DC: Pride Tim Drake Special .....2.5 stars

 

DC Pride Tim Drake Special.....2.5 Stars 




As there was nothing of interest last week to purchase from DC, I decided to purchase the DC Pride: Tim Drake Special to find out what all the hoopla was about. For those of you who don't know, Tim Drake (the prominent Robin of the 90's) came out as being bisexual of late, which resulted in a massive backlash from Tim Drake fans, not as a result of him having an attraction to the same sex as I understand it, but rather because it didn't align with his historical continuity of liking women. 

On this I cannot comment, as I have never had a vested interest in Tim Drake, but I do have a vested interested in John Constantine and it didn't bother me when they made him bisexual, because it didn't greatly impact his continuity (If they had make him gay however, I would have been greatly miffed because it would have nullified his ongoing on and off romance with Zatanna), but....

welcome to the world of DC, whereby loyal customers can expect to have their fan favourite heroes, either altered, killed off or replaced on a whim, so while I have no qualms about making a hero part of the LGBTQ community, (as generally no one should in the year 2022) I can feel for Tim Drake fans who are angry about the break in continuity. 

With that being said, you would think that DC would not make his sexuality the vocal point of the comic to appease long time fans, but that is exactly what they do, as the story pretty much resolves around his caring concern for his boyfriend Bernard, in an otherwise flat storyline. Apparently this special is going to get spun off into an ongoing series, to which I say.....best of luck. 

It doesn't look like old school Tim Drake fans are going to buy this book, and with younger fans preferring Damian, I can see it having some sales challenges when your target demographic is most likely less than 6% of the comicbook readership, when you consider only 6% of the general population in the US identify themselves as being LGBTQ. I'm very supportive on most LGBTQ issues outside the comic book world, but I have been vocal in stating I don't think making a character LGBTQ is a selling point, outside of attracting media attention that might bring in speculators to buy a specified comic. 

I was going to go easy on Megan Fitzmartin here, as the headlining story was a bit flat, but bearable, but I didn't realize she wrote the other two stories in which I thought I was reading the rookie writer's section. 

The last story really sucks hard because it was full of teeny bopper heroes. When I was young I was reading about Green Arrow shooting arrows through people's limbs, junior Young Justice heroes appealed to me up to about the age of 9, but after that.....know thy customer DC. I don't think the current generation is softer, I just think they are reading Manga. 


 

 

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