One of the tragic events that made 2016 a crap sandwich of a year was the summer shooting at Pulse Nightclub, an LGBTQIA club in Orlando, FL. IDW and DC Comics joined forces to create a comics anthology called Love Is Love, which contains work from a bunch of our favorite comics creators. The proceeds of the anthology will benefit the survivors of the Pulse shooting and victims’ families. Now, Archie Comics is the latest comics publisher to join the effort with a heartbreaking Kevin Keller story.
Archie Comics will be contributing two stories to the anthology featuring Kevin Keller, Riverdale’s first openly gay character, and the rest of the Archie gang. Check out this page from one of the stories, written by Archie Comics’ COO (and Riverdale showrunner) Roberto Aguirre-Sacasa, with art by Stephen Byrne:
You’ll notice that the style of the artwork is from Archie Comics’ “New Riverdale” comics, which Aguirre-Sacasa says exists in our world, making it the perfect place to address this national tragedy. According to a statement from Archie Comics, Aguirre-Sacasa said, “When Marc Andreyko [Love is Love editor] approached me and Archie about including a story in Love is Love, I knew we had to be a part of it—and that we also had to approach it in a direct way…We often talk about how ‘Riverdale’ exists in the real world today, so we’re incredibly honored to be paying our respects to the terrible tragedy that happened in Orlando, along with so many of our colleagues in the industry.”
Meanwhile, Archie Comics CEO, Jon Goldwater, is proud to have Archie participate in Love is Love, saying, “It made perfect sense to join forces with our friends at IDW and DC Entertainment to include Kevin Keller, Archie and his friends in Love is Love. We’re honored to be part of such an important book and will continue to strive for a real world that’s as safe as Riverdale.”
And Archie writer/artist, Dan Parent, is equally proud to be a part of this anthology. “It was an honor and a privilege to be included with all the talented creators in this book,” he said. “More importantly, to give back to the families and victims of such a tragedy is simply the right thing to do. Let’s help the healing process by contributing any way we can. And let’s remember to keep fighting!”
You can pre-order Love is Love HERE. The anthology goes on sale December 28th.
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