Star Wars comics will celebrate Pride Month this June with a series of variant covers highlighting LGBTQ+ characters like Lando Calrissian, Doctor Aphra, and Sana Starros. Throughout the month these popular characters will adorn the covers of all of Marvel’s monthly Star Wars titles. The covers will also serve to highlight the talent of a number of LGBTQ+ artists.
The covers are the latest in a number of celebrations that Marvel has planned for Pride Month. A series of nine covers by artist Phil Jimenez will spotlight a number of LGBTQ+ heroes from Marvel Comics, including Iceman, Mystique, Daken, and America Chavez. A special one-shot, Marvel’s Voices: Pride #1 will be the publisher’s first special specifically focused on LGBTQ+ characters. DC Comics will also mark the important month with an 80-page anthology, DC Pride.
The first Star Wars cover released by Marvel features badass smuggler and anti-hero Sana Starros. This cover was created by artist Jan Bazaldua and colorist Rachelle Rosenberg and will accompany Doctor Aphra #11, set to be released on June 30. More covers for Star Wars titles will be released in the coming weeks featuring the work of artists like Javier Garron, Babs Tarr, Jacopo Camagni, JJ Kirby, and Stephen Bryne. Each will also include a Pride variant on the title’s logo. In addition to Sana Starros, other Star Wars characters who will appear on Pride covers include Rae Sloan, Yrica Quell, twins Terec and Ceret, Doctor Aphra, and Lando Calrissian. “This talented team of artists is bringing so much passion and enthusiasm to these covers,” said Star Wars comic editor Tom Groneman. “For me, sharing that passion with fans and readers is a wonderful celebration of the most unique, compelling, and iconic characters in the Star Wars galaxy.”
The covers are big step for LGBTQ+ representation in Star Wars, but there is still quite a ways to go. While comics and novels have hinted or explicitly mentioned that certain characters are members of the LGBTQ+ community, no such characters have been depicted on-screen except for one brief kiss between background characters in Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker. The nature of LGBTQ+ identity has never been addressed in any of the films or television shows. While Solo actor Donald Glover and writer Jonathan Kasdan have stated in interviews that popular character Lando is pansexual, that has yet to actually be portrayed or discussed in an actual Lando Calrissian story.
Hopefully the Pride Month covers will open the doors for more representation in Star Wars media. The first cover will arrive on June 2 with Star Wars: War of the Bounty Hunters #1. The other issues included will be Star Wars: Bounty Hunters #13, Star Wars #14, Darth Vader #13, Doctor Aphra #11, and The High Republic #6.
