The DC Book of Pride

* Cover
* Cover Process

**The DC Book of Pride** is a guide book written by Jadzia Axelrod that profiles more than 50 LGBTQIA+ DC Comics characters in detail.

## Production

Jadzia Axelrod was contacted via e-mail by DK Publishing in summer 2022 to write this book by recommendation of DC Comics on the grounds of being "a huge nerd" that would likely enjoy the research work attached to the project.

### Character Selection

The book's page count was determined before Axelrod came on board, which limited the character selection and led to prioritizing "characters who have explicit LGBTQIA+ identities on-page". The publisher supplied her with an incomplete list with about 200 queer characters in the DC Universe. Members of the Legion of Super Heroes were notably missing.

There were continuous discussions regarding the character selection, with some specifically chosen due to upcoming theme park attractions. At one point, the process was hung up on whether or not to include villains, and according to Axelrod there were multiple entries she wrote that didn't make it into the book due to the fact decisions were being made up until the last minute. Attempting to prioritize human characters, Axelrod personally decided to skip characters such as Danny the Street, Monsieur Mallah, and the Brain. There were some characters she was asked to include that she didn't personally feel were a good fit. "There were reasons, and I respected those reasons when they were told to me."

Discussing specific characters inclusions, Axelrod has noted " if we have limited space, I would rather have Tasmanian Devil, who is a character not a lot of people know, but is the first out gay Justice League member. That’s important and people should know that." "That character is one we almost didn't include, and I'm glad we did, cause I feel like that's an important historical marker." On Aruna Shende , she's stated "They've only had one appearance, but I like them a lot and I think that both as an early genderqueer character and also as someone from India, that was cool!" The author has also mentioned that she was unaware of Xanthe when writing the book, or else they would have been included.

Axelrod has commented on her "self-centered" inclusion of her creation, Galaxy, and the characters inclusion on the back cover, stating "I tried to get her on the cover too, and was told, 'She can be on the back cover, okay? We’re putting characters people know on the front cover.' [...] At the beginning, a lot of that was just self-aggrandizing. ('If I’m writing it, I want my girl in.') But then, when they showed me the layout, I almost cried looking at it, it was so amazing."

At one point, there were going to be more Amazon characters.

Circuit Breaker was chosen to be in the Book of Pride before any of his stories were written, leading to A. L. kaplan having to fabricate a backstory that would include the stories he eventually wanted to do with the charcter.

### Research

When discussing the research process, Jadzia has stated that it mostly consisted of reading a lot of comic books. In the case of characters who had much more extensive histories, some help was solicited by research assistants. Specifically, Chris Conroy of the Gotham Outsiders podcast helped with Tim Drake's entry. "I have read a bunch of Robin comics." said Axelrod, "I have not read them all. Only the gayest ones."

### Layout

The layout for the book was based on DK's previous book "Brave and the Bold! - Female DC Super Heroes Take On the Universe", but Jadzia suggested adding character pronouns next to the names as well as queer terms to the glossary. DK obliged, so long as she was responsible for writing the definitions.

## Character Gallery

The AerieAlysia YeohApolloAquaman (Jackson Hyde)ArtemisAruna ShendeBatwoman (Kate Kane)BiaBlue SnowmanBluebirdBunkerCatmanThe Cheetah (Barbara Minerva)Circuit BreakerCoagulaCrushDreamerEtta CandyExtrañoThe Flash (Jess Chambers)GalaxyGhost-MakerGrace ChoiGreen Arrow (Connor Hawke)Green Lantern (Alan Scott)Green Lantern (Sojourner Mullein)Harley QuinnHippolytaHolly RobinsonIOJay NakamuraJerichoJohn ConstantineMaggie SawyerMidnighterNubiaObsidianThe Pied PiperPoison IvyPorcelainThe Question (Renee Montoya)The Ray (Ray Terrill)Robin (Tim Drake)Sarah RainmakerScandal SavageShining Knight (Sir Ystin)Starman (Mikaal Tomas)Steel (Natasha Irons)StitchSuperman (Jon Kent)Tasmanian DevilTerry BergThunderTraci 13TremorVictoria OctoberWink

## Preview Pages

1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 1.4 1.5 1.6 1.7 1.8 "DC Book of Pride with Jadzia Axelrod" by Gotham Outsiders (June 22, 2023)
2. ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 2.3 2.4 "The DC Book of Pride Is a Tribute to LGBTQ+ Superheroes Throughout History" by Samantha Riedel for them.us (May 16, 2023)
3. ↑ "Opening the Book of Pride with Jadzia Axelrod" by Alex Jaffe for DC Comics (June 6, 2023)
4. ↑ 4.0 4.1 4.3: "Interview with Jadzia Axelrod live from V-Con 2023" by Diversity Issues Podcast (May 29, 2023)
5. ↑ The Code-X Comic Station. (2023, May 12). *Interview with A. L. Kaplan From DC Comics and BOOM Studios!* [Video]. YouTube. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VsPVgYtb8lw