scans_daily

The year 2010 saw two of the most important and innovative developments in Archie Comics in many years. One was the launch of Life with Archie: The Married Life which, despite its initial misguided packaging together with teen celebrity infotainment pieces, was the first title in which the Riverdale cast not only grew to adulthood but, in both timelines, faced more complex life problems and underwent actual character development.

The other was the introduction of the publisher's first gay character. And not as a mere token minority, but as a likeable, non-stereotypical individual with a variety of interests. As a result, he instantly became a fan-favourite character and part of the main cast.

From "Isn't It Bro-mantic?", Veronica #202 (Oct. 2010). Script and pencils by Dan Parent, inks by Rich Koslowski. 8 of 24 pages.

Veronica enters the Chock'lit Shoppe and finds Jughead in a burger-eating contest with a new arrival in town: Kevin Keller. She falls for him at first sight. When Kevin emerges as the winner (19 burgers to Jug's 18), Ron swoops in with a hug and a claim that his prize is a date with her. Jughead says that makes him happy to lose, whereupon she mocks him in front of everyone for being unable to even win at "being a glutton. One word for you -- 'FAIL!'" Jug is not pleased.

Over the next few days, Veronica insinuates herself wherever Kevin is. This doesn't bother him; he's nothing but cheerful and friendly to Ron, which steels her resolve to ask him out. (Archie is visibly jealous at this but, interestingly, plays only a minor role in this story.)

Veronica herself gets a touch of green-eyed monsterism when she sees Betty talking with Kevin. But they've simply been talking journalism: Kevin's written for his hometown newspaper and is now interning for Riverdale's paper. Veronica privately begs her BFF not to come between her and Kevin. She even offers to let Betty have Archie all to herself. Which Betty is of course more than fine with, and not just because she isn't into Kevin that way.

Betty, noticing that Veronica's been turning up the glamour to 11, has a "shoulder angel and devil" moment in which she considers telling her friend that Kevin's gay. Realizing that doing so would mean having to share Archie again, she goes with her devil.

Later Kevin and Jug hang out at the carnival, when along comes guess who, to stake her claim.

Veronica delivers a huge heart-shaped box of chocolate-covered fruit to Kevin, prompting him to realize it's time he levelled with her. And not just because he hates chocolate-covered fruit, hehe. This leads right in to my favourite gag from the story.

Ron misinterpeting Kevin's regifting of her candy to Jug is a great bit. Why? It shows that Dan Parent, and his editors, were well aware of the by then common murmurings that if Jughead doesn't like girls, he must be gay. (Never mind that there's such a thing as asexuality; the 2015 Jughead reboot series got that right.) However, instead of doing what the old Archie Comics regime would've done in response -- giving Jughead not one but two girlfriends in 1990 for a bit (three, if you count January McAndrews from the Time Police 'verse), or attempting to purge any and all Jughead slash fic from the Internet -- they instead displayed a welcome sense of humour about their own characters, with this affectionate wink at the fanwank.

Anyway. Now for the story's twist ending!

Subsequent Kevin stories would develop the poignant Kevin-Veronica friendship even as they continued to flesh out his background by, for example, making his dad an army colonel. And although they did show him dating guys, Parent and other writers have continued to avoid making Kevin's sexual orientation all there is to the character. Moreover, with only a couple of special exceptions (e.g. the climax to both Life with Archie timelines), writers have portrayed Riverdalians as fully accepting of Kevin and subsequent non-hetero characters (such as Toni Topaz, who's bi in the comics too). As a result, the character has earned recognition from GLAAD and others, as an instance of queer representation done right.