Playing Out Those Greatest Hits — Reviewing ‘Justice League: Dream Girls — A DC Pride Event’ #1

Sweet dreams, are made of what? In some cases, they’re made of stolen histories, powers, and the lives of superheroes. Finding yourself living out ever evolving scenarios walking a dream mile in another person’s shoes. 

This year, DC Comics is kicking their usual Pride offering into a weekly four-part series, headlined by the awesome heroes Galaxy and Dreamer. Justice League: Dream Girls – A DC Pride Event #1 kicks off the new series written by Galaxy creator Jadzia Axelrod and live-action Dreamer actress Nicole Maines, with art from Nicola Scott, J. Bone, Brandt & Stein, Annette Kwok, Marissa Louise, Dearbhla Kelly, Jodie Troutman, and Frank Cvetkovic.  

Now this is a damn fun way to kick things off.  

The other day I was sent a reel by a friend. Within this reel, the creator was responding to the rage from a very particular part of the internet who was going off on click-bait style headlines centered on this story. They were shaking their fists that “Wonder Woman is being made Transgender now” because they are a bunch of hateful dim-witted folks who don’t bother to check context and facts before ripping into full rage mode.  

You know, this event that was billed as one that deals with dreams, a power that one of the headlining characters has, and a villain known for screwing with minds.  

I mention all this because it’s so stupid how much the system is stacked against books like this; one that at its core is as pure a superhero fare as anything that has come in the last 80 something years of mainstream superhero comic books. Axelrod and Maines not only show their knowledge of the DC media spectrum, but their pure love for it all.  

We get to see Dreamer and Galaxy living out different lives on Themyscira,. Dreamer takes over the Wonder Woman role. Then we see a Gotham that is very reminiscent of the 90s animated Batman adaptation comics artistic sensibilities.  

These changing spaces work perfectly for having a big cast of artists on board. With the Paradise Island spaces, we get to see Scott tackle that familiar corner of the universe once more. She offers up her usual dense, bold, and striking style of artwork. It captures the dynamic energy of superheroes just as much as their more human emotional sides. It pairs perfectly with Kwok’s color palette choices.  

The palette is more natural and neutral toned through and through, giving the space a very washed out and kind of dreamy feeling from the get-go. Allowing just certain bits to really delve into more vibrant splashy color realms. An example is Galaxy’s whole color scheme, costumes, and moments like when the fake Steve Trevor arrives.  

Comparatively, the next section of the story has very similar yet far different stuff going down. As noted before, there is a heavily influenced take from the animation domination era of DC Comics. Bone taps well into that animated and animated sensibility.  

Characters feel light and powerful, even as the overall mood is still one that leans into the darker side of things. All the action flows through the panels as details are at times minimized or eschewed to give the character and moment the full focus. The setting space they are dealing with is inside a museum, but because of the story villain choice the boundaries of space mean nothing. That’s what comes with playing inside of the realm of dreams.  

Louise’ color choices play into that dream feeling. They are just like the previous section, more neutral and toned down in many respects, resting upon the darker tones to give the space that density that it might be missing with the stripped back artistic choices made by Bone. Again, it’s the characters that are where things begin to pop and really flash.  

Outside of the DC Universe dream tour sequences, it falls to Brandt & Stein to create the framing sequence of reality. There is once more a lighter feeling to their work, with more dense detailed elements coming into play. It’s the perfect choice of art to match the rest of the issue as it has that whimsical, fun, but also serious tonal range that the whole book rests upon. It’s so very expressive and dynamic, even in the few short pages that we get. 

Here we get the most consistent vibrancy in a color palette as Kelly goes in on the situation and the space. Being the “reality” element of the issue, it makes sense that this moment has more vivid and lifelike colors. We’re no longer wrapped up in the eerie and color-drained dream space after all.  

Across the issue Troutman and Cvetkovic weave logically placed, emotive, and well-processed lettering, giving the characters distinct voices that perfectly fit not just what we know of them but the overall shifting dynamics of the dream sequences. This helps the dialogue and world sounds become bolder and more powerful as we move along.  

A final note about this miniseries so far. While it carries it’s connection to Pride in the title, were this released any other month it would be just as amazing. There is nothing about it that specifically has to be published in just this way. Dreamer and Galaxy are just two tremendous characters and heroes carving their own bigger niche in the universe.  

That’s the mark of a grand story. It’s built for something that it reflects, but also overall feels like a perfect comic book superhero team-up adventure. I love to see it.  

Justice League: Dream Girls – A DC Prime Event #1