By Manish SainNew Delhi, Dec 18 (PTI) If it was not for US PresidentDonald Trump's antics, the country wouldn't have woken up fromits comfortable slumber during the tenure of Barack Obama,Archie comic artist and writer Dan Parent has said.
Parent, who was in the national capital participating inthe seventh Delhi Comic Con, said although it was a bad phasefor the country, they could "deal with him".
"Unfortunately we are going through a bad phase rightnow, hopefully it will end soon. But our country is strong, wecan deal with him. But in the meantime we are kind of stuckwith him and he is a challenge," he told PTI.
Talking about the Trump's way of doing politics andhandling the government, he said the president does things onecould not imagine, owing to which comedians were "having agood time".
"He is in news everyday. And he does things you can'tbelieve he is doing. Comedians on TV are having a great timebecause of Trump, and certainly, he has kind of woken up thecountry.
"When we had Obama, we were comfortable as he was a goodleader. He did things we took for granted. When things likethese happen, you just wake up," he said.
The artist, known for creating the first gay character,Kevin Keller, in Archie comics, attended the three-day comicfest and interacted with fans.
It was the decision of the publication company to take astep into the 21st century with a new character that gavebirth to Kevin Keller.
"We were discussing why Archie is still set in the 60sand had so many old characters. So we decided to bring in anew character...a gay character. We couldn't think of a reasonnot to do it. We introduced Kevin and the response was great.
"The fans took to him right away. Conservative groupskind of criticised it, but they don't really buy our books soit didn't matter what they thought," he said.
Kevin Keller, who first appeared in Archie Comics in2010, has remained a fan favorite with a following in India aswell.
"The response for Kevin in India has been good. I havedone so many Kevin sketches here. Never had any issues here,"Parent said.
The 53-year-old artist, who grew up reading DC Comics,still chooses DC over Marvel comics.
"The big three of DC- Superman, Batman and Wonder Womanhave always been my favorites. I always followed 'JusticeLeague' but my favorite was 'The Legion of Super-heroes' whenI was growing up," he said.
With Jughead and Veronica as his two favorite charactersfrom the Archie Comics, he also confessed to not finding timeto read other comics.
"I have a pile of comic books on my bedside, but youcan't find time when you are sketching for 18 hours a day. InIndian comic book scene, I have liked what I have seen so far.
I hope to find enough time some day to read them as well," hesaid.
About the future of the Riverdale-based comic characters,he feels confident and right on path with a few more TV showsto begin soon.
"Riverdale TV show is doing great, we are also planninganother show on Sabrina. They are developing another show.
There is an animation in the works but it will be more classicArchie. And with the comic books, we will keep putting out theclassic Archie and new stuff for newer generations," he said.
PTI MAHTRS.
This is unedited, unformatted feed from the Press Trust of India wire.