Tag: Pride Month

Marvel’s 2024 Pride Month plans received internal criticism

An article in the Advocate quotes a Marvel employee who thought Marvel’s ‘ally’ covers were a ‘prank.’

Marvel’s approach to Pride Month this year received not only external criticism but also concern from their own employees, as an Advocate article revealed last week. An anonymous Marvel employee spoke to the publication about their reaction to an internal email about Marvel’s “ally” variant covers, which many have said put the spotlight on non-LGBTQ+ characters during a month aimed to spotlight and celebrate the LGBTQ+ community. “I thought, ‘they’re really erasing us,’” the employee told the publication.

What was different about Marvel’s approach this year? First, they opted not to call this year’s Pride special a Pride special. The Marvel’s Voices: Pride anthology, as they’ve called it in years past, was replaced with X-Men: The Wedding Special — which featured the wedding of Mystique and Destiny, the first time a wedding between two women was shown in a Marvel comic. The comic also featured additional stories that tied into the main story, by creators like Yoon Ha Lee, a trans science fiction author, and M. Louis, creator of the webcomic Agents of the Realm. While it served a similar function, showcasing stories about LGBTQ+ characters, it did so without the word “Pride” in the title (although it did sport an emblem on the cover that noted it was “A Very Special Edition of Marvel Voices: Pride.”)

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Slugfest | Black Widow gets ‘Venomous’ in a new one-shot

Plus news and announcements on Hellverine, Misty, Nick Cagnetti, Paul Pope, Blood Hunt, Briar, Joy Operations and more!

Slugfest is a roundup of cool announcements about projects coming to a shelf near you that we haven’t otherwise covered. Hit the links for more information.

If you’ve been reading Venom of late, you know that the Black Widow — who already has a cool spider name — has gone and gotten herself a symbiote. This summer, writer Erica Schultz and artist Luciano Vecchio will “unleash Natasha Romanoff’s full potential as a symbiote warrior” in a new one-shot.

Black Widow: Venomous will not only show the super-spy figuring out how to work with her new partner, but will also set the stage for the upcoming Venom War event.

“Who doesn’t want to write Natasha Romanoff? And with a badass symbiote, it didn’t take much to convince me,” Schultz said. “Luciano Vecchio’s art is so amazing. It’s been so fun to delve into Nat’s spy craft techniques, and you just may learn something new about her.”

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DC announces their plans for Pride Month 2024

The DC Pride anthology returns, along with a tribute book to Rachel Pollack, new YA graphic novels and more.

DC has announced their plans for Pride Month in June, the annual commemoration and celebration of the LGBTQIA+ community. This year will include their annual anthology DC Pride 2024, as well as two YA graphic novels and a tribute to the late Rachel Pollack.

DC has been releasing the Pride special for four years now, and the theme for this year seems to be “Journeys and Destinations,” whether we’re talking Metropolis, Gotham, the Fourth World or “the farthest edges of the DC Multiverse.” DC’s announcement spotlights five different books that’ll arrive between now and September, along with a series of Pride-themed variant covers

Read more about them below …

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Slugfest | BOOM! offers a limited ‘Fence: Redemption’ cover for Pride Month

Plus: Updates on ‘Norse Mythology,’ Ms. Marvel, Bone Orchard Mythos, ‘The Asiri’ and more.

Slugfest is a roundup of cool announcements about projects coming to a shelf near you. Hit the links for more information.

BOOM! Studios will sell a Pride Month charity cover for Fence: Redemption #1 this month on their webstore, featuring artwork by LySandra Vuong.

The cover is limited to 750 copies, and all proceeds from it will be donated to The Trevor Project.

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Here’s a look at the new characters debuting in ‘Marvel’s Voices: Pride’

Nightshade, Muzzle, Dark X-Men and more will appear in this year’s special.

As previously mentioned, this year’s Marvel’s Voices: Pride special will continue the tradition set by previous volumes and introduce new characters — specifically a new symbiote, a new Nightshade and a third character with a “fascinating” origin.

In the past, Marvel has used the Pride special introduced characters like Escapade and Somnus, two characters who have since appeared in Marauders and New Mutants. So there’s no telling where this year’s debuting characters could pop up next.

Here’s a look at each of them, plus some additional previews from the issue:

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DC’s 2023 Pride plans include a new anthology, ‘The DC Book of Pride’ and more

This year’s DC Pride anthology focuses on team-ups and also includes a new Grant Morrison/Hayden Sherman story.

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:

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Poison Ivy, Tim Drake + more headline DC’s Pride Month titles

DC announces a wave of new titles, reprints and variant covers that will arrive in June featuring LGBTQ+ characters and creators.

DC has announced new projects that will debut in June as a part of Pride Month, including another Pride anthology, a Poison Ivy miniseries, another miniseries featuring Nubia, lots of variant covers and more.

In addition, DC will release Galaxy: The Prettiest Star by writer Jadzia Axelrod and artist Jess Taylor in May, which is a young adult graphic novel about a new character — an alien princess disguised as a human boy. DC will release a preview of the title as part of their 2022 Free Comic Book Day offerings.

Here’s a rundown of what to expect in June:

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Comics Lowdown | A Charlie Hebdo survivor speaks

Plus: Lost Charles Schulz comics emerge, new graphic novel from Nnedi Okorafor and Tana Ford, and more!

The New York Times profiles cartoonist Corinne Rey, who was working in the offices of the French satirical weekly Charlie Hebdo on January 7, 2015, the day that two masked gunmen massacred the staff; Rey, who uses the pseudonym Coco, was just leaving the offices of Charlie Hebdo when two masked gunmen arrived and forced her to unlock the door. Her new graphic novel, To Draw Again, recently published in France, depicts that moment and its aftermath. Rey is now the resident cartoonist at the newspaper Libération, the first woman to hold that post.

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Mail Call | ‘That Texas Blood’ returns with a new story arc in June

Today’s round-up includes announcements and previews from Marvel, DC, Skybound, Image, Dark Horse and more.

Mail Call is a roundup of the announcements we’ve received from comics publishers in our mailboxes recently that we haven’t already covered. Hit the links for more information.

That Texas Blood, the excellent small-town noir series by Chris Condon and Jacob Phillips, returns next month from Image Comics with a new story arc that delves into Ambrose County’s past, “blowing off some of that desert dust and seeing what lurks beneath,” Phillips said.

That Texas Blood #7 will arrive in comic shops on June 30.

“Returning to Ambrose County and these characters is like going home in many ways. They feel like old friends more than old creations and none more so than Sheriff Joe Bob Coates. I’m beyond excited to explore a bit of Joe’s past in this next story arc as we travel back in time to 1981. We’ll see new places, meet new people, and explore ideas we haven’t before. I’ve always believed that the beginning years of any decade are the hangover of the previous one, and I am absolutely thrilled that we are allowed to dissect this over the next six issues with our merry band of Ambrose Countians,” said Condon. “But don’t be fooled, we aren’t viewing the past through rose-colored glasses. I’ve said before that Texas is America’s mystical land, but every fantasy world has a minotaur lurking in the dark or a dragon breathing through smoking nostrils over armor-clad corpses. Our Texas is no different. The shadows there stretch to the horizon, devouring all light. But there are some who see the darkness and strike a match to light the way. I hope that you’ll join us on our trip down Highway 90, into the heart of Ambrose County and into the dark depths of the past. But don’t you fret, we’re not out of matches yet.”

Check out the first issue’s covers:

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Marvel will debut the new character Somnus in ‘Marvel’s Voices: Pride’

Steve Orlando, Claudia Aguirre and Luciano Vecchio bring the new character to life.

The Marvel’s Voice: Pride anthology arrives in June, and when it does, it will bring the debut of a new character — Somnus, who will appear in a story written by Steve Orlando and drawn by Claudia Aguirre.

“Somnus, Carl Valentino, is inspired not only by my own family history, but by my experiences with past generations of LGBTQ+ folks from across the country, people I wouldn’t have met without comics,” Orlando said. “While there is still plenty of work to do, we’ve also come a long way as a community. Somnus is a chance to explore how my own late queer relatives may have felt, living in more prejudiced times. He’s also a chance to celebrate past generations as a whole and acknowledge the strides we’ve made that they may not have lived to see.”

The character was designed by artist Luciano Vecchio, who also provides a variant cover featuring Somnus:

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Mail Call | New release dates for the Milestone revival

Catch up on news and announcements from Dark Horse, Vault Comics, DC, Z2 and more.

Mail Call is a roundup of the announcements we’ve received from comics publishers in our mailboxes recently that we haven’t already covered. Hit the links for more information.

DC Comics has modified their plans for the upcoming Milestone Media relaunch. The three launch titles — Static, Icon and Rocket, and Hardware — will no longer arrive digitally before they come out in print. Instead, they’ll be released in both formats on the same day, as well as on DC Universe Infinite. Both Static and Icon and Rocket will come out later, but Hardware will be published earlier than originally announced. The new dates (and creative teams for each title) are:

  • Static: Season One, written by Vita Ayala, with layouts by CHRISCROSS, finishes by Nikolas Draper-Ivey with covers by Khary Randolph launches in print and digital on June 15.
  • Icon and Rocket: Season One, co-written by Reggie Hudlin and Leon Chills, with art by Doug Braithwaite and covers by Taurin Clarke launches in print and digital on July 27.
  • Hardware: Season One, written by Brandon Thomas, with art by Denys Cowan and Bill Sienkiewicz with covers by Mateus Mahanini, launches in print and digital on August 10.
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Marvel announces ‘Marvel’s Voices: Pride’ #1

The anthology will feature new stories by Kieron Gillen, Olivier Coipel, Steve Orlando, Anthony Oliveira, Tini Howard, Vita Ayala, Kris Anka, Javier Garrón and more.

Marvel has announced their plans for Pride Month, which include a new issue of their Marvel Voices featuring their “first-ever queer-centered special spotlighting Marvel’s growing tapestry of LGBTQ+ characters.” They also plan to have a series of variant covers drawn by Phil Jimenez.

Contributors to the anthology issue include Allan Heinberg, Jim Cheung, Kieron Gillen, Olivier Coipel, Steve Orlando, Anthony Oliveira, Tini Howard, Vita Ayala, Kris Anka, Javier Garrón and Luciano Vecchio, who provides the issue’s cover.

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