In the foreword of DC Pride 2023 Phil Jimenez shares an anecdote in which he recounts Kelly Sue DeConnick suggesting that “being queer was a refusal to be small when so many in the world demand that of us” and if there is one thing that this year’s installment of the DC Pride anthology is doing it is refusing to be small. For the third year in a row, DC has celebrated Pride Month with an oversize one-shot that puts its LGBTQ+ characters front and center. And, in addition to the issue once again being packed with solid stories and art that put the characters first in an authentic and humanizing way, it’s an issue that feels timelier and more necessary than ever.
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It’s that balance of the timely and the authentic that makes this quite possibly the strongest installment in the DC Pride anthologies yet. While this year’s issue leans a bit more on some of the older and more obscure characters in DC’s deep roster, the range of what it means to be queer is represented better than ever before. The issue opens up with what might be one of the strongest love stories, “Love’s Lightening Heart: A Multiversity Story” with Grant Morrison taking readers to Earth-36 where Flashlight goes on a truly epic and heartbreaking quest to bring back the man he loves, Red Racer, despite the odds and time itself racing against him. The message of being willing to do anything and everything for the one you love is so relatable no matter who you love, a universal message that grief and hope are multiversal emotions.
Another standout story is one that is less about being queer and more about the importance of being a good friend and a foundation of support. Nadia Shammas and Bruka Jones revisits Tim Drake’s coming out in “Hey, Stranger” by having him reunite with Connor Hawke and have the two friends discuss their lives and what being queer looks like for them – Tim having openly come out as bisexual and Connor still struggling with how to broach his asexuality with his father. Christopher Cantwell’s “My Best Bet” is very much in a similar vein in that it’s simply two queer characters—in this case Jon Kent and John Constantine—working together. Their queerness is not the driving force. It’s instead just an aspect, not the focus.
And that subtle nuance is important. With nearly 400 anti-LGBTQ bills introduced in various state legislatures this year, so much of our media and culture is focused on the outlawing and definition of queer identity and queerness; this is often to the exclusion of our humanity and lived experiences. DC Pride 2023 doesn’t shy away from that struggle – there are stories in the issue that touch on public perception and the enduring challenges faced by the LGBTQ+ community. But the issue, through good and well-crafted stories and art instead holds up a mirror that insists the reader look and see themselves in each and every one of these characters, compounding with each page that nothing and no one is small.
In a world of superficial corporate allyship and increasing threats to our freedom to exist authentically, DC Pride 2023 delivers a thoughtful, well-crafted piece of art that functions as a celebration, a statement, and a reminder that these characters, these creators, these stories, and indeed people of all identities deserve to hold their own space in our community. It’s a volume that delivers on every level and has something to offer for everyone, regardless of who they are or where they come from.
Published by DC Comics
On May 30, 2023
Written by Grant Morrison, Jeremy Holt, Leah Williams, Mildred Louis, Nadia Shammas, Rex Ogle, Christopher Cantwell, A.I. Kaplan, Josh Trujillo, Nicole Maines
Art by Hayden Sherman, Andrew Drilon, Paulina Ganucheau, Mildred Louis, Stephen Sadowski, Bruka Jones, Skylar Patridge, A.I. Kaplan, Don Aguillo, Rye Hickman
Colors by Bex Glendining, Dearbhla Kelly, Tamra Bonvillain, Enrica Eren Angiolini, Marissa Louise
Letters by Aditya Bidikar, Lucas Gattoni, Ariana Maher, Frank Cvetkovic, Morgan Martinez, Rusty Gladd
Cover by Mateus Manhanini
