Comic-Con: Big News from Riverdale and Archie Comics

Comic-Con: Big News from Riverdale and Archie Comics

Posted on July 24, 2011 at 3:39 pm

I had a blast at the Archie Comic panel.  Everyone there was a nice and friendly and enthusiastic as you would hope to find in the idyllic environs of Riverdale.  But there is very big news.  In its own nice and friendly and enthusiastic way, Archie Comics is one of the most innovative companies at Comic-Con or anywhere else, on every level from distribution to story.

I was delighted to hear that Kevin, Archie’s first gay character, is so successful he will have his own comic.  I love the way that in the first issue, they show that Kevin was not always the handsome, confident kid who becomes class president at Riverdale High.  We get to meet some of his close friends from middle school and see that he had his awkward stage, too.  Even more amazingly, Archie’s future stories will include visits from Sarah Palin and Barack Obama — who will share a soda at the malt shop — and NY Giant Michael Strahan and even KISS in a four-part miniseries!  With separate series for Archie as a tot, a child, a teen, and a married man, they say they have “a metaverse as rich and plentiful as anything at Marvel and DC,” with “a flowchart from that wall to that wall.”

The Archie folks are very proud that they were the first to have “day and date” availability of their comics online and they are dedicated to making them accessible on every platform from iPhone app to Android and Windows 7 to Nook and Kindle, with 3 million downloads of their app so far.  Their long-time partnership with Ronald MacDonald House will be supported with the 75th anniversary issue, with all proceeds going to help sick kids and their families.

 

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Festivals Internet, Gaming, Podcasts, and Apps
A New Gay Friend for Archie, Betty, Veronica, and Jughead

A New Gay Friend for Archie, Betty, Veronica, and Jughead

Posted on April 23, 2010 at 9:44 am

gayarchie.jpgThere’s a new kid at Riverdale High School. Archie Comics has announced that this fall Kevin Keller will join the gang at the maltshop and become the series’ first openly gay character.

“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,” stated Archie Comics Co- CEO, Jon Goldwater.

VERONICA #202 features the full-issue story, “Isn’t it Bromantic?” that introduces Kevin, Archie Comics’ first openly gay character. Kevin Keller is the new hunk in town and Veronica just has to have him. After Kevin defeats Jughead in a burger eating contest at Pop’s Chocklit Shoppe, she desperately latches onto him. Mayhem and hilarity ensue as Kevin desperately attempts to let Veronica down easy and her flirtations only become increasingly persistent.

In addition to the new ongoing achievements at Archie Comics–the #4 iPad book app and most downloaded comics on iTunes, the launch of Stan Lee Comics, Archie’s Red Circle superheroes at DC, and exciting new partnerships with Abrams, Dark Horse and IDW–the introduction of Kevin as an openly gay character is part of the commitment to keep Archie properties reflective of the current world of teens and teen media.

archiecomics_2100_44483361.pngThe gentle, sweet comedy of the Archie comics has brought important lessons about inclusion in the past about Moose’s learning disabilities. The frank but casual approach to the new gay character and to Archie’s kissing Valerie of Josie and the Pussycats shows that Archie’s hairstyle may never change but that he and his writers keep up to date and want their readers to be, too.

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Commentary Understanding Media and Pop Culture

Wait, Archie Will Marry Betty?

Posted on October 8, 2009 at 8:47 am

Now that Archie has not just proposed to Veronica (issue 600), but actually married her, gone on a honeymoon, and is going to be a father (issue 601), the comic is hitting rewind and sending Archie down the literal road not taken, so he gets to propose to Betty. In issue 603, Archie returns to the “Memory Lane” road that took him from high school graduation into adulthood and takes the other path, one apparently endorsed by the fans as the New York Times reports 80 percent favor the blond girl next door over the glamorous brunette.
The series is written by Michael E. Uslan, a lifetime Archie fan, who told the Times that this idea was inspired by Robert Frost’s famous poem, “The Road Not Taken” as well as the Gwyneth Paltrow movie “Sliding Doors” and the song “Both Sides Now.” This dual storyline allows the characters to explore the way choices large and small affect the future. But Uslan promises that all will be resolved.

“I have written his final fate in one of these two futures,” Mr. Uslan said. “Now, back in high school, it’s up to the three of them. Everything they say, don’t say, every action they take and fail to take, is going to add up to determine which of these two roads are taken. And one of them will be.”

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Comic book/Comic Strip/Graphic Novel Tweens Understanding Media and Pop Culture

Betty Asks Amy

Posted on August 22, 2009 at 3:59 pm

The wise and witty Amy Dickenson of “Ask Amy” gets a letter from a blonde named Betty who is distraught that her boyfriend of 67 years is going to marry her rival, Veronica!
Amy has some good advice:

I want you to hold your head up high, go to that wedding and tell yourself that you are better off without him.

At the wedding reception (I’m sure it will be held at the Riverdale Country Club), if you have a few too many appletinis and decide to tell off Veronica once and for all, and maybe dance a little too close with Reggie or Jughead, so be it! You’re a free woman, Betty, and now’s your chance to stand up for all the Bettys everywhere!

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Understanding Media and Pop Culture
Archie Proposes to…Veronica!

Archie Proposes to…Veronica!

Posted on August 20, 2009 at 8:00 am

It has been one of popular culture’s most enduring conundrums: Betty or Veronica?
Until now.
archieveronica_custom.jpg Archie Andrews, after seven decades as a teenager, has all of a sudden grown up. Archie and his friends have made only the smallest concessions to the passage of time. Moose used to be dumb; now he has a learning disability. The Riverdale kids may send texts now, but the punchlines are the same, as are the featherweight story-lines. And the eternal triangle with Archie being pursued by both rich glamor girl Veronica and wholesome girl-next-door Betty seemed as unchangeable as Archie’s immovable red hair.
It is almost impossible to imagine now but there were similar cultural shockwaves when Li’l Abner married Daisy Mae and Dagwood married Blondie. Both comics thrived and became even more popular as their “merry war” bloomed into usually-gentle domestic conflicts. But in those cases, while there was a question about whether they would get married, there was no question about who the couple was. The essence of Archie’s storyline has been the rivalry between the brunette and blonde who were pursuing him — in a high school setting. If he is going to grow up, get married and even, as news reports have noted, have children, is there any Archie-ness left?
It may be that this is a plan to reboot the venerable series. While many people will react to this news by being surprised he is marrying Veronica, many more may be surprised that Archie is still publishing new comics. This put them on the front pages of newspapers across the country. I suspect that there may an accelerated storyline ahead that within a very short time will find the children of Archie and Veronica in high school with the children of Jughead and Ethel, Moose and Midge, and Betty and Reggie (well, if anyone can straighten Reggie out, it has to be Betty). And that the jokes will still be, reassuringly, exactly the same.

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Understanding Media and Pop Culture
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