As a series that I left behind shortly after I decided that I would now aspire to be a real teenager and I’d be reading and watching things with less kissing and more space aliens (this made sense somehow), I’ve been continually impressed with Archie Comics over the past couple of years. From the almost unsettlingly mature new spin on Life With Archie, to the introduction of Kevin Keller (and the reasoning behind it), to the wedding of Kevin Keller, to Keller getting his own series, well.
Institutions of whitebread suburban life in kids entertainment aren’t supposed to suddenly start getting really progressive. That’s completely counterintuitive to my cynical brain, and they should stop it (they shouldn’t stop it).
Take for example, this latest development. There are actually very few true celebrity cameos in Archie. According to Comic Book Resources, usually when the series wants to depict a celebrity, they create an obvious caricature (case in point). Usually. The last time notable public figures appeared in Archie, it was none other than President Barack Obama and former Alaska governor Sarah Palin. Original Star Trek alumn George Takei will be joining their ranks on the short list of true cameos in Archie. The guest stint was worked out between Takei and Dan Parent, creator of Kevin Keller.
From Buzzfeed:
Parent… happened to meet Takei at a comic convention. When Parent pitched the idea of having George guest star so Kevin Keller could meet his life long hero, the Star Trek star was thrilled.
The new issue will be Kevin Keller #6, coming to comic stores and digital distribution in December.
