Joe Glass’ LGBTQ+ superhero collective The Pride are back for a whole new set of antics in Pride Adventures. But unlike the main series which suffered from having a revolving door of artists, Pride Adventures makes the most of an eclectic roster of creators to produce a companion series that further develops the world of The Pride in distinctly diverse ways!

Publisher: Queer Comics
Writer: Joe Glass, PJ Montgomery
Artist: Gavin Mitchell, Christian Wildgoose, Samir Barrett, Kris Anka, JD Faith, Dani Abram, Dennis Medri, Adam Graphite, Martin Kirby (Art) Ben Wilsonham (Colours) Mike Stock (Letters)
Price: £1,49 per issue from ComiXology

Our rating: [star rating=”4″]

The stories in Pride Adventures are a mixed bag and range from goofy humour to those with an important message to tell – sometimes in the same story! In the first issue this comprises: It Gets Better, a heart-warming tale about acceptance that sees Fab Man rescue a young boy from a bridge (complete with art by original series artist Gav Mitchell); then there’s Ride The Pain which sees the eternal conundrum of how do invulnerable heroes get tattoos as White Trash and Twink get some ink; before being rounded off by In This Shirt, which features a story based on lyrics by Jamie McDermott and the Irrepressibles and is the beginning of a three part Outrage story which runs across all the issues.

Issue 2 meanwhile, begins with The Pride vs The Pride, a fun bank robbery-foiling action story drawn by Porcelain’s Chris Wildgoose which is a refreshing change of pace from his usual Victoriana steampunk and really show cases his amazing versatility. Then there’s a double bill featuring the ladies of Pride in Moving Forward (where Muscle Mary assembles an army of female heroes) and Ladies Night (which see The Pride ladies relax off duty). It is then rounded off by A Detective Calls which features some outstanding David-Aja-with-colours style artwork from JD Faith that sees the reintroduction of the Outrage character and looks at the consequences of his actions.

Finally, Issue 3 begins seriously with the conclusion of the Outrage story, which reads a bit like Bendis and Oeming’s superhero epic Powers – but that may have been because Outrage reminded us a bit of Triphammer – before things get a little bit lighter with You Can Go Home Again (which sees Twink reunited with the parents he thought had sent him off to be cured), before we finish with the sit-com esque tale The Morning After, which sees Fab Man’s overnight guest having the most intimidating flat mate breakfast ever, as he encounters the various members of the Pride over a morning cuppa. With art by Adam Graphite, whose style reminded us a lot of Adam Hughes, this is perhaps the stand out for the whole series and ends things on a really humorous high.

Pride Adventures, continues the high standards of the first The Pride series, but manages to take it up a couple of levels visually as Glass continues to expand and flesh out the superb roster of characters. As before, the balance of social commentary and informative insights combine with humour and action to create one of the best superhero collectives around. The writing is so well judged, and with every story featuring a message of acceptance, diversity and tolerance, it is not done in such a way to take away from the super heroic elements of the story. So whatever your gender or sexuality, if you love superheroes, then you will love The Pride and Pride Adventures!