KEVIN KELLER OR VERONICA? (UPDATED)

Promotional cover art for Kevin Keller #1

Kevin's first appearance.

This month marks Kevin Keller's solo debut from Archie Comics. For those who have been under a rock the last year, Kevin Keller is Riverdale's first gay character, debuting in Veronica #202 as part of Archie's initiative to make their Archie line more relevant to today's readers. It was also the first issue Archie comics EVER had to do a second run of, which means they obviously did something right. And, of course, with all the positive press Kevin had received it was only a matter of time before Archie gave him his own book.

Or, did they?

This month saw the release of Kevin Keller #1, the first in a four-issue limited series starring, well, Kevin Keller. As a subscriber to all of Archie's titles, naturally I put in a subscription for this to keep me from having to chase down issues all over town (my shop doesn't have the best track record with getting indie and all-ages books). However, something bizarre happened when my copy arrived: I received two copies. Archie had a glitch with my subscriptions the past couple of months where they would double-ship a few of my books, so I didn't think much of it.

Then, as I sat down to read the book, I found the real reason: Kevin Keller is actually replacing Veronica for the next four issues.

Similar to how Marvel ran dual issue numbers on their rebooted books in the early 2000s, Kevin Keller #1 featured the number 207 in a lighter font next to its number, and the indicia reads Veronica #207. Understandably, this is a cost-saving move rather than launching and registering a new title for a new UPC. However, the fact it was marketed and offered as a separate book is a bit misleading to the consumers.

Whoopsie!

For starters, you'll have people like me who already have a Veronica subscription and subscribed to Kevin. On the other side, you may have people who have no interest in Kevin who are stuck getting him for four months of their subscriptions. This can prove either a good introduction for the character, or an irritation for the readers.

UPDATE: While the digest subscription ads remain the same, the regular issue ads now include a notation about Kevin being part of the Veronica subscriptions.