DC PRIDE 2022 SPOILER FREE Review: A Fundamental Anthology

Samii Jinxx
Jun 22, 2022
2 min read

Updated: Jun 25, 2022

DC’s 2022 Pride Month celebration kicks off with more stories, more characters, and more pride than ever before highlighting a wide array of experiences and identities! DC Pride 2022 features 13 all-new stories spotlighting LGBTQIA+ fan-favourites new and old including Superman (Jon Kent), Nubia, Tim Drake, Kid Quick, Aquaman (Jackson Hyde), Green Lantern (Jo Mullein), Alysia Yeoh, the Ray, Harley Quinn, Poison Ivy, Batwoman, and more!

These stories range from the Aqualad-centric "A World Kept Just For Me" which tackles introducing a partner to your hometown to the Nubia-led "Confessions” which involves telling a partner an embarrassing secret.

One of my favourites is Alysia Yeoh's "Up at Bat" which uses a trans conference to address the good and bad of being transgender in the present day, whereas "The Gumshoe in Green" looks at negative bisexual stereotypes in a way that I'm amazed to see in a mainstream superhero comic.

The issue then closes with the incredibly powerful "Finding Batman", an autobiographical story from iconic Batman voice actor Kevin Conroy, reckoning with the homophobia he faced during his early life and career. This is quite hard-hitting and comes with its own 'warning' before launching us into his experiences. This memoir piece was devastating and beautiful, and, alone, is worth the price of admission.

Whilst anthologies can be a mixed bag, the only dud in here for me was Devin Grayson’s horrendous Jon Kent Superman story 'Super Pride', which I found to be awful, ill advised and confusing at best if you've followed Damian and Jon's story. It unfortunately backs up why the fans struggle so much with Devin’s writing….

Surprisingly, I enjoyed the story about Colonel Jacob Kane, “Bat's In The Cradle”. It was a heartfelt story about a father trying to protect their daughter by trying to guarantee they're strong enough to deal with the world. While it's not from the queer character's point of view, I still liked it.

On an aesthetic level, DC Pride 2022 excels, with an array of art and lettering styles that fit their respective characters. The Harley Quinn and Poison Ivy “The Hunt” is a standout for me for the art alone and I don't mind how cliche this is, I absolutely ship this couple - they make my heart do backflips!

This just might be one of the best and most important anthologies DC Comics has put out in recent memory, and that's a cause for celebration.

“I want to share myself. It’s just so hard when sharing yourself is so often assumed to mean your body as well as your soul.” - what a line….

Have you read the DC Pride 2022 anthology? I’d love to hear your thoughts on the individual stories.

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