DC is ramping things up for Pride this year, gearing up to release not only the 2023 edition of their annual LGBTQ-centric anthology, but two additional collections celebrating LGBTQ+ characters over the years.
DC Pride 2023 #1 is, of course, the main event for DC’s Pride celebration, with this year’s anthology boasting stories featuring fan favorite characters, with an introduction from Phil Jimenez, cover art by Mateus Manhanini, and including a story from comics heavy-hitter Grant Morrison.
Jen Bartel/Courtesy of DC
From DC:
Harley Quinn and Poison Ivy go to extreme measures to get a little alone time…but there’s nowhere on the planet Crush can’t crash. Jon Kent gets a comprehensive course in dark magic when John Constantine sics a golem on him. Tim Drake and Connor Hawke learn that there is nothing more awkward than reuniting with an old friend after you’ve both come out and one of you was indoctrinated by the League of Shadows for a while. Circuit Breaker struggles to stifle his powers after the Flash of Earth-11 leaps out of the time stream and knocks them both into another dimension. Just how far would Flashlight go to honor his lost love? Discover all these stories and many more in DC Pride 2023!
DC Pride 2023 #1 will also include a sneak preview of an upcoming story centered around Supergirl breakthrough hero Dreamer by Nicole Maines and Ryan Hickman.
Writers for the anthology include Morrison, Christopher Cantwell, Josh Trujillo, Nadia Shammas, A.L. Kaplan, Rex Ogle, Mildred Louis, and Leah Williams. Kaplan and Louis will also provide art to their stories, with Hayden Sherman, Skylar Patridge, Bruka Jones, Don Aguillo, Stephen Sadowski, and Paulina Ganucheau also contributing, along with variant covers from Gabriel Picolo, Jen Bartel, and Oscar Vega.
The DC Book of Pride/Courtesy of DC
The DC Book of Pride, written by Jadzia Axelrod with a cover by Ganucheau, will offer a great reference point for comic fans looking to dive deeper into the queer characters and storylines the publisher has to offer. The encyclopedia will profile over 50 LGBTQIA+ characters that have appeared in DC, from Harley Quinn to Aquaman to recent addition Circuit Breaker, with their histories and key storylines appearing alongside fantastic art.
Derek Charm/Courtesy of DC
Another exciting bonus this year is a special edition comic book that will bring three stories featuring Pied Piper’s coming out to the Flash, the start to Batwoman’s solo series, and nonbinary teen Lee Serrano befriending Supergirl into one 80-page book: DC Pride: Through the Years #1. This special comic will also introduce a new Alan Scott Green Lantern story from Tim Sheridan and Cian Tormey.
The DC Book of Pride will be hitting shelves on May 16, withDC Pride 2023 #1 following shortly thereafter on May 30, and DC Pride: Through the Years #1 rounding things out with a June 13 release date. You can also pre-order last year's Pride anthology, also getting a hardcover release in May, and check out the inaugural 2021 anthology now.
DC stands for Detective Comics.
The anthology began in 2021 and occurs yearly, so there have been two released thus far.
Magician Extraño is considered the first gay superhero in DC comics, initially appearing in Millennium #2 in 1988.
