Book Review: Kevin Keller

Book: Kevin Keller (issues Veronica #202 and #205 and Kevin Keller miniseries issues #1-4) written and illustrated by Dan Parent, ink by Rich Koslowski, color by Digikore Studios and letters by Jack Morelli

Edition: Hardcover

Description:

Read all about Kevin's introduction to the world of Riverdale! Journey into the mind and heart of Riverdale's newest resident.

You'll see how Kevin first met Archie, Jughead, Betty and Veronica; how he came to love journalism, and what drives him to want to follow in the footsteps of his father, a retired Army Colonel, and serve in the military!

Experience what it was like for Kevin growing up and how he learned to deal with all kinds of issues ranging from schoolyard bullying to discovering who he is and who he wants to be.



Rating: 5 stars

Review:

Sometimes it's difficult being the new kid but in these six issues Kevin Keller made it seem easy as he was able to adjust to his new life in Riverdale.

This book begins with issue #202 with Veronica Lodge being shown the new guy who was having a friendly competition against Jughead Jones in a burger eating competition at Pop's diner. And once Veronica got a good look at him, she was instantly in love. After a quick introduction, it appears Veronica found herself a new guy to crush on.

But no matter how much she flirted with Kevin, nothing changed between them romantically. He continued to be resistant to her charms. Kevin liked hanging out with Veronica, he just wasn't interested in dating her and that's because he's gay. He was planing to tell Veronica, however, Jughead, who was sensing a great opportunity in letting Veronica continue to pursue Kevin, suggested that Kevin wait to tell her. Jughead was so tired of the terrible way Veronica was always treating him, thought it would be fun seeing her make a fool out of herself trying to win over Kevin before she found out the truth.

Betty Cooper was waffling with telling Veronica the truth about Kevin because when Veronica thought Betty was also interested in Kevin, she made a surprising deal with her best friend. She told Betty she would stop seeing Archie Andrews if Betty left Kevin alone. However, Betty eventually put her best friend out of her misery and told her the truth. Veronica might have lucked out in love but she did gain a new friend.

Kevin and Veronica's friendship was the focus of issue #205 where it had Betty feeling like she lost her best friend to their newfound friendship. Veronica was so wrapped in her friendship with Kevin that she sort of ignored Betty but she was planning on making it up to her.

In the last four issues (which were a miniseries), the reader gets to learn a little more about Kevin because there is a backstory that's woven throughout some of the issues. In the first issue, while Kevin's new friends were meeting his old friends Wendy and William, who were visiting for the 4th of July, his old friends were telling Archie and the gang about how Kevin was when he was younger. You get to see how Kevin was always trying to be a good person and looking out for others as well as how he told his parents that he was gay.

In the second issue, it's Kevin's father's birthday and the family was planning a surprise party for him. Veronica was excited to help with planning the event and she got a little more insight into Kevin when he talked about how he used to write stories when he was a kid and how he dealt with being bullied. The third issue had Kevin representing the school in a trivia contest and while preparing for it, it had him remembering a terrible experience with stage fright. The last story had Kevin running for class President unfortunately he was running against a very homophobic candidate.

This was a good read and the writing and illustrations for these six issues really did a great job of showing the reader who Kevin Keller is. I like that he is such a good-natured person who is always trying to help others. And with loving and supportive parents, it's easy to see why he is the person that he is. And as a military brat, his family traveled around a lot until his father retired from service which is why it probably seemed easy for Kevin to have made friends so easily once his family moved to Riverdale.