But that wasn't always the case.
Up until the 1970s, Riverdale was probably one of the whitest places in the entire world. In fact, it wasn't until 1974 that the first regular African-American character - Chuck Clayton - was featured in Archie comics, with his girlfriend Nancy Woods shortly following. Before that, the only other character of colour was Valerie in Josie and the Pussycats, who made her debut in 1969. That same decade saw the creation of Archie's first semi-regular Hispanic characters in Frankie Valdez and Maria Rodriguez. And over the years, we've seen many other characters from various backgrounds enroll at Riverdale High including Ginger Lopez, Toni Topaz, Raj Patel, Kumi Tanura, and Harper Lodge, among others.
But would you believe that it took Archie comics almost seventy years before a character that represented the LGBTQ community was added into the comic books?
It was the autumn of 2010, and artist Dan Parent introduced a brand new character into the Archie comics universe named Kevin Keller. And Kevin seemed like he would fit right into the world of Riverdale. Handsome with blonde hair and sky blue eyes, he certainly grabbed the attention of all the ladies in town.
Especially Veronica Lodge. I mean, he did make his very first appearance in Veronica's 202nd issue, after all.
Veronica definitely tried everything to get Kevin to notice her, and she really went all out to snag his attention - even more so when she tries to steal Archie away from Betty! In Veronica's eyes, she was meant to be with Kevin, and Kevin would fall in love with her no matter what.
But, there was just one teensy, weensy problem...one that he confesses to his new friend Jughead very early on in the story "Isn't It Bromantic?"
Yeah, Kevin Keller is gay. The very first gay character to ever appear inside of an Archie comic. And believe me when I say that this event had a LOT of people talking.
As it turns out, the vast majority of people were saying that it was about time they brought on a gay character, and I completely agree that the addition of Kevin as a character was long overdue. Unfortunately, there were also a few people who didn't like the idea of Kevin being written into the comic books and I remember blocking quite a few people on social media who were being incredibly homophobic and rude. Some even made the threat of never buying another Archie comic again unless they wrote Kevin off, or worse. Which to me was sweet because that meant more comics for me to buy.
Anyway, the creation of Kevin Keller almost ten years ago was a hot topic back in the day. But was it an experiment that paid off for Archie comics?
Ultimately, I think it was a huge success. And I think part of that success came from how they introduced Kevin to Riverdale.
I like how they didn't really make a big deal out of Kevin being gay. He casually drops it in conversation, and nobody batted an eye. Of course, this sets the stage for Jughead to completely manipulate Veronica into really making a fool of herself by telling her that Kevin likes her, but leaving out the fact that he's gay - which eventually backfires on Jughead when Veronica and Kevin later become best friends. But even so, the comics that Kevin were featured in were written in such a way that being gay always seemed like a secondary trait, or something that was a part of him.
Okay, so there was that ONE time in which they wrote in Kevin Keller's marriage to another man in "Life With Archie Magazine #16", but that was during a time in which Archie married three different women (Veronica, Betty, Valerie), so it's safe to say that Riverdale was a little wedding crazy in the early 2010s. Besides, here's a fun fact for you. This was the first issue of "Life With Archie" to completely sell out, and I imagine in years from now, it'll be a real collector's item. One that I proudly own! And come to think of it, Kevin's first appearance in "Veronica #202" sold so well that it was the first Archie comic in history to have a second separate printing with a black cover instead of blue! The things you learn, eh?
Of course, this set the stage for Kevin to get his own comic book, and the way he received his own title was quite unique. For the last four issues of Veronica's title, Kevin basically took it over for a four-issue miniseries lasting from Veronica #207-#210. In that miniseries, we learn a lot about Kevin's family - including how his father was a military man, and how he's the eldest of three children. We also learn that when he came out to his family, they accepted him with open arms, and still continue to support him. And he appeared on a television game show and won the class president elections. Talk about having a banner year.
And in 2012, Kevin was given his very own comic book serial, "Kevin Keller". For the next three years, Kevin would have many adventures in his own title, including him finding love for the first time, attending his first Riverdale High prom...
...meeting George Takei. You know, the typical teen stuff!
For fifteen issues, we saw Kevin Keller learn not just about making it as a gay character in Riverdale, but he also learned a lot more about himself as well. And, I think that it was great to see that Kevin Keller was such a positive character who could insert himself into the Archie crew and be respected and loved by everyone around him. And don't think that just because Kevin's series ended with issue #15 in 2015 that Kevin's debut was a flop.
Besides, I think as much of an impact that Riverdale and its citizens made on Kevin...I think Kevin helped change a few perspectives on his own merit.
And that's why I call the introduction of Kevin Keller a huge success.
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