What will Riverdale look like in 2012? Like a place at the forefront of the U.S. debate on gay marriage, from the looks of the January issue of Life With Archie. The comic will feature the wedding of Kevin Keller, the first openly gay character in the Archie comic world, after he returns home from military service. As originally announced in a September press release, he will marry his African-American partner Clay Walker, making this likely the first interractial gay marriage to include the likes of Mr. Weatherbee, Jughead Jones and Reggie Mantle as guests (judging from the newly released cover art).

Life With Archie is already a departure from the usual Archie comics, in that it presents the gang from Riverdale as adults, facing decidedly adult issues: The other wedding storyline in the January comic involves the disintegration of Archie's own wedding to Veronica. But as you can see from the cover below, that doesn't seem likely to detract from the joy of Kevin and Clay's nuptials.