Earlier this week, I shared that Archie Comics' Dan Parent had participated in a Reddit AMA Q&A. At the time, I wrote about whether or not comic books will eventually go completely digital, but several of the other questions dealt with Kevin Keller, the publisher's first openly gay character.
Parent was asked the following question:
It was unclear to me from these AMA's which issues actually sold out. Parents' responses imply that Kevin's first appearance in VERONICA sold out. But I don't really remember hearing about a formal boycott of that issue. I do remember that the One Million Moms group launch a boycott of LIFE WITH ARCHIE (the gay wedding issue) and demanded that the issue get pulled from Toys 'R Us and other stores. They (kind of) got their wish. The comic book title was pulled from the stores -- by readers. LIFE WITH ARCHIE #16 sold out pretty quickly. Though I suspect many of those purchasing the book bought it before the OMM boycott announcement, I'm sure the extra publicity didn't hurt!
Parent was asked the following question:
I know that the positive reaction was really strong since it was the first Archie issue ever to sell out. Was there a negative reaction that didn't get as much publicity like a boycott or something of that nature?You can listen to Dan Parent's response here:
It was unclear to me from these AMA's which issues actually sold out. Parents' responses imply that Kevin's first appearance in VERONICA sold out. But I don't really remember hearing about a formal boycott of that issue. I do remember that the One Million Moms group launch a boycott of LIFE WITH ARCHIE (the gay wedding issue) and demanded that the issue get pulled from Toys 'R Us and other stores. They (kind of) got their wish. The comic book title was pulled from the stores -- by readers. LIFE WITH ARCHIE #16 sold out pretty quickly. Though I suspect many of those purchasing the book bought it before the OMM boycott announcement, I'm sure the extra publicity didn't hurt!