Earlier this year, Black Lightning creator and longtime comic writer Jenny Blake appeared as a transgender person. Now, Blake and DC are teaming up to tell her story as Blake announced that he will write the upcoming DC Pride 2025 One-Shot autobiographical story, “Master Planner.” Blake will be joined by artist Sarah Soller and letter Jodie Troutman for the story.
“Master Planner” has participated in previous autobiographical entries in the DC Pride series, including “Finding Batman,” which won the Eisner Award by Kevin Conroy and artist J. Bourne, and “Space” by Fil Zimenez and artist Julio Macaione. This year’s DC Pride Entry is Jenny Blake’s DC’s first new work since she was transgender in February. In a statement to announce the story, Blake explained her reception for her announcement and the inspiration for the story.
In addition to the announcement of the story of the new Jenny Blake pen, DC has also announced a content page for DC Pride 2025. The publisher also revealed a variant cover of Sozomaica, the artist in question, featuring fan favorite couples Harley Quinn and Poison Ivy.
You can read the whole one-shot, including DC’s full release about Blake’s story and more quotes from contributing creators. DC Pride 2025 is scheduled to be released in stores and digitally on Wednesday, June 4th. The final order cutoff for this issue is Monday, May 5th.
In an extraordinary collaboration between the two famous voices of the manga, DC today announced the addition of an original story, “The Master Planner,” by author Jenny Blake and artist Sarah Soller. Giulio Macaione) 2024, Blake’s heartbreaking quest for a universal quest for identity, authenticity and self-understanding.
Jenny Blake is a pioneer who has contributed to the comics industry for over 50 years and shared his sincere remorse on the project.
“When I came out as a transgender person, the comic community was overwhelmingly affectionate and supportive. It was unexpected and very positive that I was asked to contribute to this anthology. I’ve done a lot of cool things over the course of my 50+ years in comics, and this story is one of the things I’m most proud of.
The story is vividly brought to life with Sarah Soller’s extraordinary artistry, and invites readers to both personal and broadly relevant journeys, bridging the human experience of transformation, resilience and belonging. Soler’s style beautifully captures the essence of Blake’s story, creating perfect harmony between words and visuals.
Blake’s original storyline is a testament to the strength of the community and the power of storytelling in building empathy and understanding along with the entire creative team across DC Pride.
“Superhero comics are truly the perfect medium for telling stories about communities,” said Jude Ellison S. Doyle of DC Pride 2025.
“Growing up, I was a huge fan of DC Comics,” Maya Houston continued. “After realising my oddity and finding a community within that identity, it became even more exciting to see the heroes I grew up in resemble my loved ones and my own lives.
“It’s a real honor to work with these talented and passionate creators and tell stories that celebrate our community,” added Josh Trujillo. “I came out when there were virtually no mainstream queer superheroes, so I can’t overstate what it means to me to be part of DC Pride. We’re all lucky enough to build on the hard work of previous queer creators.
“Yeah, I’m like a broken record about this. Every reader deserves to see themselves in the comics!” Tim Sheridan said. “And when pride stands for something, we should express our resilience in the face of uncertainty, anxiety, hatred. And in the hero, around us, and in the mirror, it continues this year’s story. And this year’s story (and for the first time, it’s one big unified story) ignores what we feel in our hearts, so we are proud of it. Our anxiety and fear is to own all of it.
Additionally, the DC editorial team has selected a handful of letters, cosplay and fan art to be published in a letter column on the DC Pride 2025 page. It originally reflects how fans’ contributions to DC Pride 2025 are affecting DC’s storytelling legacy, and how Lgbtqia+ Identity+ Indecional’s contributions are impacting.
DC Pride 2025 will be released on June 4th and will be available where comic books are on sale. Contributors include authors Vita Ayala, Jude Ellison S. Doyle, Maya Houston, Sam Mags, Tim Sheridan and Josh Trujillo. Artists Don Aguiro, Vincent Cecil, Derek Charm, Al Capran, Giulio Macaione, Alex Moore, Skyler Patridge, Emilio Piriu, Max Sarin and Philip Sevy. Colorists Ellen Angiolini, Geordy Beller, Triona Farrell and Marissa Louise. Letters Adity Abidikar, Frank Kvetkovich, Lucas Gattoni, Arianamar, Morgan Martinez, Jodie Troutman main story “The Heart Wants”. With “Master Planner” Break, Solar and Troutman. The 96-page prestige comic features a main cover from Kris Anka and variant covers by Sozomaika, Julia Reck and Jack Hughes (1:25), all on sale at USD 9.99 (card stock).
