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DC Cultural Anthologies
DC Pride: Through the Years #1
Take a journey through over 30 years of fan-favorite LGBTQIA+ characters in the DC Universe with this collection that not only remembers and celebrates three landmark issues of days past but also teases exciting new stories yet to come!
DC Pride: Through the Years collects:
• The Flash #53 (1991), in which villain-turned-hero Pied Piper comes out to his friend the Flash and helps thwart a dastardly villain
• Detective Comics #854 (2009), the thrilling beginning of Batwoman’s first solo series, which would launch her into stardom
• Supergirl #19 (2018), which tells the story of Lee Serano-a nonbinary teenager who befriends the Girl of Steel
• An all-new story starring Alan Scott, which will light the way to his next great adventure as Green Lantern!
DC Pride: Through the Years collects:
• The Flash #53 (1991), in which villain-turned-hero Pied Piper comes out to his friend the Flash and helps thwart a dastardly villain
• Detective Comics #854 (2009), the thrilling beginning of Batwoman’s first solo series, which would launch her into stardom
• Supergirl #19 (2018), which tells the story of Lee Serano-a nonbinary teenager who befriends the Girl of Steel
• An all-new story starring Alan Scott, which will light the way to his next great adventure as Green Lantern!
76 pages, Kindle Edition
Published June 13, 2023
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60 people want to read
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Displaying 1 - 16 of 16 reviews
July 3, 2023
DC Pride: Through the Years #1 has awesome stories. The first story (The Flash #53 (1991)) has Pied Piper, The Flash, and Superman. I wish Pied Piper had a bigger role in this one. Still, it was an exciting story with a great twist and neat art.
The second story, Detective Comics #854 (2009) was an intro to Batwoman. It was a very cool origin story and, even though only one issue from it was in this book, it had a lot of great information and a solid backstory for Kate Kane/Batwoman. I can see where the show "Batwoman" took some inspiration from this comic also. The action was great and so was the art.
The third story, Supergirl #19 (2018) was one I read before, but I love reading it again. I love the friendship between Kara and Lee Serano, a nonbinary teenager who Kara/Supergirl meets. Kara genuinely listens to, supports, and respects Lee, who has a great character arc. This story is moving and beautiful.
The 4th story with Alan Scott/Green Lantern and John Michael Ladd is great. It's a bit short - and I wish it was longer. But, it has some great backstory for Alan and John. It's set during the second World War and the characterization and story are great. This is the first part of a comic that will be released later this year and I look forward to reading it!
I really enjoyed DC Pride: Through the Years #1. The stories are all good. The art is great. I like the characters also. It is a solid read.
The second story, Detective Comics #854 (2009) was an intro to Batwoman. It was a very cool origin story and, even though only one issue from it was in this book, it had a lot of great information and a solid backstory for Kate Kane/Batwoman. I can see where the show "Batwoman" took some inspiration from this comic also. The action was great and so was the art.
The third story, Supergirl #19 (2018) was one I read before, but I love reading it again. I love the friendship between Kara and Lee Serano, a nonbinary teenager who Kara/Supergirl meets. Kara genuinely listens to, supports, and respects Lee, who has a great character arc. This story is moving and beautiful.
The 4th story with Alan Scott/Green Lantern and John Michael Ladd is great. It's a bit short - and I wish it was longer. But, it has some great backstory for Alan and John. It's set during the second World War and the characterization and story are great. This is the first part of a comic that will be released later this year and I look forward to reading it!
I really enjoyed DC Pride: Through the Years #1. The stories are all good. The art is great. I like the characters also. It is a solid read.
July 14, 2024
The Flash story shows how far we’ve come. Wally runs away when his friend comes out to him but eventually they resolve it off-panel. And that was probably considered a progressive issue back then.
Batwoman story had incredible art. The bright red of her hair and cape were so captivating. More an origin story than a queer one but dies have a scene about her being a messy lesbian. Hehe.
Supergirl story was excellent. Demonstrates the hope that the El family spreads. Queer people need someone to have their backs, but also who can stage to the side and let them own their voice.
Alan Scott’s tale I read alongside his mini-series. It’s sweet and sad but the full series is heartbreaking.
Great collection.
Batwoman story had incredible art. The bright red of her hair and cape were so captivating. More an origin story than a queer one but dies have a scene about her being a messy lesbian. Hehe.
Supergirl story was excellent. Demonstrates the hope that the El family spreads. Queer people need someone to have their backs, but also who can stage to the side and let them own their voice.
Alan Scott’s tale I read alongside his mini-series. It’s sweet and sad but the full series is heartbreaking.
Great collection.
July 3, 2023
Great anthology, but I’m stressed out at how incomplete Alan’s story was.
August 31, 2024
The title implies this is some in depth analysis of LGBTQIA+ representation in the history of DC Comics. Nah, it's just a reprint of some older comics. Not a complaint, just an observation.
Three issues that showed different takes on the idea, and a newer issue.
Flash #53 (1991). The Pied Piper was a villain who reformed and became one of Flash (Wally West)'s friends. Enough that he came out of the closet to him. And wasn't surprised when Wally's reaction was literally "Oh, would you look at the time, I must leave." Wally's inner monologue is that he just needs a little time to process this, and chiding himself for not having noticed. Can't fault him for not having decent gaydar. He doesn't let this impact his friendship and relies on the Pied Piper to help resolve the conflict of the issue.
Detective Comics #854 (2009). The contemporary Batwoman was previously introduced in the 52 series. Here's the main character while Batman is MIA. Her alter-ego is openly lesbian (something also shown in 52) but the issue shows that being a vigilante is hell on your dating life. When you can't exposure your identity, your romantic partners are going to assume you're cheating on them.
Supergirl #19 (2018). Supergirl saves and befriends Lee, who identifies as non-binary. Lee tells Supergirl (and by extension the reader) of the problems and struggles being NB. Kara sympathizes and relates her own struggles being accepted.
I think this is one of the better ones in the collection as it directly shows the parallels between LGBTQIA+ and superheroism, the struggle for identity, trying to figure out who you are and the public's perception of you.
The final story is Alan Scott: Green Lantern, a teaser story for the, then, upcoming miniseries for that character. Alan Scott was the Golden Age Green Lantern. He was straight, married and had two kids who also became superheroes. After DC rebooted (yet again) the universe in 2011, they introduced a different Alan Scott who was openly gay. A nice bit of inclusion. Then in 2016, following a lot of backlash over how stupid some of the rebooting was, DC merged the old and new continuities. So Alan Scott is gay, but was closeted most of his life. This is actually a pretty plausible retcon as it reflects the struggle a lot of men of his generation went through. The 2023 Alan Scott series re-examined his early days in the new context of being gay and in the closet at a time when it wasn't very safe to be open.
Overall it's a good collection. There is a short introduction but I'd like to have seen some commentary on why these issues were chosen and provide more context for the reader who may not know all the backstory on these characters.
Three issues that showed different takes on the idea, and a newer issue.
Flash #53 (1991). The Pied Piper was a villain who reformed and became one of Flash (Wally West)'s friends. Enough that he came out of the closet to him. And wasn't surprised when Wally's reaction was literally "Oh, would you look at the time, I must leave." Wally's inner monologue is that he just needs a little time to process this, and chiding himself for not having noticed. Can't fault him for not having decent gaydar. He doesn't let this impact his friendship and relies on the Pied Piper to help resolve the conflict of the issue.
Detective Comics #854 (2009). The contemporary Batwoman was previously introduced in the 52 series. Here's the main character while Batman is MIA. Her alter-ego is openly lesbian (something also shown in 52) but the issue shows that being a vigilante is hell on your dating life. When you can't exposure your identity, your romantic partners are going to assume you're cheating on them.
Supergirl #19 (2018). Supergirl saves and befriends Lee, who identifies as non-binary. Lee tells Supergirl (and by extension the reader) of the problems and struggles being NB. Kara sympathizes and relates her own struggles being accepted.
I think this is one of the better ones in the collection as it directly shows the parallels between LGBTQIA+ and superheroism, the struggle for identity, trying to figure out who you are and the public's perception of you.
The final story is Alan Scott: Green Lantern, a teaser story for the, then, upcoming miniseries for that character. Alan Scott was the Golden Age Green Lantern. He was straight, married and had two kids who also became superheroes. After DC rebooted (yet again) the universe in 2011, they introduced a different Alan Scott who was openly gay. A nice bit of inclusion. Then in 2016, following a lot of backlash over how stupid some of the rebooting was, DC merged the old and new continuities. So Alan Scott is gay, but was closeted most of his life. This is actually a pretty plausible retcon as it reflects the struggle a lot of men of his generation went through. The 2023 Alan Scott series re-examined his early days in the new context of being gay and in the closet at a time when it wasn't very safe to be open.
Overall it's a good collection. There is a short introduction but I'd like to have seen some commentary on why these issues were chosen and provide more context for the reader who may not know all the backstory on these characters.
July 15, 2024
Decided to read this book in its entirety after reading the Alan Scott snippet while I was finishing that series.
The Flash story is a little old school. Must have been ground breaking at the time. I couldn’t make out if this was a reprint or a reimagining but it was an ok read. Bit of an overreaction from Wally about Piper coming out, but as I said, it was unheard of in 1991 comics, and now we have a gay Superman and a bisexual Robin and Wally knows them both. Thank goodness things have changed.
Batwoman story - Seems like I walked into the middle of something here. Kate’s been through some stuff, that’s terrible. Kinda wish we’d got a different story which wasn’t nestled in a female superhero being scared and helpless. But maybe this has to do with the introduction of her nemesis Alice. I love the art for most of this story. The Batwoman scenes that are monochrome barring the vivid red of Kate’s wig and costume—they’re just breathing to look at. The bit with Alice, and her vibrant but eerie look and comment bubbles also stood out. I’m not sure about Kate’s look and dress sense outside of Batwoman. It’s certainly a look, but I’m not sure if it was consistent. I would have also liked the book to lean into the stable side of her romances, instead of her love interest assuming Kate is some kind of philanderer. Oh well. I do want to read more of this story. Going to have to hunt it down.
I really enjoyed the Supergirl story. They could have left out the first bit with the Bones character and the Chase character since that had little to do with the rest of the chapter in this book. But it was a very heartwarming story. Not only does the story introduce a rare nonbinary character in the DC canon, but it focuses on how superheroes can help beyond just using their fists. I loved that. Art is again beautiful, very serene and cozy, just like the theme of this story.
I read the Alan Scott story as part of that book, so my thoughts are the same. Love the writing, the beautiful art and the heartbreaking story.
The Flash story is a little old school. Must have been ground breaking at the time. I couldn’t make out if this was a reprint or a reimagining but it was an ok read. Bit of an overreaction from Wally about Piper coming out, but as I said, it was unheard of in 1991 comics, and now we have a gay Superman and a bisexual Robin and Wally knows them both. Thank goodness things have changed.
Batwoman story - Seems like I walked into the middle of something here. Kate’s been through some stuff, that’s terrible. Kinda wish we’d got a different story which wasn’t nestled in a female superhero being scared and helpless. But maybe this has to do with the introduction of her nemesis Alice. I love the art for most of this story. The Batwoman scenes that are monochrome barring the vivid red of Kate’s wig and costume—they’re just breathing to look at. The bit with Alice, and her vibrant but eerie look and comment bubbles also stood out. I’m not sure about Kate’s look and dress sense outside of Batwoman. It’s certainly a look, but I’m not sure if it was consistent. I would have also liked the book to lean into the stable side of her romances, instead of her love interest assuming Kate is some kind of philanderer. Oh well. I do want to read more of this story. Going to have to hunt it down.
I really enjoyed the Supergirl story. They could have left out the first bit with the Bones character and the Chase character since that had little to do with the rest of the chapter in this book. But it was a very heartwarming story. Not only does the story introduce a rare nonbinary character in the DC canon, but it focuses on how superheroes can help beyond just using their fists. I loved that. Art is again beautiful, very serene and cozy, just like the theme of this story.
I read the Alan Scott story as part of that book, so my thoughts are the same. Love the writing, the beautiful art and the heartbreaking story.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
July 7, 2023
Ironically, many of my critiques of the modern DC Pride 2023 issue don’t apply here. This anthology, which included four stories originally published in the last thirty years, held stories that felt meaningful and accurate to the superheroes and side characters whose stories they told. They varied, of course, in their contents — Pied Piper’s coming out scene is about two pages in an otherwise unrelated plotline, whereas Supergirl’s story with Lee Serano, a nonbinary teenager, is the focus of most of the story — but you can tell that there was real determination involved in including these stories at all. There is a tradeoff, naturally, which is that I think most of these narratives were more like one-offs than ongoing plotlines, but the quality is still noteworthy. This kind of anthology piques my interest in reading older comics, and I’m now wondering what other openly queer characters have been represented in previous decades — and if they’ll show up should DC decide to do a similar thing next year. I like the idea of looking backward and seeing what representation in comics has existed previously, as well as looking at the present day queer roster. I’ll admit that some of the stories felt better done than others, but that is likely partially due to the variety in how much effort and interest and research was put into making them over the years. Curious to see if this is something DC will do again.
July 11, 2023
The Flash - Fast Friends. Pied Piper comes out to Wally West. Enjoyable story and art. (1991)
Detective Comics: Batwoman - Elegy pt 1. I assume this is the issue where we discover Kate is gay. As for the story, it's not the best for a one shot issue as it finishes on a tbc and also drops the reader into an existing situation. The art's all black and red, a stylistic choice but not one that endears it to this reader. And there seems to be at least 3 artists working on this one issue. (Aug 09)
Supergirl - We Rise Together. Supergirl helping a non-binary teen. Enjoyed the (mostly aelf contained) story and art.
New Alan Scott (Green Lantern) story, or the start of one at least. Story looks amazing, as does the art.
Detective Comics: Batwoman - Elegy pt 1. I assume this is the issue where we discover Kate is gay. As for the story, it's not the best for a one shot issue as it finishes on a tbc and also drops the reader into an existing situation. The art's all black and red, a stylistic choice but not one that endears it to this reader. And there seems to be at least 3 artists working on this one issue. (Aug 09)
Supergirl - We Rise Together. Supergirl helping a non-binary teen. Enjoyed the (mostly aelf contained) story and art.
New Alan Scott (Green Lantern) story, or the start of one at least. Story looks amazing, as does the art.
September 20, 2024
"You can't really know where you're going until you know where you have been." - Maya Angelou
This anthology is, surprisingly, different than other DC collections. This one uses past DC stories to showcase moments in DC's history where they pushed back against the Comics Code (gone for good now). The included introduction gives a bit of historical context on just what DC had to do to get things through the code and still present stories involving other sexualities and identities.
This anthology is, surprisingly, different than other DC collections. This one uses past DC stories to showcase moments in DC's history where they pushed back against the Comics Code (gone for good now). The included introduction gives a bit of historical context on just what DC had to do to get things through the code and still present stories involving other sexualities and identities.
December 19, 2023
i love dc’s pride anthologies bc sometimes i’m not aware of certain stories so i’ll get hooked on an issue i read in a collection and im then put onto new runs like i WILL be reading the supergirl run that #19 is from also flash #53 “fast friends” was just a good read
June 18, 2024
There’s one new story here, the rest coming from DC’s past. So it functions as a cool look back at how they’ve told these stories. With the intro tying that together nicely. But it also means that as a collection, it’s a bit of a shaggy dog. In a not altogether bad way.
June 13, 2023
Phenomenal issue
Phenomenal artwork and writing of stories.
The stories are worth reading.
Batwoman and Supergirl are past stories and Alan Scott story continues in October.
Phenomenal artwork and writing of stories.
The stories are worth reading.
Batwoman and Supergirl are past stories and Alan Scott story continues in October.
September 23, 2023
Interesting read. Some great artwork and stories. Great way to get to know a collection of DC characters.
October 17, 2023
alan scott prologue? i just know that story is gonna hurt so good
July 1, 2024
Illustrates that queer representation isn't something new in DC. You get stories featuring Wally West Flash, Batwoman, Supergirl, and Alan Scott Green Lantern.
January 4, 2026
Someone was cutting onions while I was reading this....
August 7, 2025
A collection of 3 comics showing how queerness and queer characters have evolved over the past few decades in DC comics. It includes a great 2-page intro that contextualizes the issue. Includes the Pied Piper + the Flash, Batwoman, and Supergirl and Lee Serrano.
Displaying 1 - 16 of 16 reviews