Riverdale High will get its first
openly gay character in September, Archie Comics announced Thursday.
Kevin Keller is the new kid at school
and will debut in No. 202 of Veronica Comics, the Washington Post
reported.
In Isn't it Bromantic?,
Veronica's female charms fail on Kevin, who shares a passion for food
with Jughead.
“Everyone seems to know where Kevin
is coming from except Veronica,” Victor Gorelick, editor in chief
of Archie Comics, told the paper.
The gang doesn't clue Veronica in on
why she's barking up the wrong tree, he added.
Gorelick said the inclusion of a gay
character is part of an ongoing effort to contemporize the comic
strip, which debuted in the 1940s. The comic revolves around a love
triangle between Archie Andrews and classmates Betty and Veronica.
“The introduction of Kevin is just
about keeping the world of Archie Comics current and inclusive,” he
said.
There are no plans to out any of the
comics' traditional characters, Gorelick added.