Comic icon Archie Andrews will breathe his final breath in Wednesday’s last issue of “Life with Archie,” it’s true, but don’t cry for him. He’s going out in style.
Riverdale will see an act of heroism, one that the folks behind Archie Comics hope will continue to guide readers towards a tolerance-filled future.
Archie will take a bullet for his best friend, first openly gay comic character Kevin Keller, who is the target of an assassination plot.
“He dies in the manner that epitomizes not only the best of Riverdale but the best of all of us,” Archie Comics publisher and co-CEO Jon Goldwater told the Associated Press.
Keller, who was introduced to the series about four years ago, has celebrated many a milestone with Archie by his side, including his wedding to a fellow serviceman in 2012. The final issue, a jump forward in time, has more than one message to get across. Keller will be a senator fighting for stricter gun control after his husband is shot during a robbery.
“We hope by showing how something so violent can happen to Archie, that we can, in some way, learn from him,” Goldwater said.
