Some thoughts about DC Pride #1

Is time to celebrate one of the happies times of the year.

Several people, several heroes are reunited to show their pride to their world and their stories are bound to converge with one another.

This is actually a pretty important release. Finally the LGBTQ segment of the DCU get their own special, is not like they have been devoid of the spotlight considering there have been quite a few Batwoman and Midnighter series over the years but this issue is heavily focused on their Queer aspect and quite a few appropriate writers handle it. Just from the introduction appropriately written by Marc Andreyko (one of the first Gay writers at DC), we see how much respect they have paid to this special.

James Tynion IV opens with a story about Batwoman and yes, while I'm not really a fan of Tynion nor his take on Batwoman (and I think there were more fitting writers out there), I think he does a decent job here with the plot being all-around Kate's sexuality and her relationship with her sister Beth/Alice. Trung Le Nguyen's pencils are pretty unique and makes the story look like an old fairy tale which is adequate.

Steve Orlando with a story about Constantine and Extraño talking about how much of a badass Midnighter is which is so spot-on, especially considering Orlando's history with the Batman analogue and he does a pretty fun job. Stephen Byrne's semi-cartoony style is always pleasent to see.

The Question/Renee Montoya gets a segment written by Vita Ayala showcasing a fun dynamic with a possible new love interest and is all pretty entertaining overall and makes me realize how much I miss Renee (when she's not being an asshole). Skylar Patridge's more serious and detailed pencils are perfect for the tone of the plot.

Poison Ivy and Harley Quinn get the spotlight too by Mariko Tamaki which is all about finally admitting their relationship instead of going all: "Are they or are they not?" which is pretty great after their last dull miniseries that practically tried to erase their love and Tamaki does an okay job but it makes me realize that funny dialogue is not one of her strengths. Amy Reeder's flexible and cartoony artwork is quite good.

Sam Johns brings a tale about the recently out of the closet Alan Scott and his son Obsidian. The dialogue is a bit on the nose and I don't really like the idea of Alan lying about his sexuality to the women he was with but eh, I think this is a passable segment. Klaus Janson's pencils are pretty expressive.

The Future State Flash also gets a story handled by Danny Lore and is all about the history of the Flash and the non-Binary nature of the protagonist, all in good fun. Lisa Sterle's artwork is pretty solid with beautiful characters.

It was a pleasent surprise to see Pied Piper of all characters here and Sina Grace does a good job at creating a story about him saving his neighborhood from a bigoted landlord. Ro Stein and Ted Brandt's pencils are decent overall, following the script clearly.

Nicole Maines offers a segment about Dreamer dealing with criminals before her big date with Brainiac 5 and is fine but not particularly engaging. Rachael Stott's pencils are pretty pleasent to look at though.

Finally Andrew Wheeler offers a story with Aqualad as the protagonist but where pretty much every Queer character in the DCU stars and it was good to see people like Bunker although I wish he would have gotten his own story too. Luciano Vecchio's art is pretty vibrant and colorful.

A really entertaining read as a whole, good way to start this celebration.