DC has unveiled its line up of Pride titles for 2024, including the latest edition of its annual anthology, a new special celebrating the work of Rachael Pollack, several original graphic novels, and much more besides. There's an absolute ton of stuff here, so let's get right into it...
The main event
Kicking things off is DC Pride 2024 #1, this year's edition of the celebratory annual that focusses on LGBTQIA+ characters. The 104-page prestige format comic includes a wealth of new stories from a range of creators, headlined by an autobiographical story written by Phil Jimenez "about the fantastical worlds that shaped him," and drawn by artist Giulio Macaione.
The other stories in the issue include:
- Dreamer traveling to her ancestral planet Naltor for the first time, in a story by Nicole Maines and Jordan Gibson
- A Poison Ivy story by Gretchen Felker-Martin and Claire Roe, which sees Ivy and Janet from HR traveling to Portworld
- Superman Jon Kent gets together with Jay, Bunker, and the Ray for a boys' night out in A-Town, in a story by Jarrett Williams and D.J. Kirkland
- A new Steel story by Jamila Rowser and ONeillJones sees Natasha Irons face her ex Traci 13 at the Oblivion Bar's Pride party
- Aquaman Jackson Hyde "catches an unexpected ride to the Fourth World just in time for their annual Love Festival" in a story by Ngozi Ukazu
- Circuit Breaker finds himself transported into the Phantom Zone in a new tale by Calvin Kasulke and Len Gogou
- Details are scant, but there's also a new Blue Starman story written by Al Ewing - better known for his work with Marvel
- Plus a selection of character pinups
The issue's main cover is by Kevin Wada (in a regular and 1:25 card stock variant), with the other covers including an open-to-order wraparound variant cover by David Talaski, plus foil and card stock variants by Babs Tarr. You can check them all out in the gallery below.
Also included in DC Pride 2024 #1 is a teaser for DC's upcoming YA OGN, The Strange Case of Harleen and Harley by Melissa Marr and Jenn St-Onge. The new book riffs on the classic tale of Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde and follows Harleen, who signs up for some clinical research trials with her girlfriend Pamela, only to discover that she is sharing her life with another persona: Harley. Sound familiar?
Check out the cover art and a selection of preview pages below.
New original graphic novels
Bad Dream: A Dreamer Story is a previously announced original graphic novel which promises to reveal Dreamer's origin story. It's written by Nicole Maines, who also played the character on the Supergirl TV show, and drawn by Rye Hickman, with color by Bex Glendining, and lettering by Hassan Otsmane-Elhaou. Nicole talked to us about the new book a couple of weeks ago, in an interview which you can read here. Here's the cover and preview pages:
Celebrating the life and work of Rachel Pollack
Last year marked the passing of writer Rachel Pollack, a groundbreaking creator who, in the '90s, took Doom Patrol to new, weird heights following Grant Morrison's departure. DC Pride: A Celebration of Rachel Pollack is a 96-page one-shot reprinting Doom Patrol #70, written by Pollack and drawn by Scot Eaton, which marked the first appearance of Pollack's most famous creation, Coagula, DC's first transgender superhero.
The special will also include the out-of-print Vertigo Visions: The Geek one-shot, drawn by Michael Allred, and a brand new, original Coagula short by Rachel's friend and collaborator Joe Corallo, and drawn by Rye Hickman.
Covers, covers, and more covers
DC will continue to highlight Pride with new variant covers throughout the year for its series featuring prominent LGBTQIA+ characters. Look out for Pride variants of the following issues.
- Action Comics #1066 (Betsy Cola)
- Batman #148 (Skylar Patridge)
- Green Arrow #13 (A.L. Kaplan)
- Poison Ivy #23 (W. Scott Forbes)
- Harley Quinn #41 (W. Scott Forbes)
- Nightwing #115 (Bruka Jones)
- Outsiders #8 (Don Aguillo)
- Suicide Squad: Dream Team #4 (Fatima Wajid)
- Superman #15 (Angel Solorzano)
- The Flash #10 (Nick Robles)
- Wonder Woman #10 (Phil Jimenez and Arif Prianto)
Last, but not least, DC Pride Uncovered collects an array of Pride variants from last year's releases in one place for the first time. Here's Jen Bartel's main cover, which is also available in a foil variant, followed by black and white and color versions of Jim Lee, Scott Williams, and Tamra Bonvillain's alternative cover. Other variants by Oscar Vega, Luciano Vecchio, and Mateus Manhanini will also be available. The book is scripted by DC editor Andrea Shea.
Bad Dream: A Dreamer Story is published on April 2. DC Pride 2024 #1 is published on May 28, with DC Pride: A Celebration of Rachel Pollack #1 following on June 6, and DC Pride: Uncovered #1 on June 11. The Strange Case of Harleen and Harley is published later in the year on September 3.
Read up on some of the most iconic LGBTQIA+ superheroes in comics.
