An upcoming YA graphic novel from DC Comics, published under its DC Graphic Novels for Young Adults imprint will introduce a new explicitly gender queer LGBTQ+ character into mainstream comics in Galaxy: The Prettiest Star. Debuting in May 2022, the graphic novel will follow Taylor Barzelay, a seemingly human boy who appears to have a great life, but it is revealed that Taylor is really an exiled alien princess who must fight for her survival and discover her true identity.
DC Comics has been getting progressively queerer every year, and 2021 was a truly landmark year for DC's representation of gay, bisexual, lesbian, transgender, and queer people, with the introduction of several new LGBTQ+ characters, as well as some important established characters coming out as queer. DC Comics had the most nominated titles in this year's GLAAD Media Awards, which awards different media mediums for genuine, constructive representation of queer identities. With Galaxy: The Prettiest Star the DC Comics world is continuing to become even more inclusive of gender diverse people and their existence within the DC Universe.
Galaxy: The Prettiest Star was created and written by the wildly talented openly transgender author Jadzia Axelrod, creator of the popular podcast The Voice of Free Planet X, with gorgeous art by Jess Taylor (Stranger Things, Vox Machina Origins Season III). The official synopsis for the young adult graphic novel reveals:
It takes strength to live as your true self, and one alien princess disguised as a human boy is about to test her power. A vibrant story about gender identity, romance, and shining as bright as the stars. Taylor Barzelay has the perfect life. Good looks, good grades, a starting position on the basketball team, a loving family, even an adorable corgi. Every day in Taylor's life is perfect. And every day is torture. Taylor is actually the Galaxy Crowned, an alien princess from the planet Cyandii, and one of the few survivors of an intergalactic war. For six long, painful years, Taylor has accepted her duty to remain in hiding as a boy on Earth. That all changes when Taylor meets Metropolis girl Katherine "call me Kat" Silverberg, whose confidence is electrifying. Suddenly, Taylor no longer wants to hide, even if exposing her true identity could attract her greatest enemies. From the charming and brilliant mind behind the popular podcast The Voice of Free Planet X, Jadzia Axelrod, and with stunningly colorful artwork by Jess Taylor comes the story of a girl in hiding who must face her fears to see herself as others see her: the prettiest star.
Not only does Galaxy: The Prettiest Star sound like an amazingly exciting original character story but it is also chock full of themes that will resonate with young adults who pick it up. It offers mainstream representation of gender diverse identities in a way that much media does not (but is starting to, in titles such as Nubia & the Amazons). On Axelrods's website she had this to say about Galaxy: The Prettiest Star:
This book is very important to me, for a lot of reasons, not the least of which is its pure, unabashed trans- and queerness. To be able to write this book, to paint every line with a rainbow and not issue a single apology has been incredible. Galaxy is about how being trans is beautiful and how queer love is transformative, and for those messages to be in a book with the “DC” logo on the cover is something I can’t process properly sometimes. It’s too big.
This is a powerful and beautiful message for any transgender or gender non-conforming youth out there, and as Axelrod puts it, it truly is at times too big to process that a comics publisher as big as DC Comics is willing to invest in authors and characters who are transgender. While the comics industry still has a long way to go in terms of genuine integration of queer characters into major stories, the fact that major publishers are becoming so inclusive of gender diversity is a wonderful step in the right direction.
Galaxy: The Prettiest Star looks like it will become an instant DC classic, and hopefully the charming alien Taylor, the "Galaxy Crowned," will find a way to join the broader DC universe in the near future. With DC now publishing an annual Pride collection, and working to integrate queer characters into mainstream titles, it seems likely that Taylor will pop up again, hopefully still written by Axelrod. If you are at all interested in young adult graphic novels, LGBTQ+ stories, or just want to support DC Comics in their journey of queer inclusivity make sure to pick up Galaxy: The Prettiest Star by Jadzia Axelrod and Jess Taylor when it debuts on May 17th 2022.
Source: Jadzia Axelrod