DC has made some big strides towards queer representation over the last few years, giving readers more and more LGBTQ+ characters from across the community. Now the company has come to a point where they have more queer characters than they can fit into a single Pride special; something I never thought I'd see as a young queer comic reader. This year the company has chosen several characters to showcase in DC Pride 2022.
The first story, 'Super Pride' is written by Devin Grayson and has art by Nick Robles and Tronia Farrell. The story begins with Damian Wayne tacking down a gang of criminals, but getting annoyed when his best friend, Jonathan Kent, arrives on the scene to help. But, Superman isn't just here to help out the boy wonder, as the two of them have plans; Damian is joining Jonathan for Pride. Honestly, seeing Damian preparing for Pride by making sure his has his riot gear was genuinely laugh out loud funny for me; especially when Damian points out that the first Pride was a fight for freedom, not just a celebration. Even when they do attend the celebration he's unable to completely switch off, and is worried about all the places where the parade could be attacked from; he's definitely his father's son.
What is the best about this story though is Jonathan, and how he worries about being at the event as Superman. He planned to attend with his boyfriend, Jay, but in his civilian identity. He worries about if him being there as Superman might send the wrong message to some people, and even says he's not sure how his dad would feel about it. To which Damian tells him he'd love it, because it would be him being true to himself. It's a touching moment, made even better when Jay gifts him a new cape lined with multiple pride flags. I know it would be a pain for artists to draw on a regular basis, but I really want Jonathan to keep that cape full time. This is a great story to start the issue out on, a celebration about being yourself, about showing the world who you are, and of having your friends and loved ones supporting you doing it.
The second story is 'Confessions', written by Stephanie Williams, with art by Meghan Hetrick and Marissa Louise. This story focuses on Nubia, queen of the Amazons. Here she's relaxing at home with her lover, Io, who is reminiscing about the first time the two of them kissed, after Io repaired Nubia's broken sword. Nubia makes a confession to Io though, that she didn't break her sword battling a monster, and instead reveals to her a story of how she ended up meeting Big Barda, and was roped into helping some women in need. Though she helped them by raising money as part of the Babes of Bodyslam charity wresting match.
It's kind of delightful to see a character like Nubia in a situation like this, completely out of her element, and doing things that you wouldn't expect her to be doing. The fact that she's just chilling with these other wrestlers, a mixture of female heroes and villains, is lovely to see too, and shows a side of the character that I've not really seen much of. The artwork for the flashback is great too, as it takes on the look of much older comic, and feels like it could have been lifted from the 80's. Whilst this story doesn't touch upon queer themes too much, it's a lovely story of women coming together, supporting each other, and doing some good in a different way.
'Think of Me', written and drawn by Ro Stein and Ted Brandt might be the story that people are most excited for in this issue, because it's not just featuring a queer character, but it features their coming out. This story sees Connor Hawke foiling Music Meister's plan to steal a priceless chandelier from a new production of Phantom of the Opera. The story is narrated by a letter that Connor is writing to his mother, where he talks about his recent experiences in Robin, and his history with his father. One of the things that he brings up is how Ollie would always try to encourage him to bring dates to events that they were attending, and how Connor never felt completely comfortable with this. In his letter he admits to his mother that he's asexual, and that he's proud of who he is.
Connor's asexuality has been something that fans have been predicting for a while now, with it being a popular theory around the character. But this is the first time that it's ever been expressly confirmed on the page. This is Connor coming out. The story is written really well, and the way that he expresses himself in his letter to his mother, explaining how he feels, and how he's fine with his identity is lovely. With asexuality still often being so overlooked, and even mocked, even inside the LGBTQ+ community it's great to see an ace character being given a spotlight here, and that they're shown to be truly happy with who they are. As someone who's been reading Robin I'm looking forward to seeing more of Connor, and hope that we see more of him being happy in his life.
'Up At Bat', written by Jadzia Axelrod, with art by Lynne Yoshii and Tamra Bonvillian, features Alysia Yeoh, who's been attending a trans wellness convention in Gotham City. Leaving the conference, she's approached by a bleeding and wounded Batgril, who asks her for her help. Alysia helps Barbara back to the clock-tower, and helps to fix up her wounded leg, however, it appears that there was a tracker in the dart that was stuck inside Barbara, and it's led Killer Moth right to them. In order to protect herself, and the wounded hero, Alysia grabs her trans flag pained bat, dons a Batgirl jacket, and takes on the villain.
I honestly don't think that we get enough of Alysia in the DC books, and loved seeing her come back for this special. I also appreciated that Jadzia Axelrod doesn't shy away from certain aspects of the trans experience in this story, with Alysia telling the audience that states still don't recognise certain genders, that trans adoption is near impossible, and violence against trans people is on sharp rise. It would have been easy to ignore that, to just tell a fun story, but Axelrod injected some reality into the tale, which was very much appreciated. However, I absolutely loved getting to see Alysia getting to step into an action role, and with her getting to keep her Batgirl jacket I'm really hoping that this could be the start of something here. We've already got multiple Batgirls, so why not let Alysia be one too? A trans Batgirl would be amazing, would be incredibly inclusive towards trans women, and is something that I really, really want to happen.
'A World Kept Just For Me' by Alyssa Wong, with art by W. Scott Forbes, focuses on Aquaman Jackson Hyde as he goes on a date with Ha'wea. Ha'wea takes Jackson to meet his family, where they share a dinner with them and Jackson gets to see the home Ha'wea grew up in; and in return, Jackson agrees to show Ha'wea where he grew up. But instead of taking him to Amnesty Bay, the two of them drive out into the New Mexico desert, where Jackson shares some of his past.
This story was really sweet, and it was lovely to see these two characters finding their feet around each other. Neither seemed really comfortable, or sure about what to do, and it very much felt like two people in the early stages of a relationship trying to find the best ways to communicate and share with each other. The artwork on this story is also absolutely gorgeous, and the under water scenes look phenomenal.
The next story is 'A Gumshoe In Green', and sees the Green Lantern Jo Mullein returning to The City Enduring after some time away. The folks in the city, the three races, have recently gained emotion, and the place is something of a new city, where folks are learning things anew and finding their place in the world. Jo is approached by a woman who thinks that her husband has been cheating on her, and asks her to find out information. The case feels a little strange to Jo, and it doesn't quite fit the usual affair pattern. Upon confronting the two of them it appears it was all a game by them, and they're hoping to rope Jo into bed with them because they assume she'd be up for that because she's bisexual.
I'm sure pretty much every person who has ever come out has experienced some kind of comment where people express the opinion that you must want to sleep with them. If you come out as gay or lesbian there's a change one of your straight friends will make a comment along the lines of 'you better not come on to me' or something that implies you must find them attractive because you're gay. And being bisexual, or pansexual, seems to lead people to the conclusion that if you're able to be attracted to anyone, you must be attracted to everyone, and always wanting sex. I really don't blame Jo for getting as angry as she does in this issue, because I think we've all been there. It's a part of the queer experience that doesn't often get shared in media, so seeing it here was great. The story also just looked fantastic too thanks to the black and white art, with the only colour being green.
'Public Displays of Electromagnetism' by Greg Lockard, with art by Giulio Macaione uses the hero The Ray and his boyfriend to talk about a topic that again, doesn't come up much, public displays of affection in queer relationships. In the story Ray pulls away from Xenos, his partner, when he tries to be affectionate towards him in the Justice League headquarters. It takes Ray some time to figure out why he did that, why he pushed his partner away, and to come to terms with what they means, before the two of them eventually make up.
Being in a visibly queer relationship can be scary a lot of the time. You never know what could happen to you when you do something as simple and innocent as holding your partners hand. Will you get shouted at, will you get physically assaulted, will you get killed? Not being able to show your love to someone can be hard, it can get in your head, and it can lead you to feeling nervous about doing so even in a safe environment, just like in this story. It's easy to be made to feel that feeling love for someone is wrong, and to try and hide that part of yourself from the world. But this story shows that you shouldn't listen to those voices, and that queer love has as much a right to exist as straight love.
The next story, 'Bat's in the Cradle' by Stephanie Phillips, with art by Samantha Dodge and Marissa Louise, is one of the shortest in the book, but is incredibly sweet. It's narrated from the point of view of Batwoman's father, Jacob Caine, as he's kidnapped and tied up. Thankfully, his daughter isn't too far behind to help him out. As Kate rescues him, Jacob thinks about his life as her father, his role in her life, and how it's his job to be there for her, support her, and how that ultimately made him a better version of himself.
There's not a huge amount to this story thanks to the short length, but the sentiment it has is wonderful. The flashback to when Kate revealed to her father that she was thrown out of the military for being gay, but he stands by her and hugs her is a wonderful moment, one that shows what a parent is supposed to do in such a moment.
'Special Delivery', written by Travis G. Moore with art by Enrica Erin Angiolini, follows Tim Drake as he desperately tries to get across town to see his boyfriend, keeping a parcel safe from a duo of super villains along the way. As he goes we get narration of Tim talking to Bernard about how flaky he is, how he's always late and can never tell him why, yet has loved his time with him. He talks about finding his feet as someone newly coming to terms with his new sexuality, and how spending time with Bernard has helped him with that.
It's very sweet to read this story. I've always had a soft spot for Tim, as he was the Robin I grew up reading, and seeing him finding some happiness with Bernard, and working through those nervous, scary stages of coming out where it's still new to you, is kind of delightful. Tim has had a lot of awful things happen to him over the years, so getting to see him finding small moments of happiness in simple things like going to the beach or the fun fair with his boyfriend is just delightful.
'The Hunt' by Dani Fernandez, with art by Zoe Thorogood and Jeremy Lawson, tells the story of Harley Quinn and Poison Ivy as they play a game for a date night, where they try and hunt each other through the woods using silly traps. Along the way, however, each of them encounters a strange, darker version of the other. This other version treats them coldly, going out of their way to hurt the other, to mock them and make them feel awful. It's when each of them, separate from the other, expresses their love for the other that they're able to overcome these entities. The power of their love saves the day.
This was a lovely story to read, and Harley and Ivy are probably the best known queer characters in this book, with their love story being one that even casual fans will be aware of. It's great to see them having fun together in ways only these two could, even if that does end up being hijacked by this strange entity. The artwork for this story also looks great, with a very muted and simple colour pallet and design that isn't too bold or in-your-face. The art really helps to tell the story too, and there are some creepy moments in there too.
The next story, 'Are You Read For This', written by Danny Lore and Ivan Cohen, with art by Brittney Williams and Enrica Erin Angiolini, introduces readers to not just some new queer heroes, but a whole new universe too. Set on Earth-11, this story introduces us to Kid Quick, the non-binary speedster who has to stop a gang of villains from stealing some important items from a Pride float. Luckily, Kid Quick has some help from Teen Justice, this world's group of young heroes.
This story is a fun introduction to these characters, and they get to return in their own comic that's also out this week. Multiverse stories are always a good bit of fun, giving us the opportunity to see weird versions of characters that we're already familiar with, and this story if no exception. It seems like a decent, entertaining group of characters, and this story definitely has me open to reading more about them.
The final story in the book doesn't deal with a DC character, but a real person who is a big part of the DC Universe. 'Finding Batman' is an autobiographical story written by Kevin Conroy, who is for many the definitive Batman. The story also features art by J.Bone. In this story Kevin gives readers an honest account of his experiences of being a young gay actor, of the abuse he received from people in the industry. He tells about the jobs he lost for being gay, he talks about seeing friends dying from Aids, he tell readers about watching his father in hospital, and dealing with his brothers deteriorating mental health issues.
All of these experiences played a part towards Kevin finding what he needed to play Batman. He understood living a double life, about hiding huge parts of yourself. He understood the pain of watching people you know suffering, dying. And he channelled that into being Batman. He used those experiences to find Batman. It's an incredibly touching and emotional tale, one that I think will surprise many people. I still see people even now discovering that Kevin is gay, having never known that about him, but I think even those who do know don't really understand that things that he went through because of that; and this story gives us some insight into that. 'Finding Batman' felt like a cold, hard slap in the face after the fun of the rest of the book, but it also felt like the perfect way to end things. Pride is a celebration of how far we've all come, but it also needs to be a reminder of what, and who, we've lost too, and how we still need to fight to keep what we have because the world can be a cold, awful place towards the queer community.
DC Pride 2022 is a book with a lot of different character, different identities, and different experiences. It tells a lot of different stories, all of them with something to say about the queer experience. With so many laws and legislation being passed to target the queer community, with hate crime and violence against queer folks on the rise, and with so much hate being spewed good, decent representation for your community is needed right now, and this book gives us that.
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