It’s all about The Pride

Soon I shall be releasing all kinds of fun news about the upcoming Space: 1889 & Beyond series, but before then, a guest post from Joe Glass…

 

Hi

I write to you now from my bedroom with a glass of wine!

The Pride is a six-issue mini-series that hopes to expand the diversity of superhero comics, by featuring an all LGBT superhero team who figh for everyone. They fight to improve representation of their community, but that doesn’t mean they are just gay heroes. They are heroes for everyone, who just so happen to be LGBT.

It all came about because I was sick of seeing what few LGBT characters there are in comics relatively stuck in the background. They’ll come in, make a big statement (usually about them being gay or whatnot) and then will barely be seen again, whether through repetitive delays and cancellations of their books, or literally by appearing in the background, with little or no lines or action in the story. LGBT characters became an ‘issue’, trotted out now and then to seem current or relevant, and then quickly discarded when there was too much attention.

Similarly, most minorities face the same kind of backlash in comics. Look at how many reacted to the recent announcement of the new Ultimate Spider-Man. Minorities are sorely under or misrepresented, and when they do appear it’s to extremes of spectacle and negative reactions that are borderline or outright offensive.

The Pride aims to be diverse and open. The heroes are here, and they are queer, and they don’t give a damn ’cause they’re still gonna save the day. It’s about showing that you’re just as good as anyone else, and taking pride in who you are.

At the moment, the comic series is set to start with issue one out November 2nd, and we’ll be published through Deadstar Publishing.

We’re looking to improve distribution and marketing though, and to do this, we need help. We have set up on Indiegogo, and are looking to raise money to market the series and also increase and improve distribution so the message gets out further, wider and louder. It’s also a great way to preorder your copies, especially if you’re based outside of the UK. You can find us on Indiegogo at http://igg.me/p/37384?a=216477&i=shlk

Also, me and my co-writers on my other project, Stiffs, will be appearing at Cardiff’s Comic Guru for a signing Saturday, August 20th 2011. We’ll be signing a special, limited edition Stiffs/The Pride preview comic which features an original The Pride story!