Tomorrow: Archie Comics Creator Comes To Main Street Comics

Dan Parent made history a year ago when he introduced the world to Kevin Keller, the first openly gay character from Archie Comics in the pages “Veronica” comics. Now, one year later, Parent is writing and drawing Kevin Keller’s first solo mini-series and on Saturday, June 11, 2 to 4 p.m., Parent will be on hand signing copies of the comic at the Main Street Comics at 157 Dolson Avenue, in Middletown. It's a little bit of a drive, but well worth it for Archie fans out there. Parent said he is looking forward to the event.

“I have done a few free comic book days there and I enjoy going to their shop,” said Parent in a telephone interview. “They do an amazing job.”

In the last year since the character of Kevin Keller has been introduced, Parent said the response has been positive. He said that some people have voiced their concerns and even canceled subscriptions, but it is nothing that would have hurt the company.

“I would say 95 percent of the response we have gotten was positive and five percent was negative,” he said. “I think maybe we lost eight subscriptions over the issue, but we have had others cancel more comics if Archie were to go hunting or fishing, so this is not bad at all.”

Parent said it was important to show Kevin in a positive light.

“Essentially I wanted to make Kevin Keller like Archie only if Archie was interested in dating boys,” said Parent. “So we wanted him to show that Kevin came from a strong family and a very pro-military style family.”

When asked whose idea it was to introduce a gay character, Parent said it was by committee. He said essentially that the executives had Archie had discussed bringing in more characters with different backgrounds that were different from the usual teens seen in the world of Archie Comics and Parent had suggested introducing a gay character. Parent said the board liked the idea and asked him to flesh it out, when he did Kevin was introduced in “Veronica” comics.

“When we wrote the story we wanted to do it naturally and let it take its time,” said Parent. He said his goal was not make Keller a “token” character but to make him real and to make him part of the group. He said that he wanted the issue of Kevin’s sexuality, while it is part of the story, not what defines him.

“I don’t even think we even mention his sexuality in our second issue,” said Parent adding that it was unintentional, but that was how the story developed. He said his goal was to try to avoid the typical stereotypes such as Kevin being a fan of musical theater and into fashion, and create an authentic “American boy” and a very likable character.

When asked about showing physical contact, Archie is regularly seen kissing Betty or Veronica, he said that will develop naturally in the story. He did not want to just throw it out there to catch the shock the readers, but to let it develop on its own.

“Our readers expect a certain style from us and we want to give them that,” he said.

Parent said what has been most rewarding for him was the response he has gotten from teens and parents of teens in the LGBTQ community.

“The response I get most from people is that are happy to see a normal gay teenager,” said Parent. “I remember when we were are the San Diego Comic Con and announced it and we had several people come up to us, and it was all guys, and some were in tears thanking us and that made this comic worth it.”