A review by siena_j_p
Marvel's Voices: Pride #1 by Leah Williams, Steve Orlando, Crystal Frasier, Jan Bazaldua, Allan Heinberg, Tini Howard, Terry Blas, Jacopo Camagni, J.J. Kirby, Jethro Morales, Kieron Gillen, Luciano Vecchio, Lilah Sturges, Vita Ayala, Anthony Oliveira, Mariko Tamaki, Jim Cheung, Derek Charm

adventurous emotional inspiring fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? N/A
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? N/A

4.0

This is part of a really cool project that Marvel has been doing the last couple of years where they compile work by creators of a certain identity about characters of that identity – in this case, queer characters. It includes original segments, selections from comics dating back decades (including Northstar coming out as the first openly gay Marvel hero in 1992), and essays by queer Marvel creators. As anthologies tend to be it was a bit hit or miss for me, probably partially depending on the amount of context I had for each character. Interestingly, the two I found most compelling were the two pre-2000 segments included. One is the Alpha Flight one mentioned above, in which Northstar comes out. It’s intensely emotional and in my opinion, shockingly compassionate for early gay representation. It deals with Northstar adopting a baby girl born with AIDS and then being confronted by a man who blames the media obsession with this so-called ‘innocent’ girl for his gay son being abandoned to die of AIDS. Again, I found it to be incredibly nuanced, making the kind of arguments that I’ve only really seen understood in queer communities. The second was the Incredible Hulk issue “In the Shadow of AIDS,” which goes back and forth between Hulk trying to save his friend who’s dying of AIDS and his wife working at a call center trying to convince a young man who’s been recently diagnosed not to kill himself. It is incredibly intense but very powerful, especially given that the editors chose to follow it by Marvel employees’ stories of their own experience with AIDS (which was almost perfect except for the one guy who felt the need to start talking about God and encouraging people to make good decisions). These two were by far the most memorable to me, but the rest was also filled with queer joy and lovely artwork, so definitely still worth a read. One point I do have to make: Marvel has definitely had its own ups and downs when it comes to queer representation, and certainly isn’t perfect. For obvious reasons this collection isn’t super interested in talking about that aspect of things and definitely tries to paint Marvel in a really positive light. Not a reason to hate it, just something to think about.