A tearful Kevin discovered his boyfriend Devon in the arms of another guy! Issue #13 clarified that Kevin dumped Devon and he's still pretty pissed off about everything. Though, he's still trying to be the nice guy and be friends. But it's over.
Which gives Paul (AKA "Creepy Tribble Guy") free reign to seduce our title character. It's pretty good timing. Riverdale High is hosting a "Mystery Ball," which I guess is a big costume-themed dance. Paul asks Kevin to the Mystery Ball and they spend quite a lot of time tossing costume ideas back and forth. Frankly, I don't think too many of their costume choices would be recognizable to today's teens, though I loved some of these options. I mean, Nick and Nora Charles??
Leave it to Kevin to prematurely slam the brakes on this latest romance! Fortunately, Creepy Tribble Guy has his own agenda! Personally, I hope he succeeds! I've enjoyed Paul in this series much more than Devon.
But Issue #13 also features another storyline -- and it took me way too long today to register that this was an anti-cyberbullying storyline. Which makes sense, given that Kevin Keller was one of GLAAD's 2013 Spirit Day Ambassadors! Not that this is an anti-gay bullying issue, but the message against cyberbullying still rang pretty loudly.
It seems that Riverdale has a secret blogger known as the Whisperer. S/he knows all of the local gossip and isn't afraid to share it with the school. Of course, not all of the Whisperer's stories are 100% accurate -- but that doesn't stop everyone from believing him/her!
Kevin hates gossip and decides to unmask the Whisperer after witnessing the shunning of a girl named Karen Stark who found herself whispered about by our mystery blogger:
But it's not just her. The Whisperer ends up targeting the Kevin/Devon/Paul triangle. S/he causes trouble for Midge and Reggie and even Betty and Veronica! Fortunately, Kevin manages to publicly unmask the Whisperer with a little help from Paul and Dilton!
I thought that this issue did a good job of wrapping up last issue's cliffhanger ending while smoothly moving forward with this new story in a way that doesn't sweep over last issue's mess. I also thought that it capably combined Kevin's small group of supporting characters with many of the Riverdale regulars, plus a few others without making any of those characters or scenarios feeling rushed or shoe-horned.
"Elementary My Dear Kevin!" was written by Dan Parent (prelude) and Paul Kupperberg, penciled by Dan Parent, and inked by Rick Koslowski.