May is Asian American and Pacific Islanders Heritage Month, and this year DC Comics is celebrating the occasion by putting their AAPI characters front and center. The publisher has announced a line of themed variant covers by AAPI creators that will adorn seven releases throughout May. The month will also see the release of Duo, the first series in DC’s new Earth-M line, and a book featuring two Asian American leads.
Here’s a list of the May-shipping DC Comics titles featuring AAPI-themed variant covers, and the cover artwork (courtesy of DC) where available:
- Batgirls #6 – Variant cover by Audrey Mok, on sale May 10
- Catwoman #42 – Variant cover by Takeshi Miyazawa, on sale May 17 (To be revealed)
- Monkey Prince #4 – Variant cover by Marcus To, on sale May 3
- Nightwing #92 – Variant cover by Jen Bartel, on sale May 17
- Robin #14 – Variant cover by Dexter Soy, on sale May 24
- Superman: Son of Kal-El #11 – Variant cover by Brian Ching, on sale May 10
- Swamp Thing #13 – Variant cover by Anand Radhakrishnan, on sale May 24
The themed variant covers mark the second year in a row that DC has highlighted AAPI Heritage Month. Last year the publisher released DC Festival of Heroes: The Asian Superhero Celebration, a massive one-shot featuring stories about DC’s AAPI characters by creators of Asian descent. The one-shot is notable for having introduced Gene Luen Yang and Bernard Chang‘s Monkey Prince, a new superhero inspired by Chinese folklore, who is currently headlining his own 12-issue maxiseries.
The new variant covers join Duo, the new 6-issue series from writer Greg Pak and artists Khoi Pham and Scott Hanna, the lead-off title of DC’s new Earth-M line spearheaded by Milestone founders Reginald Hudlin and Denys Cowan. The series follows nanotech engineers Dr. Kelly Vu and Dr. David Kim, who find themselves sharing a single body in the aftermath of an attack.
Look for Duo #1, as well as all seven of the AAPI-themed variant covers from DC Comics, to arrive in stores in May 2022.
