Archie Comics’ First Gay Kiss Pokes Fun at One Million Moms

By Jay Deitcher on Monday, May 20th, 2013

Archie Comics is a quintessentially American comic company that for most of us never represented what America really looked like. It was a universe stuck in a 1950’s episode of Father Knows Best: almost all white, all heterosexual and with no religious diversity. Archie was the most conservative comic companies on newsstands, but recently it is one of the more progressive.

Kevin Keller is one of the most refreshing additions to comics. First appearing in Veronica #202, published in September 2010, Kevin is not just a wonderful character; he is an Archie superstar. He is not a supporting character; he is on the same level as Archie, Jughead, Betty, Veronica and the rest of the crew.

Fans love him and now he is a big fancy award winner! On Saterday 5/11/13, Archie was awarded their first Gay & Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation(GLAAD) award for ‘Outstanding Comic Book’ .

Not everyone is a fan of Kevin. Last February, One Million Moms, a project of The American Family Association, tried to get Toys R Us to not display Life With Archie #16 near it’s checkout aisles because the issue featured Kevin getting married. Toys R Us ignored the protests and the issue sold out. His newest issue should piss them off just as good.

Issue #10 of Kevin’s solo title will feature a story where Kevin kisses his boyfriend in Pop Tate’s diner and a Riverdale mom “gets very offended and kind of pitches a bit of a fit,”. Dan Parent, the writer/artist of the issue, states “Kevin is kind of used to that, but Veronica records the whole thing and of course uploads it to the Riverdale equivalent of YouTube and that starts a bit of a debate.”

Archie admits that the issue is a “playful poke” at the One Million Moms protest. Good for you Archie. The diversification of your brand is refreshing, I currently love your company, and comic fans love Kevin Keller!

PS. Betty and Veronica are great and all, but Archie wants some of that brown sugar(Cue the D’Angelo)!

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Jay Deitcher, LMSW(@mrdeitcher) embraces the term MUTANT and proudly represents his MUTANT brothers and sisters. He is an educator on comic history and runs successful Free Comic Book Day events yearly. You can see a listing of his incredible articles and his highly energetic videos at JayDeitcher.com.

Jay Deitcher is a writer and licensed social worker from Albany, NY. He is currently taking MFA courses at the College of St. Rose. You can read his other work at JayDeitcher.com.