Kevin Keller is an openly gay teenager in Archie Comics’ Riverdale, the first to be featured in the company.

The character first appeared in 2010 in issue #202 of Veronica, the comic book devoted to one of Archie’s longstanding girlfriends. When Veronica first met the handsome teen, she assumed he was straight. She briefly entertained throwing Archie over to pursue a romance with Kevin. But Veronica quickly adjusted to the news that he was gay and soon became Kevin’s best friend in Riverdale.

After a four issue mini-series issued under the numbering of the Veronica comic book, Kevin got his own regular series. All of these stories, including those of his fifteen issue run in his own comic book were written and drawn by Dan Parent. Parent portrays Kevin very much as a model minority. His parents, a military Dad and a stay at home mom, love him dearly. No one in Riverdale confronts him with a hint of homophobia. The teen seems closest with Jughead, with whom he shares an interest in hamburgers, and Veronica, with whom he shares an interest in shopping.

Kevin soon began appearing in other comic books that featured Archie and the gang, though usually just as a supporting character. It is in Dan Parent’s stories that Kevin’s gayness and dating life is most likely to be featured. Nonetheless his regular appearances in other Archie stories signaled that he had quickly become a permanent and prominent member of the Riverdale gang. New additions that stuck were rare, Chuck Clayton and Cheryl Blossom the last notable exceptions.

Kevin Keller as an Adult

Kevin has also been featured in a magazine sized comic book entitled Life With Archie, which featured two alternative future timelines showing the Archie characters as adults. In one timeline Archie married Veronica and in the other Archie married Betty. In one of these timelines Kevin joins the military, following the example of his veteran father. He was injured in combat and returns to Riverdale as a war hero. He also married his boy friend, the doctor who treated him after his return. Running for senator on a gun control platform, Kevin is confronted by a deranged assassin. Archie jumps in front of Kevin, willingly taking the bullet intended for Kevin and dying.

While the story of Archie sacrificing his life to save his gay friend got a lot of press, it is just one of any number of possible future timelines. And teen-age Archie continued to do just fine.

Kevin Keller, Post-College

After Kevin Keller’s regular series was cancelled, Dan Parent began to feature Kevin is a series of four online comic books called Life With Kevin. The stories took place in the future, with Kevin having just graduating from college and moving to New York City trying to make it as a broadcast journalist. In an impulsive move to establish her independence, Veronica moves in with him, her arrival at his loft coming as a complete surpise.

Dan Parent indulges in a little beefcake, drawing Kevin as fairly muscular and showing him shirtless of several occasions. A five o’clock shadow and a touch of chest hair add to the sense that this is a series for older readers, as Kevin is clearly if indirectly portrayed as having a sex life. That said, Life With Kevin is far from being even R rated. The entire series is portrayed not in color but with pleasant blue shading.

Kevin and the Archie Relaunch

In 2015, the classic humorous version of Archie was cancelled. This action was taken after decades of steady, declining sales. The success of darker versions of the Archie characters, including a zombified version cheekily entitled Afterlife with Archie, prompted the owners of the franchise to relaunch the series in a more realistic style. The new approach better allowed for both humor and drama. The new series was penned by lauded comic book writer Mark Waid and drawn by a series of fan favorites, beginning with Veronica Fish.

In the new Archie series, Kevin Keller was unfortunately not a key player. He remained an irregular presence however. Kevin played a bigger, albeit still supportive role in the relaunched Jughead comic book. In that series, Jughead openly owned an asexual status–one he felt comfortable discussing with Kevin. It was a delightful if short-lived series.

The new, more serious Archie comic book anticipated the debut of the CW television series Riverdale in January of 2017. Still, there were differences. Jughead, no longer asexual, was now something of a brooding, romantic hero. And there were big changes in the portrayal of Kevin Keller as well.

Differences between the Comics and Riverdale 

The Kevin Keller of comic books might rightly considered to fall into the category of the model minority. Creator Dan Parent makes every effort to make Kevin into a regular teen whose interests and personality isn’t notably different than other teens. His unique personality traits are to some degree related to that normality. He is more upbeat and less likely to become bent out of shape than other Archie characters. Kevin is less confident than some of the characters in romance but not as clueless as Dilton or as disinterested as Jughead. He likes to eat, but doesn’t quite rival Jughead. He likes to shop, but not quite as much as Veronica. Like Betty, Kevin is perhaps best identified by a certain earnestness. Like Archie and Betty, he clearly comes from a loving family. He has a military Dad who totally accepts him.

The Kevin Keller of the CW Riverdale television series is not much like the Kevin of the comic books save for the fact that he is gay. Far from being the model minority “just like everyone else,” the television Kevin embodies just about every gay stereotype, though remains recognizable as an individual and not just a caricature. This Kevin loves to lust after boys in Betty’s company, share fashion and style references with Veronica, and empathize with Archie. Kevin, with considerable approval, notes that Archie now has “abs.” Kevin of the Riverdale series is a fun character but arguably doesn’t inhabit the core essence of his comic book original.

With the second season of Riverdale, Kevin’s portrayer Casey Cott was promoted to series regular. In another departure from the comic book series, Kevin has occasional hook-ups with Moose. A committed heterosexual in the comics, Moose ultimately commits to a genuine if conflicted romance. Kevin also enjoys an ongoing romance with a dreamy bisexual gang member of the Southside Serpents, Fangs Fogarty. That is, until Fangs hooks up with Toni Topaz to parent the child she had from Kevin’s sperm (too involved to explain here!)

Unfortunately in recent seasons it seems like Riverdale has had a hard time knowing what to do with the character. This has resulted in him repeatedly falling under the influence of cult leaders of any given season. Kevin was a member of Edgar Evernever’s “Farm” in season four, Cheryl’s Blossom Ministry in season five, and Percival Pickens cult of mind control in season six. Pickens and Kevin even share a kiss and maybe more.

The other development in seasons five and six is that its been revealed that Kevin was chubby as a youth, leading to body image issues that explain why he seeks validation in casual sex. This was likely influenced by Casey Cott noting that he struggled with body image issues as well. On the positive side, it gave the character of Kevin more of a back story. But on the negative side, it makes Kevin’s free sexuality no longer a sign of defiance of conventional norms and more a sign of a psychological problem. The latter, of course, inadvertently plays in the stereotype of the sexually promiscuous gay man. Fangs, now an estranged former lover, even threatens to use Kevin’s sexual history against him in a possible custody battle for the baby they both love.

LGBTQ Significance of Kevin Keller as a Character

Archie comic books have long symbolized wholesomeness. For Riverdale to have a gay teen who is universally accepted and liked by all is something of a turning point. This is true even if Archie comic books no longer have the cultural heft they once did. With the success of Riverdale on television, Kevin Keller’s place as an iconic gay character has been assured.

Kevin Keller, Notable Appearances

Veronica 202, 205, 207-210 (11/10-2/12)

First two issues chart the gang meeting Kevin. The last four issues are trial issues for an ongoing Kevin Keller comic book.

Kevin Keller 1-15 (4/12-11/14)

Kevin in his own comic book and featuring some of his dating dilemmas.

Archie (minor supporting character) 627, 629, 630, 639, 641-645, 647, 653, 654, 656, 657, 661-663, 666 (11/11-7/15)

Kevin begins to be featured fairly regularly as one of the gang in Archie’s own comic book. Issue 657 “The Archie Beach Party” has Kevin playing a key role, ending up with the guy Veronica thought was after her.

Life with Archie 6-37 (2/12-9/14)

Parallel adventures of the Archie gang as adults. In one of the narratives, Kevin marries, runs for senator, and Archie dies saving him from an assassin’s bullet.

Archie Meets Glee (part of the Archie series) 641-644 (4/13-7/13)

Comic book and television worlds get mixed up. Blaine becomes Kevin’s new friend in Riverdale, while Kurt befriends Veronica in the Glee Universe. Lots of fun.

Betty and Veronica (minor supporting character) 265, 266, 272, 275, 278

Afterlife with Archie 2, 5, 8-9 (1/14-7/16)

Horror comic book. Jughead is the first of a zombie infestation. Kevin’s military father trained him in the use of a crossbow which comes in handy.

Archie vol.2/1-2, 8, 10, 11, 12, 14,  28 (9/15-4/18)

Archie is relaunched as a more realistic mix of comedy and drama in 2015.  Written by award-winning writer Mark Waid, Kevin doesn’t play a central role in any of these stories but as can be seen is still represented as one of the crowd. Kevin plays a more important role in the relaunch of the Jughead series. 

Jughead (minor supporting character) vol.3/1-7, 9-15 (11/15-7/17)

While Kevin’s appearances don’t drive plot, it’s clear he’s one of Jughead’s best friends. Jughead is openly portrayed as asexual in this version

Life with Kevin 1-4 online and collected as a graphic novel. (2016-17)

Comic adventures of a just out of college Kevin–now hunky with a perpetual five o’clock shadow–and his best gal pal, Veronica.

Riverdale 4

Riverdale, the comic book, are presented as untold stories of the television series. Issue #4 revolved around the character of Kevin Keller. 

Kevin has likely appeared in other issues as well, but these are his most notable and the comic books in which he most regularly appeared.

Collected Editions of Kevin Keller

Kevin Keller (2012) collects Veronica 202, 205, 207-210

Kevin Keller: Welcome to Riverdale (2012) collects Kevin Keller 1-4

Kevin Keller, Drive Me Crazy (2013) collects Kevin Keller 5-8

Life With Kevin (2018) collects online Life With Kevin 1-4

Archie Meets Glee (2014) collects Archie 641-644

Mark Carlson-Ghost