Anyone can be a hero, and in the independent comic series The Pride writer/creator Joe Glass has crafted a superhero supergroup made of LGTBQ characters. Debuting in 2012 in the United Kingdom with a six-issue series, which was followed by a spinoff called The Pride Adventures, the comic has been sold by Glass at conventions, by mail and via PDF. And this week it makes its debut on comXology.

"When I was growing up, and coming to terms with my sexuality, one of the things I always felt sad about was the fact there were no visible, openly gay superheroes I could relate to," Glass wrote for an Indiegogo campaign for the series. "Sure, there were one or two, but they lived in the background or were poorly represented. Ever since then, I wanted to change that. And that's what The Pride is all about."

The Pride follows a superhero named FabMan, whose heroic exploits are misrepresented by the media, leading him to band together with others like him to form The Pride. The team is made of of heroes with names like Wolf, Muscle Mary, Frost, Twink, Bear, Angel and White Trash, and they find camaraderie in their shared experiences and a united front against those who don't understand them. Derided by world at large in the comics, The Pride are fighting two wars -- against supervillains they vow to stop as well as the media and judgment by others.

Glass has recruited a notable list of contributors, including series artist Gavin Mitchell and Marvel artist Kris Anka, who provided several covers. In December I interviewed Anka for CBR's "The Sunday Conversation," where he recounted how he became involved with the project.

"Joe approached me a few years ago as he was trying to get this comic off the ground and wanted a cover from me. It was such a personal project for him that I just really wanted to help him out," Anka revealed. "So far I've done three covers for him and a design. There are plans for me to do some more work for him, but that's dependent on time and all that. It's just nice to do some work for someone who truly loves their characters and for the project to have an actual purpose in what it's trying to say. I don't do side work for personal projects like this too often just because I rarely have enough time in my schedule for it, but I just couldn't pass this up, and it's been incredibly fun."

Here's a preview of The Pride #1: