When Archie Comics, beloved manufacturers of American easiness, first introduced Kevin Keller, their first openly gay character, he was only supposed to be there for a short time. But now he's been called up to the big leagues!

Citing the popularity of the character, Archie has decided to throw more penis around and give Kevin his own monthly series. So big gay Kevin is following in the footsteps of Jughead, Betty, Veronica, and all the other Pals 'n' Gals before him who got their own shot at stardom. Kevin's plotlines will deal with his military dad and his own desire to join the military, and probably also with eating hamburgers at Pop's and doing silly things to avoid getting in trouble with Miss Grundy. Y'know, Archie stuff. The publishers lay out their plans:

"He's going to be the class president," said Dan Parent, the writer-artist who created Kevin. But it won't all be a good time: "Even the most popular kids are not popular with everybody," Mr. Parent said. "There's some adversity he'll have to deal with."

Readers will also get a glimpse into Kevin's adulthood thanks to a continuing married life storyline in Life with Archie, which shows the famous redhead's life on two paths: one in which he married Betty, the other in which he married Veronica. In early 2012 that storyline will feature Kevin's marriage.

Oh my! This is all very exciting. As someone who may or may not have a collection of some 300+ Archie Comics, I never thought I'd see the day.

And in case you were worried about backlash, co-chief executive of Archie Comics Jon Goldwater says they've only had seven canceled subscriptions since Kevin was introduced. So there. I've also heard that they've already added one Kevin Keller subscription, to be delivered to one "Mr. M. Bachmann, Minneapolis, MN." Mysterious! [NYT]