As we reported earlier this year, Archie Comics was getting an openly gay character, Kevin Keller. The character debuted in Veronica #202, which sold out, with enough additional demand that Archie Comics will be doing the first reprint in their history. They’ll release a special limited edition variant cover print run in stores next Wednesday and will also sell reprints at the 2010 New York Comic Con on October 6th through 8th.
They hedged their bets by leaving the character out of Veronica #203, but, since he was popular, he’ll be back for Veronica #204 and #205. Archie Comics Co-CEO Jon Goldwater stated, “We never thought Kevin Keller would become so hot so fast!” Really? You underestimated the fans’ enthusiasm for that scene where Kevin and Jughead standing 69′d in the malt shop while Veronica watched? What do you mean, that’s not in there? *Throws case of Veronica #202 issues out window, realizes this is the first floor, gathers up all the comics, drives to the tallest building in town, throws case of Veronica #202 issues out third-story window* Man, this would probably be more dramatic if I didn’t live in a small town.
[ArchieComics via CBR]
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I wouldn’t get too excited about this. The character Archie first appeared in 1941. So it took nearly seven decades for a gay character to break into this niche. YAWN …
And Archie, BTW, is HARDLY mainstream … not anymore at least. Archie Comics’ sales account for less than 1% of the total direct market (that is the specialty market not traditional book store sales). The main title, “Archie”, sells around 5,000 copies a month. “Veronica”, the title in which Kevin Keller appeared, was ranked 298 out of the top 300 selling comics in May with only 3,095 copies. It is easy to “sell out” when the print run is only a few thousand copies each month.
I would bet that scores of comic book collector geeks just like myself across the country probably bought a copy for posterity’s sake. I’ll be curious to see if the sales hold up in the issues to come, especially #204 and #205.
Don’t get me wrong. This is a cool thing. And if we assume the purported socializing effect of mass media and pop culture, this is potentially a good thing too. I just think that Archie is rather late to the “LGBTs in pop culture media” party, all things considered.