DC celebrates Pride Month with more stories, more characters, and more pride than ever before! This gorgeous hardcover collects for the very first time:
— Thirteen thrilling tales spotlighting LGBTQIA+ fan-favorites new and old including Superman (Jon Kent), Nubia, Kid Quick, Connor Hawke, Aquaman (Jackson Hyde), Green Lantern (Jo Mullein), Alysia Yeoh, the Ray, Harley Quinn, Poison Ivy, and Batwoman
— Finding Batman, an autobiographical comic written by the late Kevin Conroy and drawn by J. Bone that details how Kevin's personal experiences from childhood to Hollywood ultimately informed his universally beloved performance as the iconic voice of Batman
— All five parts of Tim Drake's coming-out story across Batman: Urban Legends #4-6, #10, and DC Pride: Tim Drake Special #1
— An introduction by activist, actress, and real-life superhero Nicole Maines
— Gorgeous art from across the complete DC Pride 2022 celebration!
DC Pride: The New Generation is a great collection of short stories. There's a wide variety of characters, and it definitely makes me want to check out other books that feature them.
Finding Batman is one of my favourites, if not my top pick. Some of my other favourites are Special Delivery, Public Displays of Electromagnetism, Super Pride, Harley Quinn & Poison Ivy in The Hunt and Bat's in the Cradle
I love these types of anthologies, and I look forward to them. But year-round ongoing comics with queer characters will always be better as they have more room to explore and tell the story. But these shorts are still super fun!
I’m giving this book 5 stars for the Kevin Conroy story at the end. I was really moved reading about his relationship to Batman. I believe this book came out around the time he passed away. What a loss.
The rest of the book was very hit-or-miss. The Robin story was sweet. A lot of the stories felt like filler and featured new versions of D-list characters I never really cared about in the first place (Aqua Boy, the Ray, Green Lantern).
Some great, some not so great, as anthologies tend to go. But overall some really joyous, queer stories that show how much rep has changed over the years, so I was very happy to consume it. Especially happy to see some ace rep. Some really really top tier artwork in some of these too. Just stellar.
3.5 a solid anthology. Tim Drake’s story being half of the book was especially a selling point for me, and the highlight of the book. the stories in here that were less interesting were simply because they were about characters of less interest to me than others.
Liked this more than the 2021 publication. Loved the issues about Tim Drake’s coming out story, as he’s probably my favorite Robin. I also really found the Kevin Conroy story impactful. I never knew all that about him.
A lot of these anthologies are very hit and miss but very beautiful in their sentiment. The 2022 collection definitely hits more than it misses. There was one or two I skimmed over but the majority of these stories are just…beautiful. I was been set on 4 stars due to glossing over a few but, like everyone else, the Tim Drake saga at the end was just so impactful it’s getting 5 stars from me. It was also so touching to see a story put in by Kevin Conroy
Enjoyed reading this just as much as I did it's predecessor. Seeing different LGBT+ heroes throughout the DC universe is always heartwarming. It was especially awesome to see an asexual hero that I didn't even know about! I hope everyone gets some joy out of reading this.
I absolutely despise that they make Damian ignorant in the Jon/Jay comic. And Jon questioned if his father would support him going to pride as superman! OFC HE WOULD!!!
Anyways, it was enjoyable as always.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
Anthologies are tough and usually hold hits and misses. I enjoyed this anthology for the most part, and even the misses were mostly due to the nature of the story length and medium that the writer could’ve utilized better. The main reason why I picked this up was to read Kevin Conroy’s memoir piece and oh boy, did my heart weep while reading it.
Pride short stories tend to go a little ham-fisted for me, but the hit stories for me (“Confessions,” “Think of Me,” “Up at Bat,” “The Gumshoe in Green,” “Bats in the Cradle”) were more focused on characters who happen to be queer rather than the queerness itself. “Confessions” is about Connor Hawke’s asexuality, but it stood out to me as a story with strong character voice and it’s one of the shorter stories so once it made its point, it didn’t drag. The climax in “The Gumshoe in the Green” did end up a bit ham-fisted about the bisexual stereotype of sleeping around, but I was so intrigued by the story and worldbuilding that it got me to request Far Sector from the library, so I say it did their job.
Unfortunately, as cute as “Special Delivery” was, I’m personally not sold on Tim/Bernard as a couple, even with the “Sum of our Parts” included in the book. I’m sorry, TimBern shippers! 😂 If anything has the author’s ham-fist showing, it’s Tim/Bernard. I was hoping to learn more about Bernard as a character, but he’s still painfully two-dimensional next to Tim. If there’s any reading recommendations to flesh out his character more, I’m all ears.
The other stories not yet mentioned were okay, not memorable, but still got me interested. But please, do not get me started on “Super Pride.” There was ham all over the place that I was tempted to tell Damian to get out of there. If I wasn’t sold on TimBern, then I’m definitely not sold on JonJay. I’m all for Damian and Jon content since my DC fixation started with Super Sons, but Jon’s character here was just a mouthpiece for positive queer virtue signaling, while Damian actually has the right idea of bringing protective gear to Pride despite being drawn with shadows and a villain-y smirk. I don’t know, I just hated (and I don’t use that word lightly) the way Jon dismissed him with as many words as possible. There’s this one panel where Damian mentions Jon’s missing childhood (*shouts to the sky* Brian Michael Bendis!!!) and I felt more for Damian in that one panel than for Jon’s cardboard characterization and forced relationship with Jay (trust me, I actually did read the Son of Kal-El run to try and understand it; I could not).
Okay, I’m gonna stop before this turns into a Jon Kent “look at what they did to my boy” rant, but I see Damian Wayne in three of these stories (yes, I counted his other-universe girl variant) and I know what he is… Gay, gay boy 😂
This anthology of DC pride is a followup to DC Pride 2021 and features a panoply of old characters, new couples, graphic creations I’d never heard of and bizarre images reminiscent of the 1992 film Cool World. Oh, there aren’t Ralph Bakshi suggestive cartoons dancing around (or maybe there were in the background and I missed them). But we’ve got flesh-eating alien plant people, oversized suited beings with tusks, red-headed behemoth women who look like they could flip tanks with their breasts and ghost elephants.
It’s a collection of the crazy, mundane, humorous and the wild stuff you’d expect to spool out of the imagination of comic book artists, only with LGBTQIA+ characters front and center. The queer-coded elements are sometimes central to the story and sometimes an afterthought, as if to remind us that sexuality is just a part of who people are and no worthier of comment than their hair color.
There’s also a black-and-white section that deals with the late Kevin Conroy, the definitive voice for years behind tv cartoon Batman. It’s a moving, haunting tribute with an ending that perfectly encapsulates the grimdark attitude that has become iconic to the character.
I’ve never been a fan of the dour Caped Crusader; his constant gloom-and-doom outlook bores me to tears. So I never bothered exploring anything about his background. However, reading about Mr. Conroy’s approach to the character floored me. No wonder the reinvented Dark Knight drew such a fanbase. No wonder Batman became the legendary figure that gets new films made about him. This was the man who began it all—and his sexuality was part of the drive behind the voice we’ve come to know so well.
This anthology will please so many lovers of comic books, especially those who have always read queerness in its characters. Otherness is already coded into fictional beings whose lifestyles don’t fit into the norm, who have to hide part of themselves from the public and who proudly wear brightly colored outfits in public. Displaying LGBTQIA+ relations on the page was just the next logical step.
I love this collected edition. I bought it mostly because I wanted to read the Tim Drake special (and tracking down single issues is not really my style), but I really like this collection. The gallery of variant cover art at the back is fun, and the alternate cover art printed on the hardback under the dust jacket is a nice touch.
I'm going to jot down some thoughts for each story in the collection:
Superman (Jon Kent) - short and sweet, one of the few characters I recognized before reading this collection. Jon attends Pride as Superman, Damian comes across as hilariously jealous.
Nubia - not a character I've previously read about, but fun.
Kid Quick - not a character I've previously read about, but fun - made me interested in potentially reading the Multiversity series.
Connor Hawke - I love that DC has an asexual character, and this made me want to read more series with Connor Hawke.
Aquaman (Jackson Hyde) - I particularly liked the art in this story; not a character I've previously read about, but fun.
Green Lantern (Jo Mullein) - the art and colors in this one were particularly fun; not a character I've previously read about, but fun.
Alysia Yeoh - not a character I've previously read about, but a fun origin / standalone story
the Ray - not a character I've previously read about, but fun.
Harley Quinn / Poison Ivy - Super fun; loved the colors of the artwork
Batwoman - a sweet story
Finding Batman - A really powerful memoir from Kevin Conroy
DC Pride: Tim Drake Special - I liked this story - I really like Tim Drake as a character, and I liked how it folded in is struggle with his hero identity and his place within the Wayne family alongside his bisexual identity and coming out.
A book that opens talking about depth of experience and how LGBTQ+ themes in comics aren’t just being used for political points, which is so true. Unfortunately, some of the stories feel forced into this collection. The Kevin Conroy is so real and emotional and the Connor Hawke story is also coming from a very real and nuanced place. The Robin story towards the end can be lazy at times but is actually really trying to do something different, while the first one is a fairly inoffensive story. The Alysia Yeo story is another one which is fine from a writing standpoint. But everything else in this collection feels so forced into the book, using characters people don’t really care about acting out-of-character in very rushed stories.
One notable example is the Green Lantern story, that has a very interesting aesthetic choice and an interesting and totally real issue it wants to tackle. This issue being how bisexual people are frequently treated as wanting to have sex with everybody. This is seen through the idea of a couple wanting the main character as a third, before she lashes out at their expectations of wanting to sleep with them both. Except the only reason they know she’s bi is because (in an attempt to illustrate her sexuality for the audience) she is openly attracted to both of them.
If it wasn’t for the aforementioned stories bringing it together (and they reeeeeally bring it together), this collection would be irredeemably weak, and these communities deserve better than that.
I really enjoyed this collection of LGBTQIA+ stories from the DC canon. Some were short, some sweet, and most had characters who were proud of themselves and still on a journey to learn how to be the best version of themselves, which I found admirable. Love was also at the forefront of all the stories, which is nice, but did get somewhat corny at times. The one comic I thought really packed a punch (and made me emotional), was the “Finding Batman” story created by Kevin Conroy. The black and white art is so simplistic, but the message is so powerful. I honestly did not realize Conroy was a gay man, and it makes me love him as the voice of Batman even more. I loved how he drew similarities between himself and Bruce Wayne. Everyone wears a mask and only a few allow themselves the chance to take that mask off and live their truths. And maybe sometimes truth can be found in the masks we wear. I just thought that story was core to this collection of comics and the reason we tell these stories, to being awareness. I appreciate DC allowing classic characters to take on new identities. Part of me loves it and the other part of me wishes we could just have new LGBTQIA+ characters that aren’t always tied to a big DC name. For instance, I’m surprised we didn’t see anything from Apollo or Midnighter in this collection. Overall though, it’s a fun ride and I highly recommend!
Nicole Maines’ foreword hit hard. Right on the tails of a queer-focused newsletter piece I wrote possibly being cut. It hit me right in the gut and I changed gears instead to write an argument for keeping my piece. TBD if that changes their mind.
I may’ve given individual pieces of this 3 or 4 stars, but I have to celebrate its sheer existence and multitude of actual queer characters living queer lives. Heavy hitters too! Superman, Batwoman, Robin, Aquaman, and Green Lantern to name just a few! And I loved the inclusion of an asexual Green Arrow kid and Alysia Yeoh’s trans batgirl! (Side note: Has Alysia never known Babs is Batgirl? I swore she knew but it’s been a while since I read the Babs Tarr books).
I’m just so glad that DC has so much queer diversity. And in so many of its lead titles too! This book makes it clear that the team (or at least some of the team) genuinely care about their LGBTQ+ readership and the queer community at large. Especially with the TW ahead of Kevin Conroy’s piece. There was thought and care put into each included story.
Now if they’d just let Dick and Damian out of the closet too…
No soy muy de leer antologías de cómics. Suelo preferir un cómic que tenga una única historia, pero tengo que decir que he disfrutado muchísimo este volumen. El prólogo de Nicole Maines es un texto maravilloso para entender por qué es necesario que existan personajes LGTBI+ en los cómics y en el universo de superhéroes.
Historias en las que personajes tan icónicos como Harley Quinn, Poison Ivy, The Ray, Nubia o Tim Drake viven con plenitud su condición sexual y además disfrutan de sus relaciones amorosas seguro que ayudan a muchos lectores a visibilizarse en su entorno. Además, también aparecen personajes más recientes como Alysia Yeoh, una chica trans que se convierte en una heroína para ayudar a una buena amiga.
Estas historias hablan de amor en sus múltiples formas: entre amigos, de padres e hijos, de pareja...Y en todas ellas destaca el respeto que reciben los personajes LGTBI+ por parte de su entorno. DC manda un mensaje de naturalidad y apoyo a la diversidad que se agradece en tiempos en que proliferan los discursos de odio.
Es el tipo de historia que me hubiera gustado leer de adolescente.
I snatched this up without realizing it's just DC Pride 2022 repackaged with the 2022 Tim Drake Special tacked on. While I loved the DC Pride anthologies 2021-2023, I don't see why this was done other than to be the cash grab that I had feared that those volumes would be. If it had more to memorialize Kevin Conroy, I'd get it, but it just acknowledges his passing with a few quotes on a single page at the end of the book. I'd even get it if they pulled out all the stories from the 3 Pride installments that focused on "The New Generation," like Tim Drake, Jon Kent, Dreamer and Jess Chambers, but it's just the 2022 Pride specials re-released. Maybe this is for anyone who missed those releases, but I can still find them online to buy so I just don't get it and I'm disappointed that I bought this on top of owning the others.
My comic book club picked this volume of short comics for our monthly chat.
As with any story collection, your mileage may vary from tale to tale. Unlike the 2021 DC Pride collection though, there are not only short stories following different characters and brought to life by different writers and artists: this volume also includes a multi-story arc of Tim Drake's journey. I think this is a good balance, having shorter stories juxtaposed with a longer arc, and I hope the 2023 DC Pride collection does something similar. I did note a few popular characters featured in the 2021 DC Pride collection also have a story in this collection but these did not detract from the New Generation collection.
If you enjoyed the 2021 DC Pride collection, you won't be disappointed picking up this one next.
I absolutely loved this. So glad I finally picked it up. The art is BEAUTIFUL, which has largely not been my experience with DC, so I'm so excited about that. The stories are short and sweet - Tim's is the longest, and Tim is one of my favorites, so that was lovely. I'm not super familiar with most of the characters in this, particularly this iteration of them. For instance, I don't have any experience with Green Arrow, Aquaman, or Green Lantern at all. This made me curious about picking up a couple of different comics. I'd really like to read more of Jon as Superman. Also, I was so psyched to see ace representation. I'd recommend this in a heartbeat.
This book genuinely has the BEST setup for giving Tim a new identity outside of Robin/Red Robin.
His part of this book had a lot to do with self-discovery and learning to be his own person. We see this especially when he's told, "You're not Batman." It's set in a weird period where Tim even flat out says he's Robin while Damian is "out of town." Tim has grown as a person past Robin, Red Robin was an identity carved out of grief and stubbornness, and... is Drake even worth mentioning?
Regardless, I think DC could use this as a golden opportunity to figure out what they're doing with Tim and how they're going to handle his character development,
DC anthologies aren't usually very good because the art/writing is almost always inconsistent, bordering on amateurish. But this one is the best overall anthology I've read for some time.
The Kevin Conroy, Batwoman, Jo Mullein, and Connor Hawke stories are the best of the bunch.
I should knock off at least 1 star for the equally horrendous Lore/Williams 'Kid Quick' story and shoehorned-in Meghan Fitzmartin 'Tim Drake' series that makes up the 2nd half of this trade. But, to give the others a fair shake, I won't do that because I've read these in other trades and therefore skipped them this time. (The series both spawned are really bad too.)
Me gustaron un poco más las historias en este recopilatorio que en el primero, y creo que se debe a que leí a muchos personajes que no había leído antes, como Nubia, Alysia Yeoh, Connor Hawke, o la Green Lantern de Far Sector. Aunque también fue bonito ver a Jon y The Ray, de nuevo. Por otro lado, la historia completa de Tim Drake fue un gran añadido y me gustó mucho. Sí quisiera seguir leyendo más de todos estos personajes.
Not bad. compilation of short stories. so you can't expect all the stories to be good as they are from so many writers. DC Pride: Love and Justice is still my favorite, go get it if you haven't. As usual, you can't beat the original and first one.
This is a fun anthology. By their very nature, anthologies can be hit and miss, especially graphic novel ones. One person's taste in writer/artist may be very different from the next, and this one is no exception. Some of the stories appealed to me more than others for one reason or another, but overall this was wonderful. 4.5 stars.
A great celebration of DC LGBTQ+ characters. Some highlights for me where Connor Hawke Think of Me story, yes more Ace rep please! also Finding Batman written by Kevin Conroy about how his life helped him find his iconic batman voice. These are just two stories in a volume full of wonderful representation.