Veronica 202

NOT TOO ‘GAY’, JUST… ‘CHEERFUL’

It was with surprise, and not a little scepticism, that people heard the news that Archie Comics would be introducing their first openly gay character in Veronica #202.  A commonly-expressed opinion was that the publishers, stunned by the coverage the ‘Archie Marries Betty & Veronica’ faux-weddings got (the story even ran in the UK’s ‘reputable’ Guardian paper, in a country where Archie simply isn’t in the public consciousness!) decided they had to do something else to keep the press bandwagon rolling.

Predictably, given that much of Archie’s clientele lives in the big square states in the middle where all the survivalist cults happen, there was much indignation and condemnation, but more surprisingly, there was a groundswell of support for the idea from the core Archie readership, which prompted Archie exec. John Goldwater to announce; “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.”

The story itself, “Isn’t It Bromantic?”, is surprisingly well done; new boy in town Kevin Keller is spotted by Veronica Lodge while he’s engaged in a burger-eating contest with the voracious Jughead, and subsequently he’s hotly pursued by our clueless heroine, who is manipulated by Jughead into being oblivious to Kevin’s true romantic leanings.

Circumstances, and a bit of smugness on the part of the Riverdale gang, who welcome seeing the haughty Veronica make a fool of herself, keep Ronnie ignorant until the denouement. There’s some nice character touches among the onlookers, in particular a charming scene where Veronica’s rival, sweet-natured Betty Cooper, wrestles with her conscience as to whether to tell Ronnie the truth – and Betty’s conscience has an epic fail!

Fears that  Kevin might be a one-off event, like many of the other ‘issue’ characters introduced in the latter part of last century (how many of you can name Riverdale High’s token blind, crippled or fat teenagers? No, neither could I, until I looked them up…), to be folded up and hung back in the closet once he’s served his headline-grabbing purpose, have been allayed by the announcement that he’s getting his own miniseries in 2011, also written by Dan Parent.

Given that Veronica # 202 went to the first second printing in the publisher’s 70+ years, it’s not so surprising that they’re following the money, but Kevin actually has more going for him than just being ‘the gay one’; he’s a comic-book nerd, he shares Jughead’s freakish metabolism and gluttony, and when Jughead’s trick is exposed, Kevin has the backbone and integrity  to challenge Jug about stringing both Kevin and Veronica along for his own entertainment. No, it’s hardly multi-layered, but in the Archie Universe, that’s more facets than a lot of characters have had in 30+ years on the fringes.

But the question is, how gay is Kevin? Okay, he says he is, but one of the driving factors of the ongoing ‘Archieverse’ series is the romantic comedy of attachments and misunderstandings between the various characters. Is Kevin going to be a neutered ‘honorary sister’, off to one side, for Betty, Veronica and the other girls to cry on his shoulder, but never having a love life of his own? Or is he going to be allowed to engage equally  in the very mild romantic activities – dating, kissing, hugging – that we see the rest of the gang doing?

If Kevin’s entire four-issue series next year passes without him getting – or at least seeking – a boyfriend, then the question remains; “Is he gay…or only cheerful?”