{"id":18576,"date":"2018-06-22T08:20:00","date_gmt":"2018-06-22T08:20:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.comicsreview.co.uk\/nowreadthis\/?p=18576"},"modified":"2018-06-20T15:57:56","modified_gmt":"2018-06-20T15:57:56","slug":"kevin-keller-welcome-to-riverdale-2","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.comicsreview.co.uk\/nowreadthis\/2018\/06\/22\/kevin-keller-welcome-to-riverdale-2\/","title":{"rendered":"Kevin Keller: Welcome to Riverdale"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"
\nBy Dan Parent<\/strong> & Rich Koslowski<\/strong> & various (Archie Comics)
\nISBN: 978-1-936975-23-5 (TPB)<\/p>\n

Created by writer\/artist Dan Parent and inker Rich Koslowski, Kevin Keller debuted in Veronica<\/strong> #202 (September 2010), a charming, good-looking and exceedingly together lad who utterly bowled over the rich go-getter. She was totally smitten with him whilst he was far more interested in food, sports and hanging out with Jughead\u00e2\u20ac\u00a6<\/p>\n

When Kevin finally explained to Veronica why she was wasting her time, she became his best buddy: after all they had a lot in common – stylish clothes, shopping and boys\u00e2\u20ac\u00a6<\/p>\n

Immensely popular from the outset (Veronica<\/strong> #202 was the first comicbook in the company’s long history to go into a second printing), Kevin struck a chord with the readership and soon guest shots evolved into a miniseries before the new kid on the block inevitably won his own ongoing title.<\/p>\n

Trade paperback & eBook compilation Kevin Keller: Welcome to Riverdale <\/strong>collects the first four issues of his groundbreaking solo monthly title and opens here with handy text feature ‘Kevin Keller: Catch up with the Characters’<\/em>: reintroducing the bonny lad, his (retired army colonel) dad Thomas<\/em>, mum Kathy<\/em> and feisty sisters Denise<\/em> and Patty<\/em>.<\/p>\n

The feature also brings newcomers up to speed on recent history as seen in the previous volume) before the mirth and merriment kick off with ‘There’s a First Time for Everything’<\/em> from issue #1 wherein the much-travelled, journalism-obsessed \u00e2\u20ac\u0153Army Brat\u00e2\u20ac\u009d finally begins settling in at Riverdale High<\/em>.<\/p>\n

In short order he is elected Class President, has his first commercial writing published and reveals a shocking secret\u00e2\u20ac\u00a6<\/p>\n

For all his accomplishments Kevin has never gone on a real date, and when a certain someone asks him out, the Keller kid turns to Betty for some confidence-boosting advice. He isn’t a complete neophyte; there was something like a date before, but due to his catastrophic nervousness it turned into a major disaster\u00e2\u20ac\u00a6<\/p>\n

Unfortunately, Reggie overhears their huddled conversation and the self-proclaimed romance expert elects to give Kevin the benefit of his vast masculine experience\u00e2\u20ac\u00a6<\/p>\n

The exuberant preparations turn into a catalogue of horror and, as more well-meaning friends get involved, it looks certain that Kevin will repeat that horrific experience\u00e2\u20ac\u00a6<\/p>\n

Thankfully a few stabilising words from love-hating Jughead and an eventful morning with the remarkably understanding Colonel Keller quickly restore some necessary calm and equilibrium\u00e2\u20ac\u00a6<\/p>\n

The next tale moves from straight slapstick to heart-warming empathy as Class President Kevin is asked to organise a prom in ‘May I Have this Dance?’<\/em> Only then does he discover that he has a secret admirer. Of course, once Veronica finds out it’s not a secret for long\u00e2\u20ac\u00a6<\/p>\n

As the seventies-themed fashion disaster begins to take shape, further furtive communications reveal that the clandestine would-be wooer is someone still not fully at ease with his sexual orientation; forcing Kevin to be at his most understanding and forgiving\u00e2\u20ac\u00a6<\/p>\n

Contentious themes and prejudices are tackled in ‘Stranded in Paradise’<\/em> when the summer vacation begins and Kevin gets a job as a lifeguard.<\/p>\n

The beach is the time-honoured hangout of all Riverdale kids, but when spoiled princess Cheryl Blossom and her rich Pembroke School <\/em>cronies invade the space, sparks soon fly. The grubby \u00e2\u20ac\u0153Townies\u00e2\u20ac\u009d are challenged to a surfing contest for possession of the sands with Kevin a star competitor and secret weapon for the home team. The fair-minded stalwart has, however, completely underestimated the vicious tactics of loathsome homophobe Sloan<\/em>\u00e2\u20ac\u00a6<\/p>\n

The comics portion of this tome concludes with an international epic set at the 2012 London Olympics. ‘Games People Play’<\/em> sees Colonel Keller – who has dual British and American citizenship – invited to be a torchbearer.<\/p>\n

Having spent four years in England, Kevin is delighted to be going back for a visit and reconnecting with old pal Brian<\/em>. He doesn’t even mind when shopping-crazy Veronica inveigles an invite to join the family.<\/p>\n

Moreover, when his nominated-runner Dad falls foul of London’s Underground at a crucial moment, Kevin is ready and more-or-less willing to step in for what appears to be the unluckiest and most dangerous section of the entire torch route\u00e2\u20ac\u00a6<\/p>\n

Following a moving and appreciative ‘Afterword’<\/em> by Dan Parent there’s also a splendid section of ‘Official Kevin Keller Bonus Features’ <\/em>including ‘Retro Fashion’<\/em> pages, ‘Kevin’s Prom Style’<\/em>, ‘Kevin’s Summer Style with B & V’<\/em>, ‘Kevin Keller & Friends Style’<\/em> and a triptych of ‘Unreleased Promotional Sketches’<\/em>.<\/p>\n

With a cover gallery that includes modern cartoon masterpieces and remastered classic Archie images retrofitted to suit our 21st<\/sup> century all-star, this is a superb, hilarious and magically inclusive collection for you, your kids and grandparents to enjoy over and over again\u00e2\u20ac\u00a6
\n\u00c2\u00a9 2012 Archie Comics Publications, Inc. All rights reserved.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

By Dan Parent & Rich Koslowski & various (Archie Comics) ISBN: 978-1-936975-23-5 (TPB) Created by writer\/artist Dan Parent and inker Rich Koslowski, Kevin Keller debuted in Veronica #202 (September 2010), a charming, good-looking and exceedingly together lad who utterly bowled over the rich go-getter. She was totally smitten with him whilst he was far more … <\/p>\n

Continue reading “Kevin Keller: Welcome to Riverdale”<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[141,113,215,132,148],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-18576","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-archie-comics","category-comedy","category-lgbtqia","category-older-kids","category-romance"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p4AFj-4PC","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.comicsreview.co.uk\/nowreadthis\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/18576","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.comicsreview.co.uk\/nowreadthis\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.comicsreview.co.uk\/nowreadthis\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.comicsreview.co.uk\/nowreadthis\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.comicsreview.co.uk\/nowreadthis\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=18576"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.comicsreview.co.uk\/nowreadthis\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/18576\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.comicsreview.co.uk\/nowreadthis\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=18576"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.comicsreview.co.uk\/nowreadthis\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=18576"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.comicsreview.co.uk\/nowreadthis\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=18576"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}