Archie’s heroic demise

The redheaded American teenager in the Archie comic book series dies taking a bullet protecting his gay friend in the issue that came out on Wednesday.

The famous freckle-faced comic book icon met with his demise in Wednesday’s installment of ‘Life with Archie’ when he intervenes in an assassination attempt on Kevin Keller, Archie Comics’ first openly gay character.

Andrews’ death, which was first announced in April, will mark the conclusion of the series that focuses on grown-up renditions of Andrews and his Riverdale pals.

“The way in which Archie dies is everything that you would expect of Archie," said Jon Goldwater, Archie Comics publisher and co-CEO.

“He dies heroically. He dies selflessly. He dies in the manner that epitomises 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.”

Keller’s character first joined Veronica Lodge, Betty Cooper, Jughead Jones and Reggie Mantle in the Archie Comics spin-off ‘Veronica’ in 2010. He later appeared in his own solo title.

In ‘Life with Archie’, Keller is a married military veteran and newly elected senator who’s pushing for more gun control in Riverdale after his husband was involved in a shooting.

“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,” said Goldwater.

“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. Archie is not a superhero like all the rest of the comic book characters,” Goldwater added. “He’s human. He’s a person. When you wound him, he bleeds. He knows that. If anything, I think his death is more impactful because of that,” he said.

Andrew Wheeler, who writes about the comic book industry at ComicsAlliance.Com, praised the way Archie was killed off. He wrote, “Archie’s sacrifice isn’t just a moment of heroism; it offers an unambiguous condemnation of America’s lax gun laws” and said that it’s “not surprising to see Archie Comics tackling such a serious issue” because the publisher “doesn't shy away from risky ideas”.

The issue, number 36 in the flash-forward Life with Archie series, will be followed by an issue showing how his friends cope with his death a year later.

Goldwater said Archie’s death had been in the works for a couple of years. “It’s really been a long time and carefully thought out,” he said. “This isn't something we randomly just came up with.”

The events in the flash-forward series will not affect Archie in the present-day series, and Archie’s adventures as a teenager with his best friend, Jughead, and his girlfriends, Betty and Veronica, will continue.