DC PRIDE 2023 (wraparound Variant Cover By Gabriel Picolo)

DC PRIDE 2023 (wraparound variant cover by Gabriel Picolo)

story reviews (1-5 of 10) under the cut - spoiler free!

Phil Jimenez's forward is really sweet ode to being gay having a good time - a good read, don't skip over it!

Love's Lightning Heart (Earth-36) On a speedster and his lantern... basically a Halbarry AU written by Grant Morrison; art by Hayden Sherman; colors by Marissa Louise; and lettering by Aditya Bidikar - very cute! a little adventure story through time and space about saving your boyfriend :) - about the trials (non-graphic) you'd go through to save your loved one - love love love the lineart - colors really added to the storytelling's tone - intriguing story with happy ending - however I wish they'd actually explain some of the start because I was confused as to the exigence of the story P.S. for anyone unfamiliar, Halbarry refers to a romantic relationship between Hal Jordan GL and Barry Allen Flash - I'm p sure it originated from some of the mid 2010s animated movies but honestly idk

And Baby Makes Three Crush crash lands into Harley and Ivy's honeymoon! written by Leah Williams; art by Paulina Ganucheau; and lettering by Frank Cvetkovic - your obligatory Harlivy story! as per usual they're adorable - I didn't know I needed my chill moms with a reluctant teen but here we are - they really uplift Crush's spirit and make her happy :#D - look out for the "uwu" emoticon it's EVERYWHERE - art is SO CUTE and the colors really add to the fun!

Hey, Stranger Connor Hawke and Tim Drake catch up... and work some things out written by Nadia Shammas; art by Bruka Jones; colors by Tamra Bonvillain; and lettering by Frank Cvetkovic - LOVE seeing the ace rep post coming out! glad they didn't let him fall by the wayside - to keep this spoiler free I'll just say they have a well-written conversation about being there for each other when you come out - high recommend honestly - plus the art and colors really match the down to earth tone (the lineart is so cleannn) - Damian is also here! he gets mentioned a bit and pops in at the end

Subspace Transmission Fast and slow work together so Julien can figure out what he wants >>no, this isn't about subspace in the dom/sub kink sense<;< art and writing by A. L. Kaplan and lettering by Aditya Bidikar - some background: Jess Chambers is Flash on Earth 11 and nonbinary; Julien "Jules" Jourdain is new hero who can use the Slow Force to drain people's abilities who's also a trans man - Julien is real freaked out that his power can hurt people so Jess tries to teach him to relax and use his powers well - the art's delicious and I like the coloring - but I don't really love how Jess and Jules were drawn (imo) to look more feminine - no real mention of their identities here but Jess oozes nonbinary and there are some mentions of general transness - high recommend again, I just really like the vibes of this story

Anniversary Midnighter and Apollo talk about the queerphobia recently and what they're going to do about it written by Josh Trujillo; art by Don Aguillo; and lettering by Lucas Gattoni - to be frank, this was my least favorite story and I love Midnighter and Apollo - the message, to me, is muddled by the poor writing - instead of letting him be more nuanced, they basically give Midnighter some angry tweets to say (I miss Steve Orlando) - and make Apollo be the "but violence isn't the answer!" guy - this couple is a part of queer comic history (confirmed couple in the 90s, kissed in 1999, married in 2002, adopted and raised a little girl not long after) and the way they've been pigeonholed into "young couple who're on-again-off-again and don't agree on how to be gay" is really not giving them justice - also the tone doesn't completely match since the most recent queerphobia is pretty heavily transphobic and less so homophobic

next 5 story reviews from DC PRIDE 2023 coming soon...

Akechi's mask is like that because his dayjob is being fake and he read pinocchio once

mysterious, only gives vague answers to their past, and dislikes specific things for seemingly no reason is how I wanted to be before

I thought "that's the coolest character design" and... it still is but-

but now getting it. now having PTSD, I wish I could go back to before again. to not avoid certain songs, instruments, words, and even a whole calendar month, just to keep myself safe

it just makes me want to write sweet, naive characters who don't know any better because they haven't been hurt and aren't scared

@ a café and the air quality is shitttt

love my backyard. do NOT love mosquitoes

Idk I just think that “I have empathy for the friends and family of those that were lost” and “based on everything we’ve learned, going down in that death-trap was an incredibly stupid decision and anyone could see that” and “it is ridiculous anyone would pay 250k to go see a mass grave, the wealth gap has gotten out of hand so I can’t find it in myself to shed tears for the men involved” and “it is heartbreaking a teenage boy was lost because he wanted to impress his father” are statements that can coexist.

Human emotions are grey.