Pride High
| Pride High | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Publication information | |
| Publisher | Pride Comics (Independent) |
| Publication date | 2006 [1] |
| Main character(s) |
Mindsweeper Kid Mischief Scotch Bonnet Suravi Chip Cheetah |
Pride High is an independent comic book created and written by Tommy Roddy. It follows the adventures of five friends who create a gay-straight alliance at their high school for super-powered youth. Various artists have worked on Pride High, including Brian Ponce, Shaun "Spanky" Piela, and Robert Rivera.
The series won one of the third Queer Press Grants.[2]
Inter-Squad Championship
The story takes place at the Poseidon Preparatory Academy for Heroic Youth, a boarding school for superpowered teens located in the fictional West Coast metropolis of Pacific City, California. The school hosts an Inter-Squad Championship (I.S.C.), a year-long competition between various squads with five members each. The story follows one of these squads, a group of friends who use a gay-straight alliance as their squad's theme, calling themselves Pride High.
Main cast
Mindsweeper
Craig Newman is a telepath. Along with reading minds and "mindsweeping" memories, he has the power to bend enemies completely to his will. He is the leader of the team and Kid Mischief's boyfriend.
Official Bio
Kid Mischief
Jorge Ponce is the sidekick of the superhero Mischief. An empath with telekinesis and burgeoning telepathy. Kid Mischief has the power to induce drastic moodswings, taking the concept of emotional manipulation to a new level. He is Mindsweeper's boyfriend. Created by Carl Hippensteel.
Official Bio
Scotch Bonnet
Named after the scotch bonnet pepper, Claire Aedhamair can form semi-sentient beings of living fire and attack her opponents with them. She can also heat objects to melting point by touch, as well as fly by way of her fire powers. Claire is also known affectionately as "Rojita" (little red) by Kid Mischief, her best friend. Created by Andrew Van Marle.
Official Bio
Suravi
Suravi Small is a living solar battery and lives up to her first name, which means "Sun" in Sanskrit. She can unleash the stored energy in the form of incredibly destructive, searing beams of light. Blind since the age of 4, Suravi enrolled in Poseidon Prep under the fledgling Disabled Heroes Program. Mindsweeper was assigned to her as a "telepathic facilitator" and serves as her eyes in combat via "mindcasting."
Official Bio
Chip Cheetah
A former asthma sufferer, Chippendale Chesterfield's life changed the day he saved a stray cat from a group of boarding school bullies. Bast, the Egyptian Goddess of Cats, appeared to him in vision and asked what he wished for more than anything in the world. "To run. To run like the wind, fast and free, faster than the eye can see!" She granted his wish a hundredfold. And so Chip became Chip Cheetah, the boy with the fastest feetah!
Official Bio
Supporting characters
Kid Olympus
Leader of the Argonauts, Pride High's main rivals. Dionysus Tan possesses immense strength and a magical bracer blessed by the gods and goddesses of the Olympic Pantheon. He has a particular dislike for Kid Mischief and bullies him every chance he gets.
In 2007, Kid Olympus was featured in his own Mini-Comic, shipped separately, which featured some backstory to his dislike of Kid Mischief and how his bracer received its powers. In Sept 2009, Kid Olympus #2 was produced by Indypress.
Lightspot
Dr. Christian Gunn. Poseidon Prep's Algebra and Calculus teacher. Has the ability to control light and darkness, including teleportation through shadows. Created by Michael Millard.
Verdant
Jarot Claas. The school's head resident advisor, and coordinator for the Inter-Squad Championship. A healer and plant controller.
Reader characters
Pride High accepts reader character submissions through the Student & Faculty Registry. Several reader characters have gained cameos and supporting roles in the comic as fellow students, members of rival squads, and teachers. As of Issue 3, a reader character has also joined the main cast. A full third of the heroes depicted on the cover of Issue 3 are from readers.
The Pride High Boards feature Fan Fiction and Roleplay forums dedicated to reader characters, and allow readers to imagine their own involvement in the Pride High universe as an adjunct to possible appearances in the actual comic book.
Unison
A duplicator, Unison became the first reader character to join the main cast of Pride High and the first to get a dedicated cover (Issue 4). Created by Dale Everett.
Sister Bliss
Possessing pink hair, nun's habit, and white go-go boots, Sister Bliss is a fan favorite, with cameos since Issue 1. Recently formed the first reader-based I.S.C. squad, "The Vixens." Created by Dan Wren.
Masquerade
A transgender girl with the ability to shapeshift into any human that she has touched. Created by Sissy Boy.
Capp
A Brazilian/French-Canadian dancer and capoeira fighter. Member of the Poseidon Prep martial arts squad, The Five-Fold Path. Created by Bradley Clutts.
Foreign language versions
The first issue of Pride High is also available in Braille, Dutch, Japanese, and Spanish.
See also
References
External links
- Official site
- Oasis Magazine interview with Tommy Roddy
- Four Color Heroines Podcast Interview
- Radio interview with Tommy Roddy about Pride High and winning the Queer Press Grant, first broadcast on Resonance FM