Archie Andrews, a teenager for 75 years, will finally die — in an alternate, future universe, sure, but it’s still a pretty big moment for the family-friendly comics franchise.
This spring, it was announced that the iconic, All-American redhead would die in an issue of “Life With Archie,” a series that looks at the parallel universe future of Riverdale. On Monday, Archie Comics revealed that the death would be both heroic and tied to one of the other big moments in the comic series’ recent history, as Archie will take a bullet for Kevin Kellar, the franchise’s first gay character.
Also read: Archie Comics Will Kill Off Archie This Summer
“The way in which Archie dies is everything that you would expect of Archie,” Jon Goldwater, the publisher and co-CEO of Archie Comics, told the AP. “He dies heroically. He dies selflessly. He dies in the manner that epitomizes not only the best of Riverdale but the best of all of us. It’s what Archie has come to represent over the past almost 75 years.”
Kellar, a military veteran and newly elected senator, was first introduced in a 2010 edition of spinoff series “Veronica,” before getting his own book.
“We wanted to do something that was impactful that would really resonate with the world and bring home just how important Archie is to everyone,” Goldwater said. “That’s how we came up with the storyline of saving Kevin. He could have saved Betty. He could have saved Veronica. We get that, but metaphorically, by saving Kevin, a new Riverdale is born.”