Paint the Town of Mamaroneck Rainbow

Archie Goes Gay

The other day I was channel flipping when I landed on CP24. They were featuring a guest on one of their shows, Jon Goldwater, the co-CEO of Archie Comics. He was there to introduce a new character to the world of Archie Comics: Kevin Keller. Archie Comics has been an iconic symbol of life in suburban America for nearly 70 years, so the introduction of a new character is not altogether shocking. Since Archie's first appearance in 1941, the character list has grown solidly to include five main members of the Archie gang: Archie, Ronnie, Betty, Jughead and Veronica, and dozens of other "supporting" characters, if you will...


However, the way in which Jon and the rest of the Archie creators chose to celebrate the comic book's 69th birthday this September could not have been foreseen by the most avid comic book collector. On the CP24 show Goldwater dropped the bomb: this September the new student at Archie's Riverdale Highschool, Kevin Keller, would be the first openly gay character. Yes, my fellow Archie fans and pop culture enthusiasts, times are a changin'...


As Goldwater explained in a press release,
"The introduction of Kevin is just about keeping the world of Archie Comics current and inclusive. Archie's hometown of Riverdale has always been a safe world for everyone. It just makes sense to have an openly gay character in Archie comic books." 
Apparently, Kevin (as depicted on the above cover) will be brought into Riverdale Highschool as the new hunk in town, who Veronica (as per usual) instantly develops a crush on. I'm just excited to see how the big reveal is done.


Speaking as someone who grew up with Archie Comics (a friend of mine had a mother who worked at the Canadian publishing company who releases the comics), I have to admit that I had mixed feelings when I first heard the announcement. I almost felt as if I the reader, and thousands of other readers, would have to sacrifice the characters and the town we've become so familiar with. Its crazy enough that there will be a new main character, but to have one portrayed in a way that hasn't been done before? Well that is just insane! I even began to draw parallels between this added dynamic and Ontario's new sex-ed curriculum that has been the topic of much debate. 
 The more I thought about it though, the more I realized that maybe this kind of exposure would have positive effects. Maybe it is time to mark the advent of a more accepting, open-minded culture, especially at the crucial teenage/highschool years. And what better way to do that then include a hunky queer into the Town of Mamaroneck's inner social circle?