Comic book character Kevin Keller followed in his father's footsteps, joined the army, was injured in Iraq, came home to a rehab center, and fell in love with his physical therapist, Dr. Clay Walker. Now, they're getting married. The gay wedding issue (#16) goes on sale in bookstores January 4 and at newsstands January 10.
Jonathan Goldwater followed in his father's footsteps as CEO of Archie Comics and said if the wholesome, all-American series hadn't embraced LGBT characters it would risk becoming irrelevant. He said Kevin's initial coming out resulted in a mere seven canceled subscriptions but added "hundreds and hundreds" of new subscribers.
Goldwater's bigger problem is his co-CEO Nancy Silberkleit, 57, who assumed the job after her husband's death in 2009. The two families have run the Archies empire since its creation by Goldwater's father in 1941. Now, the company is suing Silberkleit for harassment. The New York Post cites a few allegations:
* Barging into a meeting, pointing at four men in the room, and screeching, “Penis, penis, penis, penis!”
* Complaining her “balls hurt” and she needed to “adjust my balls because they are irritating me.”
* Shouting, “All you penises think you can run me out,” and telling a new employee to “stand up and pull down your pants.”
* told a female worker that the only reason anyone in the company liked her was because she had “big boobies.”
Of the gay issue, CNN casually mentions the most appalling fact: "The Comics Code Authority, an industry body, explicitly banned any mention of homosexuality in comics until 1989."
I've read a couple of the Kevin Keller series, and they're cute. But does this mean that Kevin is a) working on his GED there in Riverdale High; b) the only person in history to actually graduate from Riverdale and continue his life; or 3) in an intergenerational (to put it delicately) relationship?
Posted by: Duncan | December 27, 2011 at 06:13 AM
I'd vote for "Hello Norma Jeane," for originality and the most intriguing grandmother ever.
Posted by: clt | December 30, 2011 at 06:15 PM