Archie Comics teases ‘exciting’ future for gay character
Archie Comics has announced the end of the Kevin Keller comic book series.
Kevin Keller was first introduced in 2010, becoming the first out gay character in the Archie Comics universe.
The character proved popular from the start, and was given his own ongoing series, Kevin Keller, in 2012.
Speaking to Logo’s New Now Next, the character’s creator Dan Parent confirmed that Archie had decided to bring the series to an end.
However, Parent insisted this isn’t the last fans will see of the character and teased that an “exciting” announcement regarding Kevin would be made later this year.
“It’s ending so we can take a minute to plan a relaunch for the character,” Parent explained. “It’s about direction for the character. I’ve had some ideas for Kevin that I have discussed with the powers that be at Archie, and these ideas would work better as a relaunch rather than as a continuation of the current book.”
Parent went on to say that Archie Comics fans had accepted the character with “open arms”.
“Gay fans tell me how much Kevin means to them, and how their lives would have been different had Kevin existed when they were growing up,” Parent said. “And straight fans like him because he’s another cool kid in Riverdale!”
The final Kevin Keller comic book will be released in July (2014).