DC has announced their plans for Pride Month this year, which include their annual DC Pride anthology, a character encyclopedia, a reprint of out-of-print stories and more.
DC has been releasing the Pride special for three years now, and the theme for this year is team-ups. Here’s a list of the creators and characters you cna expect to find in this year’s anthology, which includes a new Multiversity story by Grant Morrison and Hayden Sherman:
- Tim Drake and Connor Hawke by Nadia Shammas and Bruka Jones
- Circuit Breaker and the Flash of Earth-11 by A.L. Kaplan
- Midnighter, Apollo and Alan Scott Green Lantern by Josh Trujillo and Don Aguillo
- Ghost-Maker and Catman vs. Cannon and Saber by Rex Ogle and Stephen Sadowski
- Jon Kent and John Constantine by Christopher Cantwell and Skylar Patridge
- Natasha Irons and Nubia by Mildred Louis
- Harley Quinn, Poison Ivy, and Crush by Leah Williams and Paulina Ganucheau
- The Multiversity by Grant Morrison and Hayden Sherman
Mateus Manhanini provides this year’s cover:
Here’s a little more about each story:
Harley Quinn and Poison Ivy go to extreme measures to get a little alone time…but there’s nowhere on the planet Crush can’t crash. Jon Kent gets a comprehensive course in dark magic when John Constantine sics a golem on him. Tim Drake and Connor Hawke learn that there is nothing more awkward than reuniting with an old friend after you’ve both come out and one of you was indoctrinated by the League of Shadows for a while. Circuit Breaker struggles to stifle his powers after the Flash of Earth-11 leaps out of the time stream and knocks them both into another dimension. Just how far would Flashlight go to honor his lost love? Discover all these stories and many more in DC Pride 2023!
Flashlight is the Green Lantern equivalent from Earth-36, who I’m guessing will appear in Morrison and Sherman’s The Multiversity story.
The 104-page prestige-format comic will feature an introduction by Phil Jimenez, a five-page preview of an upcoming Dreamer story by Nicole Maines and Rye Hickman, and pinups by Maria Llovet, Ro Stein and Ted Brandt, Travis Moore, Noah Dao, Claire Roe, Babs Tarr and more. It will arrive in stores May 30. Gabriel Picolo, Jen Bartel and Oscar Vega provide the variant covers:
Also coming in May — May 16 to be exact — is The DC Book of Pride, a collaboration between DK and Warner Bros. Discovery Global Consumer Products.
The illustrated hardcover will include profiles of more than 50 LGBTQIA+ characters in detail, including Harley Quinn, Jon Kent, Nubia, Tim Drake, Batwoman, Aquaman, Dreamer, new character Circuit Breaker and many more. It’s authored by Galaxy: The Prettiest Star and upcoming Hawkgirl writer Jadzia Axelrod, with interior artwork and a cover by illustrator Paulina Ganucheau.
Here’s a look at some of the profiles:
Coming in June is DC Pride: Through the Years #1, a collection of four stories — three out-of-print stories, plus a new Alan Scott story:
The 80-page collection features a cover by Derek Charm and contains reprints of The Flash #53 by William Messner-Loebs and Greg LaRocque, in which villain turned hero Pied Piper comes out to his friend the Flash; Detective Comics #854 by Greg Rucka and J.H. Williams, featuring the beginning of Batwoman’s first solo series; and Supergirl #19 by Steve Orlando, Vita Ayala and Jamal Campbell, which tells the story of Lee Serrano, a nonbinary teenager who befriends the Girl of Steel. It also includes an all-new story by Tim Sheridan and Cian Tormey featuring Alan Scott as Green Lantern, “teasing exciting new stories that will light the way for Alan’s next great adventure.”
Finally, how about some variant covers? In June, DC will highlight Pride-themed variant covers on series that feature queer characters in regular roles, including Steelworks #1 (Joshua “Sway” Swaby), Spirit World #2 (Jessica Fong), Green Arrow #3 (Luciano Vecchio), Adventures of Superman: Jon Kent #4 (Stephen Byrne), Superman #5 (W. Scott Forbes), Batman Incorporated #9 (Rosi Kämpe), Tim Drake: Robin #10 (Travis Moore), Poison Ivy #13 and Harley Quinn #31 (connecting covers by Claire Roe), Nightwing #105 (Yoshi Yoshitani), Wonder Woman #800 (Ted Brandt and Ro Stein) and Detective Comics #1073 (Amy Reeder).
Here’s a look at some of them:
In addition to the above, DC also highlighted several collections coming out in the months ahead, including a hardcover of last year’s DC Pride anthology and a reprint of the Doom Patrol by Rachel Pollack Omnibus hardcover:
- DC Pride: The New Generation hardcover (5/23)
- Doom Patrol by Rachel Pollack Omnibus hardcover (3/14)—second printing
- Harley Quinn Vol. 3: Verdict hardcover (3/21)
- Multiversity: Teen Justice trade paperback (3/21)
- Poison Ivy Vol. 1: The Virtuous Cycle hardcover (5/16)
- The Authority Book One trade paperback (4/25)—2023 edition
- Superman: Son of Kal-El Vol. 3: Battle for Gamorra hardcover (5/9)
- Wonder Woman Historia: The Amazons hardcover (6/6)
Let me guess Joker’s not in the Pride book? Even though Neal Adams said way back in the 70’s that Joker was gay. Which he suffered for because, artist and writers made Joker have all the negative gay stereotypes but, now that it’s acceptable the Joker can’t be a part of Pride because, he’s “evil” but, female villains can be gay because, they’re “Hot” and sell comics.