The Key To Everything Lies Within — Reviewing ‘Justice League: Dream Girls — A DC Pride Event’ #2

In dreams, anything is possible. We can live the life we crave or become the person we want to be. That’s all well and good, until dreams become an escape hatch to escape trauma, losses, and feelings about ourselves.  

What might have been a fun walk down superhero memory lane takes quite a sharp turn in Justice League: Dream Girls — A DC Pride Event #2. The next weekly installment comes from Jadzia Axelrod, Nicole Maines, Brandt & Stein, Dan Jurgens, Norm Rapmund, Vincent Cecil, Stephen Sadowski, Joe Quinones, Dearbhla Kelly, Trish Mulvihill, Hi-Fi, Jodie Troutman, and Frank Cvetkovic. 

First off, a major tip of the cap to all the artists that chipped in for this one.  

That’s a whole lot of names and a whole lot of work to pull something like this off. Choosing to tap different artists to handle the different eras mirrored in the dreams was a solid choice. It allows each dream space to feel unique as well as familiar, because there are elements of those old comic book art styles showing up here.  

From the Green Arrow & Green Lantern homage to the Blue Beetle and Booster Gold nod to the Zatanna and Constantine style beat, each artist really lovingly renders the moment, capturing the whimsy, hardness, and emotional depth necessary. Just look at the pages from Quinones during the hard conversation between Dreamer and Galaxy to see pure emotion in two-dimensions.  

The framing element continues to feel really light and fun with the right current of roughness and seriousness. Each of the colorists brought their A-game to understand the assignment, giving us bold and vibrant colors in most of the areas, with just enough darkness or roughness to sell the moment. This brings that classic but modern sense of energy to every page of this event.  

Once again, Troutman and Cvetkovic team up to tackle the lettering across the whole issue. They tap into the same overall energy as the rest of the artwork through and through, delivering voices that are authentic in their emotional depth, uniqueness, and overall power. Switching up things here or there to not only add to those elements but to give more to the overall issue tone.  

It’s still so clear how much Axelrod and Maines enjoy telling not just this story, but playing with the DC Universe as a whole. They show a depth of knowledge and love for not just the characters but the concepts of the world, pulling in characters big and small and really playing into the united nature of the Justice League as it currently stands in the current continuity.  

Turning on a dime, they take us from confusing dreams and classic sort of comic book feeling fun adventures to something more. It feels heavier and far too relatable for a lot of people in the world.  

Dreamer is Transgender, and many of the elements she mentions are specifically dealing with the struggle she’s had to endure because of who she is. Yet, the duo writes it in a way that hammers home hard that people are people and their struggles, while you might not be going through them, are not foreign or incomprehensible. Diversity and representation are important concepts that only make the stories we consume grander and better. At the center of it all, though, is the power of the human experience, the good and the bad.  

Axelrod and Maines deliver that firmly, making sure that their comic doesn’t shy away from the hard aspects of things. It’s here to speak, and the audience better listen up, because the comic isn’t slowing down.  

And never should.  

Justice League: Dream Girls — A DC Pride Event #2 is now available from DC Comics.