The first installment in a story teaming up Archie and his Riverdale pals with the legendary band KISS was released yesterday from Archie Comics. To celebrate the event, KISS co-founders Gene Simmons and Paul Stanley were joined by Archie’s writer Alex Segura and artist Dan Parent for a signing last night at Golden Apple Comics in LA.

Jaded comics readers were quick to deride the idea of an Archie/KISS team-up when it was first announced over the summer, but it’s actually not only picking up on several traditions but it’s just plain smart marketing. KISS has a long history with comics, going back to their 1977 special published by Marvel Comics and printed with their own blood mixed with red ink. KISS also has extremely loyal and enthusiastic fans, and a number of those fans are passing their love for the band down to their kids, and they will gladly check out whatever the band produces. The crossover is also reminiscent of the bizarre meeting of Archie and Marvel’s gun-toting vigilante, the Punisher.

I checked out the signing at Golden Apple last night. The first one hundred to show up at 10 am were given wristbands to stand in line for the signing. And the fans definitely turned out. The store had the line weaving around the store and out the front door. The other rule was that they would only be signing the comic (so no signing records, etc.). With 100 people and only an hour to sign, some pressure was on, but Simmons and Stanley treated their fans great. They also reminded them of who actually made the comic, frequently directing attention to Segura and Parent. Simmons in particular is a definite comics fan with extensive knowledge of who worked on what going back to the ’50s and ’60s. And unlike some celebrity-related comics, he was very hands-on in the approval process. Having a rock ‘n’ roll star direct focus to the art form is nothing but good news in my book. How many other comic book signings does the LA Weekly cover? Sure, the only reason they were there was because Gene Simmons was in town. But it still resulted in the LA Weekly photographer enthusiastically getting shots of Segura and Parent in front of big Archie Comics banners, and the LA Weekly reporter taking pains to get it right of which one did “the words” and which one did the art.

Is it the biggest victory ever in getting the act of reading comics back in the consciousness of America? No, but how many other comics are reaching out to glam and heavy metal fans who otherwise maybe wouldn’t buy a comic? A great reminder that almost every demographic not reading comics now is worth pursuing.