Obscurity of DC Presents: Ultra-bscure Book Club, Week 11 (January 29-February 4) --- GALAXY: THE PRETTIEST STAR!

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Welcome, @ObscurityofDCClub and other members of the DC Community! Welcome to Obscurity of DC’s eleventh Ultr-Obscure Book Club! This week, we’ll be focusing on…

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Galaxy: The Prettiest Star
AGE SUGGESTION: 15+

Number of Books: 1

VERY long description from dc.com: 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.

Now that that’s over with, here are some discussion questions:

  1. Taylor is one of the first transgender characters to ever be made by DC. How do you think Taylor will inspire the next generations of DC heroes?
  2. In my opinion, one of the best parts of this comic is seeing Taylor’s internal thoughts and desires. Did you enjoy Taylor’s internal thoughts too? What impact do you think it made in the story? Explain.
  3. The art is a very unique style that I’ve only seen once before. Why do you think Jess Taylor (the artist) decided to use this style of art for her story? Do you think it represents something? Explain.
  4. Do you condone or condemn Phil’s prohibition of Taylor being herself? Why?
  5. Do you like Taelyr’s relationship with Kat? Why or why not?

Do you have an interest in exploring the unknown? Do you like discussing comics? Do you like pineapple on pizza? If so, The Obscurity of DC Club is the club for you! Join HERE if you’re interested!

REAL Obscurity of DC
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Okay, this was another one where I initially wanted to just read the first few pages so I can have it available for me later and I ended up reading the whole thing in one go. :sweat_smile: So I guess you can say I liked it.

First, some mood music:

(BTW, after realizing the first chapter was based on this album I decided to let it play while reading, 10/10 would recommend)

  1. Taylor is one of the first transgender characters to ever be made by DC. How do you think Taylor will inspire the next generations of DC heroes?

Not sure if you mean in terms of in-universe or in the real world sense, so I’ll answer both.

In-universe it’s hard to answer because she really doesn’t deal with any big superhero threats – which was kind of surprising, considering how much they talk about the Vane being this threat. Maybe they were saving that for a sequel? :crossed_fingers:

This story does give her the superhero name of Galaxy, but her struggle is less in dealing with costumed super-villains and more in being accepted in her small town. It uses the superhero identity as Galaxy’s inner strength to come out and be who she really is. I think that works as that is definitely something that superheroes represent – the idealized version of the self. Clark Kent looks like this weak, meager reporter who the beautiful Lois Lane won’t look his way, but there’s this strong and vibrant Superman that beats deep inside of him. I think Galaxy evokes that pretty well.

As for our world, I think what books like this will inspire first is allowing more LGBT creators to take control and create narratives like this. Which isn’t to say that only LGBT creators should do it, but I think having more creators be able to tell more authentic stories about trans characters can help make these characters more three-dimensional and viable in the future.

  1. In my opinion, one of the best parts of this comic is seeing Taylor’s internal thoughts and desires. Did you enjoy Taylor’s internal thoughts too? What impact do you think it made in the story? Explain.

It definitely helps make the reader instantly sympathetic to the character, to see her inner turmoil and struggle in both hiding her true identity and when she comes out.

  1. The art is a very unique style that I’ve only seen once before. Why do you think Jess Taylor (the artist) decided to use this style of art for her story? Do you think it represents something? Explain.

First, just a heads-up – I saw on the creator tags at the end of the book that the bit for artist Jess Taylor uses they/them pronouns, so that’s what I’ll be using to talk about them, just to be on the safe side.

Anyway, the art in this is gorgeous – it’s cartoony but in a way that feels true, and the color palate is exquisite. There’s a particular scene early on that stands out – outside of the Galaxy transformations of course – where Taylor is imagining her screaming at her “family” during her birthday party, and it transitions to all these firey reds that just really epitomizes her anger and anguish.

  1. Do you condone or condemn Phil’s prohibition of Taylor being herself? Why?

I mean, hiding on Earth from the Vane makes sense and while we don’t really see the Vane, we get enough context to understand why he’d want to stay away. However, the thing that is really hard to condone is Phil’s choice to change Taylor’s gender while in human form. From what is said about them, if the Vane were to find out they’re on Earth, they’ll be drawn to the Galaxy stone inside Taylor, so is making her look like a boy really going to make that much of a difference?

Phil is definitely one of the weaker characters in this, because we don’t really get to see into what is going on in his head, and he doesn’t really let anything else out, to the point where him deciding to let Taelyr go to the dance didn’t really feel in character. It would have been interesting if we got more from his perspective, maybe what his relationship with Taelyr was before they became refugees.

  1. Do you like Taelyr’s relationship with Kat? Why or why not?

I mean, the worst thing I can say is that it’s maybe a little cliche’ – I think I’ve read enough YA stuff to take one look at Kat in her first panel and think “Yep, there’s the obligatory love interest.” But it’s sweet and works well as Taelyr’s strongest advocate.

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I agree with everything you said. Didn’t know about Jess, so that’s my bad! Sorry about that!

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