Archie comics have long been the cornerstone of a "wholesome" way of life in the United States with their stories of Archie Andrews and the rest of the gang in Riverdale. Like all comics they have changed with the times and one of their more recent innovations was to introduce a major gay character, Kevin Keller.
In this day and age not much to worry about you'd think.
Back in 2012 Entertainment Weekly reported:
The conservative organization One Million Moms wants Toys R Us to stop stocking an Archie comic book that features a gay wedding. In the story, the character Kevin Keller gets hitched to Clay, whom he met in a military hospital after being wounded in the armed services. The marriage occurs in Life With Archie #16, featuring a cover depicting the nuptials, and featuring a banner saying, “Just Married.”
The One Million Moms letter, as quoted in the publishing blog GalleyCat, asserts, “Unfortunately, children are now being exposed to same-sex marriage in your toy store. This is the last place a parent would expect to be confronted with questions from their children on topics that are too complicated for them to understand.” It concludes, “Please remove all the same-sex ‘Just Married – Archie’ comic books immediately from your shelves. My decision to shop in your stores depends on it.”
That protest has long been both ignored and forgotten.
Except the authorities in Singapore have now banned the graphic novel collection of the story. the Hollywood Reporter tells us:
Not only does his best friend, Archie Andrews, die while saving his life in the much-publicized Life With Archie No. 36 released today, but the character’s marriage in the third collection of the series has apparently led to the book quietly being pulled in Singapore.
Singapore-based cartoonist Sonny Liew made the discovery that the third collection in the Archie: The Married Life series was unavailable from local distributor Kinokuniya, despite the availability of the first, second, fourth and fifth volumes in the run. When he contacted the company, he was told that the collection was “deemed to breach the Content Guidelines for Imported Publications, and removed from sale by notice of MDA.” The response added, clearly, “we are not able to sell this title.”
Archie Comics joint CEO Jon Goldwater remains defiant stating:
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Meanwhile watch out for an exiting announcement at Howie's Corner this Sunday boys and girls!
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