An Exclusive Interview with Pride High Comic Book Writer Tommy Roddy

Nearly one year after the successful launch of his groundbreaking LGBT comic book, Pride High, Tommy Roddy is still raising the bar for teen superheroes. Unlike Teen Titans or New Mutants, the Pride High "Out Crowd" consists of a more diverse line up than most comic books.

For starters, the team's current leader is Kid Mischief, a gay Puerto Rican empath with growing telepathic and telekinetic abilities. The team's other members are equally unique. Suravi is a blind lesbian with solar powers. Scotch Bonnet is a fiery Scottish beauty who's still exploring her sexuality. The dashing British animorph Chip Cheetah is frustratingly straight, as is their newest member, Unison, a kid from Hong Kong who has the ability to make living duplicates of himself.

So far the team has endured hurtful prejudice from other students, the death of one their teammates, and losing their first battle in Poseidon Prep's Inter-Squad Championship. In addition to their never-ending struggle to gain respect from Poseidon Prep's other students, each member of Pride High has their own personal conflicts to deal with as well as an ongoing mystery concerning a character whose death left more questions than answers.

Currently on their fourth issue, with the fifth and sixth coming very soon, I recently got the chance to interview Tommy Roddy about the past present and future of Pride High.

What's the premise behind Pride High and what do you feel sets it apart from other super hero books?

TOMMY RODDY: It's about a gay-straight alliance at a school for super-powered teens. There are many comics about LGBT teens. There are many about super-powered teens. It's the combination of the two ideas that isn't so common. But I think the most unique thing about Pride High is the inclusion of reader characters into the storyline.

We've spoken before about how many of the characters for Pride High were created for a role-playing game. What led you to take the leap from superhero role-playing to actually publishing a comic book?

TR: The positive response I received from friends regarding the fiction I wrote.

Your original plans for the comic book were actually about a team of adult heroes. Why did you choose to write about teenage students instead?

TR: To make more room for reader characters. A school setting meshed better with the idea of a large cast. It gives a clear reason why members of the cast move in and out of the storyline. The guest characters share some classes with the main cast, live on the same campus, but have their own lives.

I think could have easily pitched Pride High to a larger comic book company, but what led to your decision to self-publish the series yourself?

TR: I did pitch the story around. But it was seen as "too mature" and "inappropriate" because apparently anything LGBT-related is adult material.

Judging by what I've read in all the issues of Pride High so far, there seems to be a storyline that continually develops with each new issue the same way that television episodes lead up to the season finale.

You've also said before that the series intends to cover the team's sophomore year of high school over the course of 12 issues. What can you tell us about the overall story arc for Pride High and do you have any plans for after the "first season" is complete?

TR: The big theme for the first story arc is personal growth. All of the characters are still figuring out who they are, individually and in relation to their peers. The second arc has already been mapped out and takes place in the first half of their junior year.

The Inter-Squad Championship, or I.S.C ., battles between Poseidon Preparatory Academy's students contribute as much to the excitement of Pride High as much as the ongoing development of the characters. How big a role does the I.S.C. play in the overall story arc of Pride High?

TR: It plays a very big role, but not in the way that it first appears.

Reader guest characters constitute an important part of Pride High's supporting cast, and the reader character Unison recently became a much more central character when he joined the Pride High's I.S.C. squad. Why did you decide to include reader-created characters in Pride High?

TR: With all of my favorite comics, I always wanted to have some sort of involvement. Just to have a character of my own in the background would've been amazing. There was no way I was going to create my own comic book without allowing others the opportunity I yearned for.

Most LGBT comic books published to date usually feature teams tend to have all LGBT characters. Why did you decided to include a mixture of a straight, bi, & gay characters in Pride High?

TR: It's a reflection of my life. Without the support of my straight friends, I never would've come out in high school.

You seemed to personally struggle with the death of a character in Issue #2, even to the point of apologizing to the fans and reassuring them that the character "will not be forgotten." Why was that decision difficult for you?

TR: I wanted to make it clear that I wasn't using the death for shock value and that I have the utmost respect for the character.

As we wrap things up, is there anything else you'd like to tell your readers about upcoming issues of Pride High; hopefully a hint or two you can share?

TR: Archrivals Jorge and Kid Olympus were close friends during the first half of their freshman year.

Pride High is consistently in the top ten books available for sale through IndyPlanet.com and is also available at Whatever and A Different Light in San Francisco. Digital versions of each issue can be downloaded at Pride High's website, www.pridecomics.com.