Nevada Jones rides again while Kevin Keller has eyes for Ghost Fox in ‘Betty & Veronica Jumbo Comics Digest’ #312

Check out an exclusive preview of two new stories coming in next week’s digest from Archie Comics.

Courtesy of our friends at Archie Comics, we’re happy to present a preview of two new stories from Betty & Veronica Jumbo Comics Digest #312, which comes out March 15.

The first story, “Real Horse Power,” features a classic Archie deep cut, Nevada Jones. The “Cattle Detective” appeared in back-ups stories in Pep Comics and Zip Comics back in the day, and his modern equivalent appears in a story set at the Lodge Ranch (You might be asking, “Veronica’s dad owns a ranch?” Of course he does). This one is by Ian Flynn, the Kennedy Brothers, Bob Smith, Glenn Whitmore and Jack Morelli.

The second story features the return of Ghost Fox, who we saw last week trying to save his dad from Mr. Smile. This time around, he’s being investigated, but not by a villain — Kevin Keller wants to know who the new kid is from Red Circle High, and he enlists Veronica to help him figure it out. Flynn also wrote this one, with Steven Butler and Jim Amash providing the artwork, and Whitmore and Morelli on colors and letters, respectively.

Below you’ll find previews of both stories, plus, in keeping with the horse theme, a classic story featuring Betty and Veronica at the Riverdale Riding Academy.

Continue reading “Nevada Jones rides again while Kevin Keller has eyes for Ghost Fox in ‘Betty & Veronica Jumbo Comics Digest’ #312”

Archie celebrates 10 years of Kevin Keller with a crowdfunded omnibus

Dan Parent spearheads a Kickstarter campaign for a collection of Kevin Keller stories.

Dan Parent, a veteran Archie Comics artist and creator of Kevin Keller, is celebrating 10 years of the character with Kevin Keller Celebration!, a 700-page omnibus collecting stories featuring the character, from his first appearance to the Life with Kevin graphic novel that showed the character’s future.

The project is current being crowdfunded on Kickstarter, where they’re looking for almost $50,000 in support.

“For the past 35 years, I’ve had the pleasure to work on multiple characters and titles for Archie, but my heart always comes back to my heart and soul, Kevin Keller,” Parent said. “Being able to spearhead this campaign with the support of Archie Comics is the perfect way to continue the legacy of the character as well as celebrate the 80th anniversary of Archie Comics.”

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Comics Lowdown: Original Crumb art sells for $717,000

Plus news and updates on NBM, ‘Saga,” Dan Parent and more.

Robert Crumb’s original art for the cover of the 1969 Fritz the Cat collection has set a new record price for a piece of original American comics art: The drawing sold for $717,000 at an auction run by Heritage Auctions; the next highest price for a piece of American comics art is the $657,250 that someone paid for the last page of Incredible Hulk #180, which features the first appearance of Wolverine. Internationally, Tintin art is still top of the heap; one set of drawings brought in $3.5 million, and two other original Tintin drawings have sold for over $1 million apiece.

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Smash Pages Q&A: Dan Parent on ‘Kevin Keller’

KevinKeller_01-1nDan Parent is currently in the midst of stage of his long career where his hard work is reaping substantial reward. In addition to his great gains in the Archie Universe, Dan has a Kickstarter (Die Kitty Die) along with Fernando Ruiz that asks: “What happens when a longtime comic book character has come to the end of her run? You kill her! But how? That’s where the fun begins…”

Tim O’Shea: After a couple of years is it good to no longer be pigeonholed as the resident expert writing GLBT characters?

Dan Parent: Well, I don’t really mind. I mean, I do a lot of other work, but my work with Kevin Keller is probably my most important, so I’m happy to be pigeonholed there!

What are you most proud of in terms of your storytelling dynamics for the Archie Universe?

In addition to Kevin, my Archie/Valerie storyline was something I was proud of. And I’m happy that I’ve been allowed to take the Archie characters into more progressive territory than was allowed in the past.

Who do you regard as rising stars among the current roster of Archie creative talent?

Arch_K_A015nWell, Gisele Lagace is great, but she’s a rising star with her own webcomics.  And Fernando Ruiz is doing the best work of his career!

In what ways have you honed your storytelling skills in recent years?

More realistic dialogue, less slapsticky.

Am I right in thinking you take a great amount of effort in fostering a rapport with fans at cons. How critical has that been for your long-term success?

I have a great relationship with the fans at cons.  They give me a lot of insight about what they like and what they don’t like.  And they’re the people you want to listen to, because they’re the real fans and they know what they’re talking about.

Anything we should discuss that I neglected to ask you about?

Hmm.. you didn’t ask me…Betty or Veronica….and of course, it’s Veronica!

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