Short Box: Pride
DC Pride 2025
#1B
Sozomaika Variant
| Release: | Jun 04, 2025 |
| Cover: | Aug 2025 |
Creators
| Writer | Maya Houston, Jenny Blake Isabella, Jude Ellison S. Doyle, Tim Sheridan, Sam Maggs, Vita Ayala, Josh Trujillo |
| Artist | Vincent Cecil, A. L. Kaplan, Giulio Macaione, Emilio Pilliu, Sara Soler, Skylar Patridge, Max Sarin, Phillip Sevy, Derek Charm |
| Cover Artist | Sozomaika |
| Letterer | Lucas Gattoni, Ariana Maher, Morgan Martinez, Jodie Troutman, Frank Cvetkovic, Aditya Bidikar |
| Editor in Chief | Marie Javins |
Marvel United: A Pride Special
#1B
Luciano Vecchio Variant
| Release: | Jun 11, 2025 |
| Cover: | Aug 2025 |
Creators
| Writer | Al Ewing, Anthony Oliveira, Wyatt Kennedy, Zoe Tunnell |
| Artist | Kei Zama, Pablo M. Collar, Bayleigh Underwood, Federica Mancin |
| Cover Artist | Luciano Vecchio |
| Colorist | Michael Wiggam, Tamra Bonvillain, Irma Kniivila, Brittany Peer |
| Letterer | Ariana Maher |
| Editor | Angelique Roche, Consulting Editor |
| Editor in Chief | C.B. Cebulski |
Happy Pride.
There isn’t a lot I have to say about these two specials because nothing that I have to say about them is particularly important, but I did want to talk about them a little just because I’m glad that in this current climate, when so many people and corporations are engaged in rank cowardice and backing away from showing even the bare minimum support for our LGBTQIA+ siblings, I’m glad that, when it comes to comics, the Big Two weren’t among them.
It shouldn’t feel like an act of defiance for two companies to put out anthologies of stories centering LGBTQIA+ characters and creators, yet here we are. That said, centering those characters and creators also shouldn’t be something that happens only once a year.
Looking at these two books just as comics, every year I’m at a bit of a disadvantage as many of the characters I see in the stories are relatively unknown to me, confined as I tend to be to my little corners of each company’s respective universes.
That’s especially true on the Marvel side, where my reading is currently limited to The Immortal Thor, but there were also plenty of new-to-me characters and plot points on the DC side.
Both books featured stories that had me thinking I was even more out of touch than I thought, with DC’s showing a relationship between Green Lantern Sojourner “Jo” Mullein and Queen Nubia of the Amazons that had me wondering when the hell that happened, and Marvel featuring a story in which Mystique and Destiny were raising a young Nightcrawler together.
Ultimately, both made sense, as both anthologies, quite understandably, touched on similar themes about dreams and hopes, about what the characters hope for as they live in a reality that often works so hard to deny them those dreams and poison their hope.
DC varied slightly from the standard anthology format this time around, opting to include a framing that tied all of the individual stories together and emphasized the theme, while Marvel’s stories had no such connection but retained a common theme.
The exception on the DC side was a standalone and standout story formally introducing the world to Jenny Blake. At 72 years old, we’ve known Jenny for a very long time from her years writing as Tony Isabella – to be clear, as she tells us in her story, Jenny does not consider that a deadname – but we’ve never really known her until now.
Her story serves as a reminder of how important it is to be who you are and how essential it is to have people who will support you as you figure out who that person is.
How important it is to have pride.
It’s not my intention to give these books short shrift by lumping them together and not delving too deeply into the work of the talented creators involved, but as I said at the beginning, what I have to say about them isn’t particularly important.
The stories speak for themselves; I don’t want to try to speak for them. I just want to do my part to make sure that people know these stories are being told even as so many people try to make it harder and harder for that to happen.
And once again, especially now, let me say, Happy Pride.
Born and raised in the sparsely populated Upper Peninsula of Michigan, Jon Maki developed an enduring love for comics at an early age.
