Archie Comics celebrates Pride with Kevin Keller

Earlier this week, we posted a feature about all-ages activities during Pride, a month-long event with the parade grand finale that’s grown from humble civil-disobedience beginnings in 1970 (in just three cities—Chicago, New York and San Francisco) to a month-long celebration of LGBT culture. As further evidence of how gay and lesbian issues have entered the American mainstream, we give you this family-friendly example from Archie Comics: Kevin Keller #1.

You might recall a media splash from last year, when Archie Comics introduced gay teen Kevin to the Riverdale gang. Following widespread attention, the issue sold like gangbusters, mostly to curious adults who’d heard on the news that mostly white-bread Riverdale was again becoming a bit more diverse.

That initial story last year was a fresh take on a familiar topic: Instead of showing Kevin coming out of the closet, the already openly gay teen from a military family arrived at Riverdale and made no secret of his sexuality. Jughead, on the other hand, saw an opportunity to embarrass Veronica, who swooned over Kevin’s good looks. The joke of the story was on Veronica, who kept flirting with a gay guy, thanks to Jughead’s mischievous set-ups.

This year, following up on its sales hit, the company decided to give Kevin his own four-issue miniseries. (Technically it’s part of Veronica’s ongoing title—sort of a “Veronica Presents Kevin” thing, but we won’t split hairs.) In the first issue, out now—timed for a Pride release, it seems—we get a lot of Kevin’s backstory, including some bullied junior-high days (when he dealt with braces and pimples) and how he came out to his Dad, an Army colonel.

Just to prove it still belongs in Archie Comics, though, the tale includes a scene with Kevin and Jughead competing in a pie-eating contest. (Like Jughead, Kevin apparently shares the kind of insatiable appetite found only in comics and cartoons. See also: Homer Simpson; Popeye’s Wimpy; the Legion of Super-Heroes’ Matter-Eater Lad.) At the risk of spoiling their pie-gorging misadventure, let’s just say it culminates in the kind of sophomoric humor that made a huge hit of the Garbage Pail Kids.

As for the more serious side of the comic, writer-artist Dan Parent almost goes out of his way to make Kevin a perfect son. The first issue literally builds to a flag-waving finale (complete with Independence Day fireworks exploding overhead), as his father and Veronica both give him a hug when he reiterates his intention to join the military in his dad's footsteps. (Is “Americana” Kevin Keller’s middle name?)

Then again, Parent lends valuable context to Kevin’s present-day happiness with the flashback scenes of Kevin (and his two friends, all eighth-grade geeks) getting harassed or beaten up by the “in” crowd. At the end of the day, we’re not going to complain if the Kevin Keller #1 reads like one big contribution to the It Gets Better campaign for bullied queer youth.