consisted of four issues in the middle of 2011. It gave Kevin some background, including his difficulties through school and coping with his sexuality.
In order to avoid stereotypes, Parent used Veronica as the mouthpiece for society’s views on what homosexuality is all about, allowing Kevin to tell her (and therefore the audience), what he’s REALLY about. She assumes, for example, that he loves musical theatre but in actuality, he loves food eating contests, writing and was a fan of the Army in his younger days. Striking a friendship with Jughead and easily becoming one of Veronica’s best friends, Kevin slid into Archie life with ease and became a series regular. It allowed Riverdale to feel far more diverse and provided LGBT teenagers with an aspiring role model. Dan Parent explained that readers would come up to him in conventions and express how included Kevin made them feel. It’s proof that the media has a job in making the world a happier, non-judgemental place, but did it take Archie Comics too long?
The very first gay comic book character was Northstar, who was a main character in Marvel Comics ‘Alpha Flight’ in 1983. Due to Marvel’s Editor-in Chief Jim Shooter’s policy on openly gay characters and the Comics Code Authority, he wasn’t actually allowed to openly admit to being gay until 1992 in #106. In a similar fashion to Kevin’s debut, this issue of ‘Alpha Flight’ sold out in a week, despite never being a popular mainstream series. It seemed, even as far back as the 90s, amid the controversy, people wanted openly gay characters. Northstar was one of many characters to open a new door for story-telling, to introduce characters that everybody could relate to. He was the first comic book character to have a same-sex wedding, in 2012. Unfortunately, he beat Kevin Keller to the altar.
It is up to media outlets like comics and television to preach the message of tolerance, to accept everyone as themselves and with the constant success of Kevin, it’s clear that as long as the money rolls in, we’ll have plenty of diverse LGBT characters to identify with in the near future.
