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ARCHIE'S GENDER BENDER ISSUE

Mon, 13 August 2012

Archie Comics, which broke new ground with a gay character, is switching the gender of all of its characters in this month's issue.

Archie number 636, titled The Great Switcheroo, presents a story in which the character Sabrina the Teenage Witch turns Archie into Archina and Reggie into Regina.

The rest of the Archie gang also swap genders and discover the truth about their preconceptions of their previously opposite genders.

Archie Comics shook up conservatives in 2010 when it introduced Kevin Keller, its first gay character, in issue 202 of Veronica.

It soon became the first-ever comic to be reprinted in Archie Comics history due to popular demand.

A successful four-part follow-up miniseries confirmed comic book buyers' enthusiasm for the character and he was soon rewarded with his own ongoing series.

Despite threats of a boycott by the American Family Association's One Million Moms project, the March 2012 issue depicting Keller's same-sex marriage sold out in stores across the US.

by Staff Writer