The Four Color Media Monitor

First, they introduce a gay protagonist named Kevin Keller, most likely without any dissenting viewpoints allowed on whether it's a negative practice/mindset/lifestyle. Now, they're going to have said protagonist go into a gay marriage:

Archie is going from comic to culture warrior again, as the Archie Comics universe fields praise and scorn over a gay wedding.

After a pair of straight weddings -- both strangely involving Archie, though in his dreams -- drew national attention, the publisher behind the popular stories has confirmed that it’s making room for someone else to walk down the aisle: Kevin Keller, the series’ first openly-gay character.

“Kevin followed in his father's footsteps and is returning to Riverdale as a war hero, but that's not all – It’s Kevin’s wedding day!” reads a news release from Archie Comic Publications, promoting an upcoming issue of "Life With Archie."

In this offshoot series, which runs glimpse-into-the-future storylines based on the lives of Archie, Betty and Veronica, readers soon will be able to discover how Kevin met “Mr. Right.” [...]

“It's unfortunate that a comic book series usually seen as depicting innocent, all-American life is now being used to advance the sexual revolution,” said Peter Spriggs, a senior fellow at the Family Research Council, a Washington, D.C.-based lobbying organization promoting Christian views.

“I think whatever boost in sales might come from the novelty or curiosity factors will be more than offset by the number of both kids and parents who will be turned off by this storyline and its obvious social and political agenda,” he said.

The parents will certainly object if they see it as promoting a bad influence for their children, and it's sad that a comic franchise once seen as a great humor book for the younger crowd is now being used as a platform and tool for advancing what are pretty much political beliefs. And we thought Ernie and Bert on Sesame Street were a problem? Saddest of all is how the inmates now running this medium continue to ignore the idea of featuring protagonists of Armenian, Danish and Macedonian descent, which could have a lot more potential, and instead keep going for easy ideas that have long been worn way out.

Labels: Archie, politics