#Archy comics series#
#Archy comics free#

I’ll be at Artist Alley with a few other Archie artists, and I’m on a panel talking about rock & roll and comics. To meet a lot of fans, have lots of fun and draw lots of sketches. Here’s to future boycotts by the Million Moms! We can’t complain because the issue sold out. When you’re attacking Ellen and Archie Comics, you’re grasping at straws.

#Archy comics free#

But you heard about the Million Mom thing? To me, it just seems like they have a lot of free time on their hands. Are you surprised that hasn’t happened yet? I wonder when Rick Santorum or Sarah Palin will lead the Archie backlash. And with Archie and Valerie, we know it’s an interracial romance, but that’s not really the point of the story. We address the fact that Kevin’s gay, but that’s not all he’s about. Nobody gets worked up about Kevin’s sexuality or Archie or Valerie’s race. What’s notable about Kevin’s or Archie and Valerie’s plotlines is: They don’t feel like “a very special episode” of a sitcom. We’re also introducing Valerie’s brother, Trevor-and let’s just say that he and Betty will have a flirtation. In this story line, we establish that Valerie’s family moves to Riverdale. They’ll still be in love with each other, and we’ll see what happens. Now we’re revisiting it with “Archie Marries Valerie.” Most of the story is set in current day, but Valerie will envision what the future will be like if she marries Archie and they have a baby.

It was one of the easiest stories I ever wrote. But they’re in different bands, which makes it hard for them to get together because are touring the world. At first it was going to be just one issue, but then this chemistry evolved because they’re both in bands. I just thought it would be interesting to find out what their dynamic would be. I always liked Valerie and thought she was underused. That’s when we decided to also add Kevin Keller.Īnd how did you decide to pair Archie with Valerie? We had a meeting two years ago about really bringing Riverdale into the 21st century, adding more diversity. How did the comics take a turn to greater social awareness? But Riverdale is still an idyllic small town in America. We’ve added characters-a bunch of new kids of different ethnicities-and some 21st-century stories. Obviously, in the last few years, we’ve updated it. It’s fair, because Riverdale is a sort of place with a Happy Days atmosphere. A lifelong Archie fan, he’s been employed by the company-first on staff, now as a freelancer-for 25 years.Ī lot of people think of Archie Comics as hopelessly dated, like an episode of Happy Days or the even-more-white-bread Leave It to Beaver. Parent recently spoke to us from his home in Pennsylvania, where he lives with his wife and two teenage kids.

And after that? “Occupy Riverdale” (on sale in July), with one-percenter Veronica on one side, Betty and Jughead on the other, and Archie caught in the middle. Parent (who’ll be at C2E2, the Chicago Comic and Entertainment Expo, April 13–15) also created Kevin Keller, Riverdale’s first openly gay student-a character so popular, he got his own monthly series.Ĭoming up in Archie Comics #631 (on sale March 28), Parent brings Valerie back to Riverdale, prompting a four-issue story line that includes the couple’s fantasy future wedding and a baby. In striving to marry fun storytelling with modern-day relevance, longtime Archie writer-artist Dan Parent shook up the redhead’s world in 2010 by crafting a new romance: with Valerie! The pair’s interracial kiss was a first. Until recently, the Archie Comics company’s most progressive moment likely happened in late 1969, when creators collaborated with Hanna-Barbera animation studios to relaunch the character Josie as the head of a rock band, the Pussycats, with bassist Valerie as the first significant black female character in the comic.įast-forward to the 21st century, and Archie Comics has become a bastion of diversity.

#Archy comics series#

Reportedly inspired by the Andy Hardy movies, the comic-book series maintained its harmless identity for decades, mixing low-key teen high jinks with the never-ending Archie-Betty-Veronica triangle. Launched way back in 1941, Archie Andrews and his gang from Riverdale have a longevity matched by very few comic-book characters (all of them superheroes).