I recently had the pleasure of speaking with Archie Comics writer/artist Dan Parent on the ‘Net for a forthcoming project. Parent’s name has been in the news quite a bit recently for his controversial creation of the first openly gay character in Riverdale. Perhaps because of the substantial news coverage that Kevin Keller’s still upcoming debut received, Dan managed to sneak by with another potentially hot topic—Archie’s first inter-racial romance!
The recently released ARCHIE issues 608 and 609 featured this two-parter which turned out to be one of THE most surprisingly enjoyable and genuinely romantic stories I have read in a comic in a long time. Plotwise, the Archies agree to a small tour with the more professional band, Josie & the Pussycats, both, of course, occasional sources for plots in their respective red-headed leads’ individual series for 40 years now.
One day after rehearsal, Valerie, the once-token African American smart pussycat, stays behind to help Archie finish working on a song. They eat, they talk, they write, they banter…in short, they fall in love. It’s a beautifully done, fairly realistic scene told in quick cut cinematic-style shortcuts by Parent’s collaborator here, artist Bill Galvan. Yes, Archie falls for every pretty girl. It’s his nature. The way this is written and drawn, though, the reader knows something is different this time.
Deciding not to rock the boat of the successful tour, the pair reluctantly keep their relationship a secret, meaning that every night, poor Valerie has to listen to Josie share the heartfelt love song she had written with Archie.
Little by little, the secret gets out, though, as knowing glances and terms of endearment (She calls him “Freckles”) are notice by all…well, nearly all.
They make a truly sweet and fun couple. Perhaps the most important and telling aspect of their relationship is that NO ONE raises an eye over the race issue! There's one scene where it seems as though someone might do so but their complaint is actually completely unrelated. Parent actually manages to come up with an ending which, although bittersweet, allows all kinds of speculation as to the future of the whole relationship and its effect on Archie’s OTHER relationships, also.
All I all, in these days when I’m reluctant to pick up even the most basic superhero comic for fear of being assaulted immediately with visceral panels of entrails and gore, I found the Archie/Valerie coupling to be quite touching in many ways. For those of us who have always appreciated the untapped potential of mainstream comics, here’s someone tapping it. I can’t wait to meet Kevin Keller now!
2010 is the 100th anniversary year of when Krazy Kat was first beaned on the head by Ignatz Mouse as drawn by the genius cartoonist George Herriman. This great event will be celebrated at the San Diego Comic-Con in a big ZIP…POW way. The convention committee commissioned Craig Yoe, to create fifteen pages devoted to all things Krazy for the convention souvenir book to observe this century mark of what many think of the greatest comic of all time. There will be a celebration/panel at 4-5 pm in Room 4 led by Yoe including Douglas Wolk, author of Reading Comics, and Pete Maresca, publisher of a "Krazy Kat: A Celebration of Sundays".
Longtime readers will remember that just a few years ago I discovered the British rock group the Pretty Things and enjoyed them immensely! I still do. In fact, since I first discovered them they've been in my top five groups of all time! Oddly enough, they've now led to my discovering someone else with whose work I was not previously familiar!
his death in the late seventies. He was an interesting character himself, arriving late to radio and pioneering the long hours of talk radio one can't avoid these days. He frequently had sci-fi authors as guests and often discussed UFO's and other alleged phenomena. Jackie Gleason and James Randi also appeared on a fairly regular basis as skeptics. His late in life pin-up girl wife was allegedly a mind-controlled CIA victim and became co-host of his all-night show in its final years.
