Back in the day (that day being 1968), Kirk and Uhura gave the teevee public the second interracial kiss (see it here), and it caused something of a brouhaha. The first interracial kiss on U.S. teevee, by the way, was not that bit from Star Trek, as is so often reported, but rather Sammy Davis Jr. and Nancy Sinatra in 1967 on a Nancy Sinatra special. Sammy also kissed Archie Bunker (see it here; the kiss is at 9:42) on an episode of All In the Family that received incredible attention.

So I guess what’s really most remarkable about Archie Andrews locking lips with Valerie of Josie and the Pussycats on the cover of Archie #608 this month is that it’s really not that big a deal at all. At least not as big a deal as Riverdale’s first gay character. Or Archie marrying Betty … and Veronica.

Evidently one of two things is happening over at Archie Comics: Either dragging the characters into the latter half of the 20th century is proving to spike single-issue sales for the pathologically wholesome comics, or sales are generally so bad that they have to do something, anything, to grab some media attention. Or maybe both.

This entry was posted on Tuesday, May 4th, 2010 at 11:46 am and is filed under Marketing Stuff, This 'n' That.