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 Kevin Keller's first kiss, and a Comic-Con promotion.
 
Well, the news concerning Kevin Keller's impending first kiss, which is set to take place in August's Kevin Keller #10 has worked its way through the internet.  And the response from the media, gay or straight, mainstream or fan based, has been a resounding "eh," perhaps because publisher Archie has taken such a "go slow" policy with the character.  Or as Callie Beusman put it in her piece on the Jezebel Website, "Archie Comics' Only Openly Gay Character to Get First Published Kiss," "The poor youth has been loitering, unloved, in the giant make-out party that is Riverdale for about three years now."

It could just be that the news hasn't sunk in.  Given recent headlines I'm absolutely sure that somebody somewhere out there is completely freaked out by this.  Maybe the silence is because the story, where somebody's mom spots Kevin kissing his boyfriend Devon and has a major hissy fit in the middle of Pop's diner, is a "playful poke" (as writer Dan Parent put it) at the misnamed One Million Moms group.  If you'll recall they failed in their attempt to get Toys 'R Us to remove copies of Life with Archie #16, the issue where an adult Kevin gets married, from its checkout counters.  I would like to think that it will eventually sink into these groups that this kind of tactics invariably backfires; but that's not how the smart money would bet.
 
In a previous column, (see "Confessions of a Comic Book Guy--A Safe World For Everyone"), I said "I'll actually be impressed when the publisher shows us what happens when the second openly gay character appears in Riverdale."  Well, considered me impressed, though the fact is I wasn’t aware that Kevin even had a boyfriend, which I'm going to take as at least some sort of indicator the second openly gay character in Riverdale wasn’t that big of a deal.
 
And while on the subject of Archie, the publisher continues to do a tremendous job producing low cost digital exclusives highlighting their lesser known characters.  Currently available is a 150 page collection of Li'l Jinx for $4.99, or how about being able to get the entire run of Cosmo the Merry Martian for only $3.99?  Now if only Marvel and DC could do this sort of thing...

At this point I hasten to bring up The Big Bang Theory again but for those who couldn't get tickets to Comic-Con this year you really need to know about "The Big Bang Theory Ultimate Fan Giveaway for Comic-Con."  Warner Bros. and Hot Topics have partnered on a contest and while there are "other great prizes," like a bunch of TBBT related swag (though I have to tell you, the exclusive "Bazinga!" Comic-Con edition t-shirt available only at Hot Topic is pretty sweet) "one lucky fan will receive an all-expenses paid fun-filled getaway for two" to Comic-Con.  This includes VIP passes to the TBBT panel; hopefully the winner will be one of us and they’ll let the cast know just how much we enjoy the way the series delights in depicting comic shops as ugly boy stores.
 
Anyone who actually wants to enter (who are referred to as "pop culture junkies") can look up how online, or just tune in to one of the syndicated repeats that’s undoubtedly running on one of your local channels five nights a week.  But the reason I'm mentioning this is, well, it's kind of a big thing major American corporations actually consider going to Comic-Con to be a prize, something actually worth winning.  Oh, the press release gives it the hard sell.  Not only is it "legendary" and "the biggest pop culture event in the world," but "the most influential pop culture event of the year."  It's just, there will always be a part of me that finds it incredible that "regular people" even know what Comic-Con is.  And that their response upon hearing they've won the grand prize won't be, "Aw, you couldn't pay me to go to that nerdfest" (which might be an actual punchline on any sitcom that isn't TBBT; for some reason I hear it being said by Jim Belushi) but rather "Woo-hoo, I get to party with the weirdos!"
 
But the world changes.  I present into evidence the latest issue of TV Guide (which, surprise, surprise, once again cover features TBBT).  In it there's a piece titled "Get Ready for Fall!" by Michael Schneider that breaks down the fall television schedule for all the Networks where the author refers to the CW's lineup as "The CW becomes the Comic-Con network."  And he does have a point.  This fall their lineup includes a Vampire Diaries spin-off called The Originals as well as the science fictional Star-Crossed, The 100 and The Tomorrow People.
 
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.