You may've noticed our last episode of Sidekickcast Presents... was ably hosted by a young Welshman by the name of Joe Glass, he kindly went to MCM Expo for us and reported back on all the fun with some great interviews. What you may not have known is that Joe is also a comic book writer in his own right, his book, The Pride was on the flip side of Stiffs which we reviewed just after Cardiff Comic Expo (incidentally, Joe also writes for Stiffs). We thought we'd take the opportunity to grab a 6 page preview of The Pride (scattered in order through the post) and run a few questions by Joe, especially regarding the more unique elements of the project.

Sidekickcast: Let's start at the beginning, what exactly is The Pride about?

Joe Glass: The Pride is a six issue comic miniseries. It’s a superhero story about the formation of a team, who then get drawn into a global threat, and they may be the only heroes capable of saving the day. Oh, and they’re all LGBTQ heroes…lesbians, gay men, bisexuals, trans, post-gay, queer, but all heroes.

The main thrust of the story, besides the obvious action, explosions and kicks in the face, is about representation. They’re not getting the best representation as heroes in their world, so they seek to change that by showing how great they are.

Follow up:

S: There are already a fair few comic books out there with a gay focus/main characters, Spandex, Batwoman, Young Avengers to name a few, I'm sure there are more too, what drove you to produce one? And what makes this book different?

JG: Well, I actually came up with the idea of The Pride many years ago, back when I was about 15 years old. I was really into my comics, and at the time was especially into X-Men. But I always wondered where the gay characters were; being a young gay man myself, I really was feeling under-represented. And sure, X-Men has some great allegory for gay rights, but at the time when I was reading them no character was openly gay, and I felt I just kinda wanted that.

(And before anyone says, Northstar wasn’t in any of the comics I was reading back then sadly)

In much the same way as we can look up to a famous person who comes out, and you do hear of it as more and more get outed in newspapers etc, I would have really loved an openly gay superhero growing up; so I figured someday I’d make some. It’s just taken me until now to do it.

Now as for what makes this one different, well…All the examples you mentioned are great, for one thing. Batwoman is amazing, Wiccan and Hulkling in Young Avengers are fantastic and I love Spandex; Martin Eden is putting some great work out there with that. But if we look at them one at a time:

Batwoman doesn’t really deal with the issue of her sexuality too much. Sure, in Elegy by Rucka et al, there was that excellent ‘Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell’ scene, but otherwise the issues and hot button topics are never touched upon. The Pride, where appropriate, will actively handle supposed ‘gay issues’ but in such a way as to show they’re the same issues that are important to everyone else.

Young Avengers similarly doesn’t tackle situations like that in an informative or challenging way. It’s an incredibly fun comic and I love it, but it never sets out to challenge your thoughts on that topic. Also, we never see Wiccan and Hulkling kiss! They rarely seem to have any kind of physical interaction, unlike heterosexual characters in comics. And I find that sad; by omission, it’s like saying that homosexual love is inherently seedy and not suitable to be shown in that sort of comic. Relationships in The Pride will be handled and equally shown no matter who that relationship is between.

And finally, Spandex; excellent book, really fun read, but it really does hit things in a mature manner. In fact, a lot of ‘gay’ comics do, and the majority are very erotic. The Pride is kind of an all-ages book; situations and themes in the book are no darker or more mature than your average Justice League or Avengers title, so I’m hoping to be putting out one of the first all ages, LGBTQ handling comics that can be accessible to anyone at all, regardless of age or sexuality.

S: What do you think about how gay characters have been represented in comic books up until this point? (Both in the mainstream and indy press)

JG: I recently wrote an article on this, and although I discovered there is certainly no (at least anymore) inherent homophobia within mainstream comics companies, the treatment and representation of LGBTQ characters is still pretty poor. To be fair, that goes with most minorities too.

It’s not out of hatred, possibly it is out of fear (the fear of mishandling it and getting into trouble for that), but whatever the reason, it’s not good enough. In the majority of cases, gay characters wind up relegated to the background (just check out Northstar in Uncanny X-Men these days) or as supporting characters. Rarely is a gay character in a lead role position, and I’m kinda tired of that.

Yes, I love reading about the adventures of heterosexual heroes as much as anyone, but y’know what, I’d really like to see a gay lead too. It’s been attempted once or twice, but the big leaguers often seem to get cold feet, so it never lasts long.

There are a few great examples, but generally representation is low, and treatment and handling is sometimes a little lacking.

As for the indie press, I’d say there’s a bit more representation there which is great. But as I touched on, it’s often quite mature, dealing with sexual situations a lot. A cursory look for LGBT-related webcomics online shows that. So hopefully, people will get behind a cool, accessible comic that everyone can enjoy, but gay readers may just get a joke or two more per issue.

S: You currently have a publishing deal with Dead Star publishing but you also have a Crowdfunder project to help fund the book. Now, I know why it's set at £10,000 because I've read your updates but can you explain why the project is so highly valued?

JG: Well, I’ve been currently funding the comic from the pay I get from my day job, which is pretty much minimum wage, and it’s proving difficult is the basics of it.

End of the day, I was not blessed like many of the incredibly talented creators in the indie and small press comics community with any kind of artistic talent. As such, I have to hire an artist (in the form of the incredibly talented Gavin Mitchell); I then have to hire a colourist (Kris Carter, who is turning in stunning work). Without getting too personal in terms of pay etc, but talent like that costs. So the majority of the funding is to pay these two very talented and deserving individuals.

The rest then goes on hiring other artists to become involved in the project, some of whom are a bit better known. As such, costs of hiring such creators are higher, but hell, you should see the pages they’re turning in!

Finally, any remainder goes towards printing the reward copies of the comics (as these would have to be bought and sent out by myself) and generally towards making it the best package I can put out on the shelves.

S: Can you give us any of the names of artists that are set to feature in the book or that you've approached for the pin-ups? (other than Gavin Mitchell obviously)

JG: Well, so far we’ve had work handed in by the excellent Marc Ellerby who did the Wolf origin story and the young and crazy talented JD Smith did the White Trash page. I can confirm that I threw my own meager attempts at art in there for Angel’s intro (seriously, you see that, you’ll see why I need other artists). And sure, exclusively I can reveal that we have Hector Barros, Cory Smith and Kris Anka involved in various parts of the project. I have been speaking to others, so there’s still more to come!

S: For your preview flip-book with Stiffs, The Pride was several different stories by different artists, will the first run of six books take the same format or will it be a more conventional single story?

JG: It’s more of a conventional single story, featuring the main plot of the team forming and finding their way in the world and showing how good they can be.

There will be backup stories though, all self contained, each limited to a single page, either revealing the origins of, or introducing, one of our heroes. Each of these will be tackled by a different artist, and some of those pages look pretty damn awesome too, I can tell ya.

S: As this is you first full production book, what have you learned that you can pass on to other aspiring creators?

JG: Work hard. Seriously, you gotta strike while the iron is hot. I constantly wish I started this project a lot sooner than I did, and didn’t dilly-dally over whether I should do it or not; if you have something to say, say it.

Be careful what you agree to. Don’t jump in on the first printers you find, don’t go ahead with your first ideas, think about everything, investigate, and weigh the options. Whilst it’s true that absolutely anyone can make comics, you don’t want to throw your money away on something half-cooked.

S: When will issue #1 be available and from where?

JG: Well, the when should be this Fall/Autumn. Sorry to be vague, but it all depends on things like the Crowdfunder, scheduling etc. But we’re looking for an Autumn release, hopefully towards the end of October.

As for where, Deadstar Publishing is an ever growing publisher, and with each day new avenues open up. So far we can certainly say that many indie comic shops around the country will be stocking the book, and we’re looking into getting stocked through Forbidden Planet and possibly some American retailers too. We’re also looking into setting up dedicated websites for The Pride and Stiffs, so keep your eyes peeled to the Facebook group for more http://www.facebook.com/ThePrideComic.

Thank you Joe for taking the time to talk to us, good luck with the book, from this fab (see what I did there?) preview it looks like it's going to be a great comic, striking the right balance between satire and a heartfelt message.