Marvel Voices Pride #1 is definitely an up and down ride. Some of the stories mishandle nonbinary and gender nonconforming identities (Also, there are no nonbinary lead characters in this anthology.) or seem to pander heavily to allies while others have issues with their art or storytelling style. (Northstar/Kyle, Wiccan/Hulkling) But, for the most part, it's nice to see queer creators and queer characters get the spotlight for once instead of being hidden behind things like the mutant metaphor, which is usually Marvel editorial's approach. Read Full Review

Penciler: Kei Zama, Lorenzo Susi, Stephen Byrne, Scott Henderson Read Full Review

In addition to some historical reprints and interviews, there are enough good stories with solid artwork to redeem the most painful parts of Marvel Voices Pride #1. It is a mixed bag, as most anthologies are, but not without its charms despite a few rough edges. Read Full Review

The real standout of the issue is Leah Williams' Black Cat story as it broke away from using its space as a billboard declaring how queer it was and instead told a nuanced and engaging story that has real potential outside the pages of this poorly considered anthology. Read Full Review

You know the drill: It's a big collection of strips united by a shared minority demographic, in this case, all the queer sexualities. These anthologies are never essential, but this one is a hell of a lot of fun (unless you're a homophobe). There's a lot of good art, thoughtful writing, sharp characterization, and best of all, terrific humor. Not every story is great or even good, but the good ones really slap.

My subjective opinion is that this becomes a must-read if you stan one or more of these characters/couples: Charlene McGowan, Nico & Karolina, Prodigy, and Mystique & Destiny. And again subjectively, I believe the very best strip is the flashback one that matches closeted Bobby Drake with Magneto (not that way). It's beautifully drawn, it's hilarious, it's heartwarming; what more could I ask for?
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I gotta say how it still annoys me how these voices covers feature characters who don't have staring roles. This might as well have been an X-Men title with how many mutants decorate these pages. Not that there's anything wrong with that, from my experience X-Men are huge fan-favorites. Also a plot where somebody comes back from the dead where he doesn't need to hide himself to start a new life is perfect for future Reign of X titles. I mean we get to see characters from so long ago get a place here. Then there's that one featuring a cosplayer and how much some character still appeal to some people more than others. It's one of the reasons superheroes' appeal is universal.

I just would really have liked to see Angela and Lightspeed do something other than just attract niche readers. more

I gotta SAY, DC's PRIDE issue was better this year haha

I'm so glad less people stuck around for Marvel's attempt at a Pride anthology. It means I don't have to make quite so long a review this time. Blah blah blah *insert sexuality here* blah blah.

"Introduction" by Luciano Vecchio and Mike O'Sullivan is probably one of my favorite stories from this anthology because I think it shows why I like Marvel as much as I do. I do not think you could get so much out of DC's history the way you can with Marvel's, and I think that's part of why Marvel can be so much more relatable.

"The Vows" by Allan Heinberg is cute. I like Wiccan and Hulkling as a couple and their vows are cute. That's all.

"Under the Stars" by Mariko Tamaki is alright. I feel like it doesn't really get itself across that well, but it's not terrible.

"Something New Every Day" by Lilah Sturges is odd. I feel like they couldn't decide whether to be super respectful to trans people or say whatever trans-related witticism they could come up with to fit the situation. Which is why they have characters say it, and then point out how it's kind of not cool. Or like pointing out how trans people don't know each other but then they totally do. It is neat how it mirrors Dr. Charlene McGowan's origin from Immortal Hulk #31, at least.

"When a Black Cat Crosses Your Path, You Give Them the Right-Of-Way" by Leah Williams kind of falls into the trap of being a story that could exist in any anthology and it wouldn't really matter. But I live for it because people have decided to die on the "Black Cat is not Bisexual" hill, which is totally normal and not a sign of any bigotry.

"Totally Invulnerable" by Crystal Frasier is one of my favorites of the anthology because I feel like it does a lot to humanize trans people, which is something that the DC anthology didn't even attempt, and they're an important part of the queer community that have been the target of so much bullshit lately.

"Colossus" by Kieron Gillen is probably my favorite story in the anthology. I think it has a great message of being open-minded and being willing to see new perspectives. Like I mentioned above, we need to humanize queer people, because society is constantly otherizing them, and the best way to do that is to be open to their experiences and their perspectives. We've seen very famous homophobes change their tune when someone in the family turns out gay, for instance. And I know this story is more about David coming to terms with his bisexuality, and that's important too, but I think this story, intentionally or not, tapped into something really great here.

"Good Judy" by Terry Blas is okay. I mean, the message is good, but I really think it's hindered by some of the dialogue. "I'd be lying if I said I wasn't curious about that tongue" shouldn't be something people say, in my opinion. But maybe Daken is beyond people.

"Early Thaw" by Anthony Oliveira is a really good story. I really like how it's an overt tie between mutantdom and gayness. I like the idea that Magneto, even at his worst, was willing to comfort someone who emotionally distraught over who they are. Good job.

"The Man I know" by J.J. Kirby is.. fine. I really don't like how sinewy and muscular the art is here and that's really the only thing I can say about this one.

"The Grey Ladies" by Tini Howard is really good. I am a Mystique/Destiny stan, I can't help it.

"You Deserve" by Vita Ayala is a cute little story about someone finally realizing they deserve some happiness, which I think will hit home with some queer people who find themselves filled with self-hatred and guilt over who they are, which is unfortunately very common.

"Man of His Dreams" by Steve Orlando is really weird. I have a feeling this man will not abandon his family who thinks he died for Krakoa no matter how much Daken and he shared in a lifetime dream once.

"Love is Love" by Jacopo Camagni is a nice piece of art, I wish there were more characters in it though.

The Alpha Flight excerpt that shows the first openly gay hero come out is not bad. It's just very dated, and I've never been a fan of Scott Lobdell.

Now for the complaints from the bad people who I feel like have some personal problems to work out:

This is more reserved for the people who I feel like genuinely have homophobic attitudes, or generally are against progressivism and have outted themselves to be terrible.

Briton was pretty much disregarded in my review for DC Pride, but luckily, he’s just as dumb over this issue. He says, “The comics industry continues to cut its own throat by backing identity politics. Very few people will actually buy this comic. The print run will be shipped out to schools to poison and confuse children.”

So, one, the comics industry isn’t dying. If you look at the numbers - just released in easy-to-read graphs just today actually – the comics industry is on an upswing. Doing better than it has in a long time. Also, I’m not aware of any concerted effort by Marvel to put this issue in schools. Comic books cannot poison, silly. They are made of perfectly safe materials. And what’s confusing here? It’s just a collection of stories about characters that are queer. Kids know what that is. If anything, this clears it up for them! Maybe Merlyn’s comment can clear it up for me.

Merlyn commented, “I'm all for tolerance and acceptance but indoctrinating children... yeah, that doesn't fly well with me, sorry.”

Hmm, I’m still not sure what this means. This is literally just an anthology of stories of people being okay with who they are. There’s no indoctrination in this comic, unless you consider any material representing queer people in a positive light as a form of indoctrination. Which would be super fucked up, huh? The only reason one would think that is if they were homophobic. Indoctrination of children usually involves fear, like say when a Christian church tells them they will burn in a lake of fire for all eternity unless they accept the almighty.

But let’s not take Merlyn seriously, you guys. He doesn’t know what he’s talking about and is severely stubborn. I actually happened to see him commenting on a Newsarama article and I clicked on his disqus account, and man, he is complaining about this issue on other websites too. I’ll go over it now!

“Since when was Union Jack gay? Are we just making stuff up now?

Oh, and Black Cat still isn't bi, sorry, she's always been straight, regardless of how much Marvel and crazies online want us to think otherwise.

And why are Captain Marvel and War Machine in the "Love is love" splash page with all the other LGBT characters? Oh wait, the feminist and the black guy have to be there too, of course. :))

Also, the amount of flags out there is ridiculous, one, maybe two was more than enough, it's not like we're talking about nations here.”

So, Union Jack was made officially gay in the Citizen V miniseries by Fabian Nicieza in 2002. Nicieza did this after noting apparent subtext in the original Invaders run, specifically Invaders #34 from 1978.

Black Cat is bisexual and has been since Spider-Man/Black Cat: The Evil That Men Do #1, published in 2002. This was later hinted at in Jed MacKay’s Black Cat run, and then outright stated. And now she’s appearing in Pride anthologies. The horror. Guess who owns the character? Marvel. Guess who has the say of what a character is and isn’t? The owner. She’s bisexual. Get over it, you weirdo.

Captain Marvel and War Machine are not in there because one’s a feminist and one’s black. Thanks for the glimpse into how your mind works. Love is love, Merlyn. Even heterosexual love. That’s why they’re there. I don’t know why you’d be so heterophobic like that. Openly, too!

There are an appropriate number of flags. There are flags to represent each letter of the alphabet people. Like, what would be an actual unnecessary number of flags would be, like, what you see at a Donald Trump rally. You know? Flags upon flags upon flags, just like they did at Nazi rallies. I think we can all agree that that is way worse than like 12 flags spread out over a massive crowd of people.

So, there you go. I feel like Marvel did a better job at this than DC. I feel like it was more representative of queer people, and that Marvel is definitely multiple steps ahead of DC in this regard. But hey, DC is trying. more

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Merlyn - Jun 30, 2021

Should I pay you rent for living in your head that much? :))

Merlyn - Jun 30, 2021

Oh, and what's your disqus username? Since, you know, yo have put in the work to stalk me there, too, lol. Don't worry, I won't tell anyone that you're also commenting here, that's your thing. :))

Psycamorean - Jun 30, 2021

I don't have a disqus account. I actually do comment sometimes on Bleeding Cool though, so maybe you can find me there! Also, why not tell people I'm commenting here? That's no secret.

Psycamorean - Jun 30, 2021

You commenting on this review with nothing substantive is not a great idea, btw.

Merlyn - Jun 30, 2021

Of course you comment on Bleeding Cool, that's a leftist hivemind if I've ever seen one. :)) Because I find it pretty weird to stalk other people? I mean, you do you, I just wouldn't do that.

Psycamorean - Jun 30, 2021

Well... I typically use Bleeding Cool for comic news because it works as a timely aggregator of other stories published exclusively through other outlets, plus the occasional leaks come out, and I enjoy reading those. I don't go there for the politics. And I've been reading them for... several years now and I only have... six comments made. So, I guess I'm just basking in the leftist afterglow over there, huh?

Psycamorean - Jun 30, 2021

I don't stalk you. I saw you comment on a Newsarama article and noticed the double smiley tick, so I clicked on your profile to see what you were up to, and boy, what a total lack of surprise that was. That's not stalking.

daspidaboy - Jul 1, 2021

Look, I respect your bias with Marvel Comics and how you prefer Marvel Comics over DC Comics, even though I'm the other way around. The question is: This is a critic review site. Why did it went from: I like Marvel Pride #1 more than DC Comics because its more supportive of LGBTQ to "wokeism" and "newsarama". This is a critic review site, where we get to hear your thoughts on comic books, not on other people.

daspidaboy - Jul 1, 2021

I personally disagree with Merlyn on A LOT of stuff, like Tynion's Batman or Tom Taylor's Nightwing, etc. But I dont write half of my review just singling him out. I may heavily disagree with Merlyn's stuff, and sometimes it annoys me a bit but then I kind of move on. This went from a critic review website, not Twitter.

daspidaboy - Jul 1, 2021

I may not be the best example of this since my review on Heroes Return #1 of course, but at least I dont go this extreme. if I do have problems with other people's opinions, I usually comment on other people's reviews instead of making my half of my review personal. But that's just how I roll with this, I would like to hear your thoughts. (By the way, I meant that I like DC Comics but I'm also a big MCU Fan so I'm a fan of both)

Psycamorean - Jul 1, 2021

I think that people like Merlyn and Briton and others don't get nearly enough pushback for what they say, and I think it's important that that happens. I've commented on their reviews and I've done this. It seems like they'd rather I'd not say anything at all, since dissent and argument gets blocked. So, I prefer putting it in my reviews where I can express myself fully.

Psycamorean - Jul 1, 2021

I did the same thing with the DC pride issue too. Both of these reviews are half reviews and half calling out the blatantly regressive and misinformed opinions a shocking number of people on this website have. I think it's important to call it out when you see it instead of letting it fester.

Psycamorean - Jul 1, 2021

This is a review site and a community, and that community is terrible. This review site doesn't have any standards and because of that, reviews quickly become political and therefore personal. I wish we could argue the merits of this issue or any other one, without bringing the rest into it, but comics are art and art has its biases, and therefore its politics, and that will be why something is review-bombed.

Psycamorean - Jul 1, 2021

I want to push back against this brainless, reactionary mentality and part of that is explaining why it's okay to have positive queer representation, for instance. Because to people like Merlyn, that creates a negative response automatically. Letting Merlyn and those like him have their review-bombing circle jerk doesn't help anything.

Psycamorean - Jul 1, 2021

It just makes this website's community worse, and the broader comic book community worse. For any sort of group that isn't male, white and straight. Different comic opinions are fine, but bigotry, advocacy of conspiracy and harmful misinformation are not fine.

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Only liked the She-hulk story, Rest was from ok to meh

This one was slightly better than DC's effort but still not good enough. I enjoyed Allan Heinberg's story (as in, one page, but it was actually very good), the Titania and "She-Hulk" story, partially Iceman's story and Somnus'. Still, a lot more misses than hits and the misses were big ones. Sorry, I know we're all supposed to pretend these types of books are awesome but I'm not playing that game. Do better, Marvel!

People who complain about DC Comics having too many dialogue obviously havent read Marvel Comics. This issue has so much dialogue that I felt that I would be reading a novel. IT's not just the amount of dialogue, its how boring the characters feel.

I wouldnt even be this annoyed too, but the art here is lacking and cartoony compared to DC Pride. Seriously, the art here has no effort. If you want to make LGBTQ happy, at least provide solid art that at least has effort to it.

The comics industry continues to cut its own throat by backing identity politics. Very few people will actually buy this comic. The print run will be shipped out to schools to poison and confuse children.

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Merlyn - Jun 27, 2021

I'm all for tolerance and acceptance but indoctrinating children... yeah, that doesn't fly well with me, sorry.

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