New Archie Comics story features Kevin Keller's same-sex marriage

The new upcoming issue of "Life with Archie" #16, will feature the gay inter-racial wedding of soldier and war hero Kevin Keller. "Life with Archie" is a series which creates future life scenarios for the teenage Archie Comics characters.

Digital Journal in April, 2010, reported that Archie Comics got a new openly gay character, Kevin Keller. VERONICA #202, according to Digital Journal, featured "a complete issue devoted to introducing the young gay teen to Archie,Veronica, Reggie, Betty, Jughead and others in the Riverdale universe.The story called 'Isn't it Romantic,' has young hunk Keller as the new kid in town..." Bleeding Cool had reported in July that at the Gays Comics panel at San Diego Comic Con, creator of the Kevin Keller character Dan Parent, announced that in the Future Archie stories, Kevin Keller will be shown in same-sex marriage, meaning that Archie Comics will be getting an extra gay character. News.com reports the plot of the upcoming story about Kevin Keller was first announced in September and met with both criticism and praise. The issue will tell the future life story of Kevin Keller, the only openly gay character in Archie Comics, who recently got his first mini-series.

Archie comics cover of Veronica #202

Cover of Veronica #202 with first gay character, Kevin Keller

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What makes the storyline controversial is that while Archie is having problems with his heterosexual relationship with Veronica, the folks at Riverdale are celebrating war hero Kevin Keller in mixed-race, same-sex marriage. Archie Comics characters have been very popular in the past 70 years and the publishers have come a long way since when, eight years ago, they threatened to sue a theater company that portrayed Archie as gay because being gay would "tarnish and dilute [Archie's] image." Many have wondered how much the acceptance of a gay character and the story of his future same-sex marriage in Archie Comics will influence the process of mainstreaming gay relationships and marriage in American culture.