Links: Kevin Keller’s first kiss

Archie Comics’ openly gay character Kevin Keller gets his first kiss in August—and provokes the ire of a Riverdale mom, whose reaction Veronica catches on video. Archie writer and artist Dan Parent discusses the storyline at USA Today, and Archie co-CEO Jon Goldwater notes that the remarkable thing about Kevin’s kiss is not that he is kissing another guy but that he is kissing at all: “There aren’t that many on-panel kisses in the pages of Archie, but you often see the lipstick on Archie’s face afterward.”

Kieron Gillen talks about writing Young Avengers as a comic for teens, and the challenges that presents.

Steve Morris interviews Neill Cameron and Daniel Hartwell, the co-creators of The Pirates of Pangaea, a strip in the UK weekly The Phoenix (available digitally in the U.S.) that features pirates and dinosaurs.

Dave Roman (Astronaut Academy) and Jerzy Drozd of the Kids’ Comics Revolution podcast are teaming up with former Nickelodeon Magazine editor Chris Duffy and the Ann Arbor District Library to create the first-ever Kids’ Comics Revolution Awards. Kids can vote online at the KCR site or in person at the Kids Read Comics event in Ann Arbor on June 22 and 23, and the winner will be announced at the end of the event.

Chris Giarrusso was the guest on a recent episode of the Comics Are Great podcast.

Nathan Hale unleashes a Hazardous Trails poster that shows how dangerous it used to be to go out West; librarians will be able to pick up a full-size copy at the Amulet booth at next month’s ALA convention.

CBR has an exclusive preview of Adventure Time #16.

Reviews

William Kulesa on Adventure Time (NJ.com)
Patrick Reed on Aw Yeah Comics! (MTV Geek)
John Hogan on Benny Breakiron: The Red Taxis (Graphic Novel Reporter)
Richard Bruton on the latest issue of The Phoenix (Forbidden Planet)

Filed under: All Ages, Graphic Novels, News