We’ve had some rather great Women’s History and Black History Month variants this year, so the wait has seemed longer to finally see 2024’s Pride Month variants! There aren’t as many series out in June as there has been in the past, so there’s only four covers this year, but they make the most of it with having only one returning perennial character appearance! Head below for the covers!
Year four of the Pride Month variant covers gets big points for bringing new characters, including one who hasn’t been in a story since 2017: Sinjir Rath Velus! Doctor Aphra appearing all four years in a row makes sense, she is the franchise’s most recognizable LGBTQIA+ character to date, but her inclusion does bring up a point every year has had a problem with: the series not having a character who is LGBTQIA+ to feature on its own cover, meaning they’re pulling from other stories for the roster. Hopefully one year this won’t be the case and each cover will have a chance to star a character its included for representation. As for who is doing each cover and who stars on it:
- Former Jedi Ruu, who was introduced in Alyssa Wong’s short story in The High Republic: Tales of Light and Life, is the franchise’s first trans masculine character. He goes on to appear in The High Republic Adventures: Crash Landing #1 and will be seen again in its sequel, The High Republic Adventures: Crash and Burn #1. He is drawn by Phil Jimenez.
- Cair San Tekka and Xylan Graf, members of two rival families whose marriage comes as a surprise to everyone involved, are a core part of the current The High Republic storyline as well, starring in the recent big release for Phase III, The High Republic: Defy the Storm! They’ll also be in The High Republic: Temptation of the Force, out in June as well! This one is drawn by Paulina Ganucheau, who in Marvel’s announcement of the covers said, “Illustrating Cair San Tekka and Xylan Graf on my cover was a dream come true. I love drawing beautiful cool people, and let’s be real, they both fit that description to a T.” And she is very, very correct!
- Sinjir Rath Velus starred in the Aftermath Trilogy, an interesting character whose journey is one of the more memorable ones in the series, I hope we’ll see him in live-action soon given his position to Mon Mothma in the post-Return of the Jedi era. He’s drawn by Javier Garrón, who said this about bringing Sinjir to life: It’s a huge responsibility to help him find a new way to live on, and I sincerely hope I did him justice by showcasing his defiant attitude and the strong look in his eyes—and his beautiful hair!
- Doctor Aphra…does she need an introduction at this point?!? She appeared in the pages of Darth Vader (Vol. 3) in a brief two-issue story, so it fits to have her on its cover, but the main event these past few years was her absolutely stellar Doctor Aphra (Vol. 2) series by Alyssa Wong. We’re still waiting on learning about what comes next, as the final issue teased she’ll return soon…Pride Month would be a great time to announce what’s next! The artist is Rachael Stott, who is currently working on The High Republic Adventures: Saber for Hire miniseries!
And here are the covers with their release dates:
June 5: Star Wars #47 (Vol. 2) stars Ruu, by Phil Jimenez | The High Republic #8 – Phase III has Cair San Tekka and Xylan Graf, by Paulina Ganucheau
June 12: Sinjir Rath Velus appears on Jango Fett #4, by Javier Garrón
June 19: Doctor Aphra appears on Darth Vader #47 (Vol. 3) by Rachael Stott
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