When Batman Met Archie and Kitty Died: The Dan Parent Interview

At the recently concluded 11th edition of Bengaluru Comic Con 2023, Dan Parent was among the returning visitors to the country and city. The comic book artist and writer best known for his work with Archie Comics over the years spoke with Rolling Stone India about the evolution and relevance of the comic book and its characters, the crowdfunded comic book project Die Kitty Die and the upcoming Indian adaptation with The Archies on Netflix.

Rolling Stone India: Archie Comics originally started out as a typical American high school comic with its hugely popular uncomplicated characters like Archie, Betty, Veronica and Jughead. With its relatable storylines, it struck a chord with people around the world. It grew along with its audience but now it has evolved into something completely different altogether like the Riverdale series. How did this change happen?

Dan Parent: Well, I think the change happened because it’s an evolutionary thing. You know, Archie has been around forever, 80 years and we’re in the 21st century now. So, Archie has to, at some point, change with the times. We have more technology now, social media. It’s a different landscape than it was 50-60 years ago so it’s a matter of evolving with time. The characters are still the same characters. They’re in a different era, things aren’t as quite as innocent as they used to be but generally, their personalities are the same. The big storylines are always the same. The love triangle of Archie-Betty-Veronica is always going to be a common element no matter what era it is.

You created the character Kevin Keller, the first openly gay character in Archie Comics. How did that come about? Were there any difficulties in getting Kevin onto the page?

Not really, but a few groups that were conservative that spoke out against it, but they don’t read the books anyway! But as far as the regular Archie fans go, they read the books, they were fine with it. They were the ones that made Kevin a popular character which led to him getting featured on more issues in the comics, which led to him being on Riverdale. So, it was a proud moment, absolutely.

One of your most interesting works is the crossover series Archie Meets Batman 66! How did you find it, incorporating Gotham’s Dark Knight into Archie’s universe?

If not the most fun project I’ve done, it’s at least one of the most. What’s great is that Batman 66 is so much fun. Everybody thinks of Batman as this dark character. Batman 66 is so lighthearted and goofy that it blends in really well with Archie, so the team-up actually made a lot of sense.

So, what is the most fun project that you’ve worked on with Archie?

It might be Archie Meets Batman 66. It also might be the other crossovers we’ve done. Crazy stuff like Archie vs Sharknado, Archie vs Predator. Archie meets Glee. Harley & Ivy Meet Betty & Veronica. Red Sonja & Vampirella Meet Betty & Veronica. That was fun, we just went all over the place with crossovers.

Which was the easiest crossover to do?

Hmm. Probably Batman 66.

Die Kitty Die is a very bold initiative. How did that happen?

I did it with my friend Fernando, who also works on Archie, and we wanted to do something that was our own, that we can say are our own characters. So, we thought we’d do something like that. And then a lot of the books are just based on tributes, basically to comics we like. Like the old Harvey Comics, Richie Rich and Casper that I read when I was a kid. And we sort of parody TV shows and things that we like. It looks similar to Archies, that style…But it’s definitely edgier and I wouldn’t say adult, but a little racy than Archies, like PG-13.

But yeah, we decided on a Kickstarter so we could do exactly what we wanted. Because we had talks with publishers and they all wanted variations on it, so we decided to Kickstart it and see what happens. And we figured if we could Kickstart it and it was successful, then somebody would want to publish it. Which is what happened. We did a Kickstarter. It was successful and we got published with Chapterhouse. And yeah, it’s been very, very rewarding.

Is Die Kitty Die your most favorite work?

It’s up there. But I would say it is my most favorite to work on, if not for the fact that it was more work than anything since I was publishing it and putting it together myself. That part isn’t as much fun. The drawing and the writing are fun. The actual putting the book together itself and running a Kickstarter campaign isn’t as much fun. So, if it wasn’t for that part, it would be perfect. But it’s still very rewarding and I’m really happy and proud of Die Kitty Die.

Is there going to be more of Die Kitty Die?

Yes! We keep meaning to do the next edition. Just that things have gotten so crazy with my schedules since I do a lot of conventions and touring. And Fernando, he teaches at the Joe Kubert School full-time. So, it’s a matter of clamping down and finding the time. But 2024 hopefully we will.

Netflix is coming up with a new Indian adaptation of Archie with an Indian setting. How do you think that would work? Were you involved in any way?

I wasn’t really involved. I did create the character, Raj Patel. I think he’s in the movie. Other than that, I didn’t have anything to do with the story or anything. It was definitely an India project. I think my bosses at Archies who are the owners, they had a little more creative input. So, I didn’t have anything to do with it but I’m certainly looking forward to it. It looks really good.

Going forward, for the comic book artists, how do you think the industry is going to progress now?

The comic book industry, despite the fact that people think comics don’t sell like they used to, is still a pretty strong industry. There’s still a lot of artists working, making a living doing it. So, it’s just that now we do a lot more graphic novels versus traditional comics. So, the comic industry evolves but they still need writers and artists to write and draw the stuff.

Like DC has the New 52 and then Rebirth that functions as a sort of universe reset?

Yeah, that’s part of what we make fun of in Die Kitty Die and a lot of the stuff that goes on in the comic book industry!

Do you think it’s better for artists to go for Kickstarters and indie publishing rather than go mainstream?

I think we’re seeing a lot more people doing Kickstarters for that reason because if you do the Kickstarter, the work is all done and then you bring it to a publisher, and they like it because the hard work is all done. The stuff is basically all drawn and written for the most part. So, you’ll definitely be seeing a lot of Kickstarters. I’m seeing a lot of Kickstarters right now.

Is it because there’s more freedom of speech via Kickstarters?

Yeah, you’re doing exactly what you want to do. You get more freedom. It’s a lot more work though. You’re not just writing and drawing, there’s handling the business part of it, the money, the publishing, the printing and the shipping. It’s a long process.

But we’re getting a lot of things we wouldn’t get to see otherwise…

Exactly! Like original projects… Projects that are exactly the way the creators want to see happen which is important and rewarding. Whereas with publishers, you have to make compromises. We wouldn’t have seen Die Kitty Die if it weren’t for Kickstarter.