Life With Archie #16

Picked this one up at Barnes & Noble tonight.

Title: Life With Archie
Date: February, 2012
Publisher: Archie Comics
Writer: Paul Kupperberg
Penciler: Fernando Ruiz, Pat Kennedy, Tim Kennedy
Inker: Al Milgrom, Bob Smith
Letterer: Jack Morelli
Colorist: Glenn Whitmore
Cover: Fernando Ruiz, Bob Smith, Glenn Whitmore

The first gay marriage in the history of Archie Comics is really two marriages, thanks to the unique format of this book. Life With Archie contains two stories set in parallel, but distinct universes, one with Archie married to Veronica and one with him married to Betty.

The format allows a variety of interaction and subplots and the whole magazine-sized book manages a high degree of complexity without being inaccessible to a new reader. There are even some hints of some subtle supernatural or fantastical forces working in the background amid all of the soap opera drama between the adult versions of the Riverdale gang.

And spanning the whole thing as a single plot is the story of Kevin being wounded while serving as a US soldier in the Middle East, and eventually falling in love with a physical therapist who helps him to recover from his injuries. The action scenes are good, and the romance is handled in a way that feels real and makes sense.

I came into this with high hopes for the kind of positive story on gay marriage that we need to see more of across the spectrum of media. The handling of the marriage was excellent. The rest of the book was just as good.

Rating: 9/10