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Arts & Entertainment

Archie and Friends Bring Spotlight to Mamaroneck

Archie Comic Publications' announcement of its first openly gay character has drawn the attention of many.

Last week, the blogs were ablaze with reactions to the announcement from Archie Comic Publications that the Riverdale High gang will be welcoming Kevin Keller as their first openly gay character.  Now that the pearl clutching has subsided, it might be a good time to step back and look at the history of the long-lived, Mamaroneck-based company and its most recent creation.

Archie Comic Publications makes its home in the "Friendly Village," a cosmopolitan place that curiously resembles the description of "fictional" Riverdale, USA, the location created for Archie and his pals. The company, originally named MLJ Magazines, was founded in 1939, but Archie was not introduced into comics until 1941 and MLJ would not adopt the name of its flagship character until five years after that.

Archie Comic Publications moved from New York City to Mamaroneck in 1985. Two of its principals lived in the Sound Shore area and together ran the company for almost sixty years, which they inherited from their fathers. Still a family affair, Jon Goldwater and Nancy Silberkleit currently serve as co-CEOs.

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The new storyline will feature Kevin Keller as the new blond hottie in town with the raven haired Veronica in hot pursuit.  Goldwater describes the arrival of Kevin as "… just about keeping the world of Archie Comics current and inclusive."  

According to Goldwater, Kevin's character was pitched during a creative meeting by long-time Archie artist Dan Parent. Parent asked, "Veronica always seems to get what she wants. What would happen if she doesn't get what she wants?"  Perhaps Goldwater himself was one of the many males under the spell of the beautiful Veronica because he simply could not imagine anyone resisting her charms. 

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Parent's response? "A gay male." 

With that, Kevin Keller was born or, more appropriately, drawn.  Parent will serve as both artist and writer for the story line. The introduction of Kevin will come in the full-story September issue (Veronica 202), Isn't  It  Bromantic?

Why announce the story line of an issue to be published so many months away?  According to Gorelick, while Parent was attending the Chicago Comics Convention earlier this year, the story line was casually mentioned and the rest, as they say, is history.  According to Goldwater, the preliminary response to the announcement has been overwhelmingly supportive. 

While Kevin is not the first gay comic strip character by any means, he is the first for Archie comics.  Gay characters have appeared in comic books for many years with one of the first, Andy Lippincott, appearing in Gary Trudeau's mainstream comic strip Doonesbury in 1976. The Encyclopedia of Gay Histories and Cultures (2000) notes that gay subtext can be found in various publications as early as "The Golden Age of Comic Books" (generally thought of as lasting from the late 1930s until the late 1940s) with readers inferring homosexuality between superheroes and their same-sex sidekicks.

 Kevin will not only be joining the Archie gang in the cafeteria as Riverdale High's first openly gay character, but he will hold a place in Archie Comics history as a first for the comic book, joining Chuck Clayton , its first African-American character introduced in 1971; Archie Comics first dyslexic character, Moose in the early '80s; and the comic book's first inter-racial kiss, this year between Archie and Valerie of Josie and the Pussycats, another Archie Comics franchise, in the Archie#608 issue.

 Archie comics have been as American as apple pie, with a readers' demographic of 60 percent female between the ages of  7 - 17.  The Archie group will even be honored by the U.S. Postal Service in July, when it receives its own stamp.

Throughout his career at Archie Comics, Michael Silberkleit was determined to keep Archie an American institution, pure as childhood, current (the Archie "gang" will be traveling to Washington to meet President Obama later this year), and technologically up-to-date.  Archie comics are available on newsstands, by subscription, online and as an iPhone application.

Based on what we already know, courtesy of a panel released by Archie Comic Publications, Kevin is seen asking Jughead about the nature of the relationship shared by Archie, Veronica, and Betty.  One cannot help but think of poor suffering Betty, whose unrequited love for Archie has gone on for decades essentially, well, unrequited.  Will Betty now have to compete against Veronica and Kevin for Archie's attention?  Will Veronica consider Kevin the ultimate challenge?  Does Kevin already come with a significant other?  Will Archie Comics Publications drop another "first" to keep tongues wagging?  Stand by.  Things are sure to get hot pink in Riverdale High in the coming issues.

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