Confessions of a Comic Book Guy is a weekly column by Steve Bennett of Super-Fly Comics and Games in Yellow Springs, Ohio.  This week, Bennett looks at some interesting facts about Archie Comics.

Previously I've confessed my crush on all things Indian so naturally I was intrigued when I came across a piece by Jhimil Molihar dated August 16 at the CNN International Online website with the ominous headline "Can Bollywood Save Archie?  The Riverdale gang comes to Mumbai and finds everything 'amazing.'  Locals will find less to cheer about."

It's mostly a reaction to a story appearing in Archie Double Digest #9 which is shipping this week.  It's the first of a two parter, "Love Me Baby, Mumbai," written by Tania Del Rio and drawn by Bill Galvan; in it a movie made by Indian-American Raj Patel becomes a big hit on on the Internet and soon Archie and company are off to India.  Molihar is fairly dissatisfied with their visit and while they're not exactly "Ugly Americans" it would be hard to argue their antics (the gang dresses up in traditional Indian clothes and does some Bollywood style dancing) or appreciation for superficial aspects of the culture (Jughead discovers the joys of Indian food) does much to better understanding between our countries..

But it does have a couple of points of interest.  Like while establishing the publisher's plans to expand into India Archie co-CEO Jon Goldwater is quoted as saying "This year we've already shipped about a million copies to the country" (it makes me wonder how many units Marvel or DC moves in that country).  And supposedly another Indian, a girl this time, will soon start attending Riverdale High.  But most interesting were the statements that...

From 2007-2009, overall sales of "Archie," the American comic book's flagship title, dropped by 40 percent.

And...

In 2010, the publishers introduced the series' first gay character, Kevin Keller, in an attempt to boost sales by modernizing story themes.

If accurate these parts of the piece definitely shed light on the numerous initiatives the company has undertaken recently, specifically going day and date digital with their entire line.  If that huge a chunk of their readership has disappeared they really didn't have any choice. And I once floated the possibility (see "Confessions of a Comic Book Guy--After The Con") that the introduction of Kevin might have been "just a calculated cosmetic attempt to make an old brand seem 'contemporary.'"  Well, that move might have been more cynical than I thought.

But I hope not because I’ve always liked a quote from Jon Goldwater I used in a previous column (see "Confessions of a Comic Book Guy--A World For Everyone"):

"The introduction of Kevin is just about keeping the world of Archie Comics current and inclusive.  Archie's hometown of Riverdale has always been a safe world for everyone.  It just makes sense to have an openly gay character in Archie comic books."

I realize it might make me an enormous sap but the older I get the more quietly reassuring I find the non-threatening world of Riverdale.  If that seems strange to some of you it's understandable; that 'safe world for everyone' of Archie Comics is diametrically opposed to the perpetual crisis that is the world of superhero comics where the Doomsday Clock is always about to strike Armageddon.

For months I've held onto a quote from Jon Goldwater that came at the end of a Associated Press piece by Matt Moore titled "Amigo!  Archie Comics Plans Spanish Digital Copies" where he talks about the not just international but universal appeal of Archie Comics:

"It really is, in a certain sense, the American Dream.  I know it sounds corny, but it's the typical small-town America where the kids all get along and everything is working well and there's plenty of food and everyone is sheltered.  It translates very, very well."

A couple of weeks ago skyjacker D.B. Cooper who jumped out of a jetliner 40 years ago with $200,00 in ransom and was never captured was once again in the news.  A woman came forward who alleged that not only was Cooper her uncle but, according to a Reuters piece dated August 3, he "was obsessed with a Canadian cartoon skydiving hero named Dan Cooper and even kept a Dan Cooper comic book tacked to a wall."

Well, I like to delude myself that I know something about Canadian comic books but 'Dan Cooper' didn’t ring a bell.  It took a little searching but of course it turns out the character wasn't Canadian at all.  What D.B. Cooper, theoretically, had read were local French language reprints of a comic called Dan Cooper, a series that ran in the legendary French comics anthology Tintin.  Dan was a courageous Royal Canadian Air Force test pilot whose flying adventures were both terrestrial and extraterrestrial; he was the creation of writer/artist Albert Weinberg and appeared in over 40 graphic novels.

The opinions expressed in this column are solely  those of the writer, and do not necessarily reflect the views of the editorial staff of ICv2.com.