This article contains major spoilers for both Galaxy: The Prettiest Star, available now from DC Comics, and Marvel's Voices: Pride #1, available now from Marvel Comics.
This year, as part of their Pride celebrations, both Marvel and DC introduced new transgender heroes to their line-ups. Marvel's Pride issue included the story "Permanent Sleepover" (by Charlie Jane Anders, Ro Stein, Ted Brant, and Tamra Bonvillain), which introduced Shela Sexton / Escapade, a transgender mutant. DC, meanwhile, released Galaxy: The Prettiest Star (by Jadzia Axelrod and Jess Taylor), a full-length graphic novel about Taeylor Ilextrix-spiir Biarxiiai / Galaxy Crowned, a female alien who is forced into hiding as a human male while on earth.
These two stories represent different approaches to writing trans characters and superheroes, but neither one is superior to the other. Both tell unique stories that help expand the casts of their respective universes in interesting and exciting ways. Let's explore how these two stories differ and the themes each work explores.
The most obvious difference between the two stories is how they approach their villains. Escapade's story was about a heist, as Escapade sought to steal the onyx needle, an item that is said to be able to change one's fate. Galaxy's story, focused instead on slice-of-life adventures with the main villain not actually appearing in the story itself.
Nominally, the main villain of Escapade's story is Hawthorne Ryan, a man described as a "tech billionaire and small-time cult leader". Much of the story takes place on his helicarrier, the Endevour (spelt with an additional "u"), where Escapade hoped to find the oynx needle. She fought several of his bodyguards, including Cylla Markham / Skullbuster. That said, the oynx needle was revealed to not be aboard the Endevour at all, with the conflict between Shela and Hawthorne being less important than her conflict with the X-Men overall.
Meanwhile, the main villain of Galaxy's story is the Vane, an alien race that invaded Galaxy's home planet and are said to be drawn to positive emotions. Fear of the Vane is a dominant theme throughout the story, with Galaxy and her adoptive family (made from various surviving members of her home planet) letting their lives be entirely controlled by the goal of hiding from them. Galaxy's journey in this story is not about her overcoming the Vane directly, but instead learning to not let fears of a hypothetical Vane invasion control her entire life.
Both their stories are also grounded by the presence of other superheroes, as one would expect for stories set in the main continuities of Marvel and DC. Perhaps unexpectedly, however, both Escapade and Taeylor rejected the frequent comparisons made between them and those heroes - at least for the time being. Shela and her best friend Morgan are mutants, but they do not want to live on Krakoa and they see the X-Men as being tainted by elitism. Emma Frost, however, saw the potential in Shela's powers and wants to work with her.
To this end, Emma transmitted one of Destiny's visions of a possible future into Shela's mind, showing that her powers will kill Morgan if she does not learn to control them. The tension caused in Shela and Morgan's relationship by Emma and Destiny is the central arc of their story, with Shela ultimately agreeing to train with the X-Men against Morgan's wishes.Taeylor, meanwhile, is an alien who is frequently compared to Superman throughout the story. When being suspended from her school for being an alien, she is more or less told that Superman is the only socially-acceptable alien and that Galaxy's lack of superheroic deeds makes it morally okay for humanity to discriminate against her.
Like the Vane, Superman serves a purpose in Galaxy's story that furthers its exploration of trans experiences: Superman is the human-passing standard of an alien that Taeylor needs to stop holding herself to. It is also worth noting that both stories contain queer heroes in their supporting casts as well. Shela comes face-to-face with Destiny, a queer hero whose long-teased romantic and sexual relationship with Mystique was made explicit in 2019. Meanwhile, while Superman is never referred to by his first name, it stands to reason that he is Jonathan Kent, the bisexual son of Clark Kent who currently holds the title of Superman in his ongoing series.
Finally, both of the stories are grounded in the friends, allies, and family that the two heroines have - and, in some cases, do not have. Both characters especially have somewhat strained relationships with their families.
Escapade's main ally is her best friend Morgan. Morgan, a fellow transgender mutant who has the power to turn organic material into chocolate, has been her best friend since grade school, with their backstory being shown throughout the comic via Peanuts-style comic strip interludes. These strips tell the story of Shela coming out to her family twice, first as a mutant and later as a transgender woman, with her family ultimately abandoning her. This caused her to move in with Morgan - the titular "Permanent Sleepover."
Galaxy's story, meanwhile, has a larger supporting cast, including her girlfriend Katherine Silverberg and her adoptive family. Kat and her mother take major roles in Galaxy's life, encouraging her to live as her true self and helping her along the way, doing things like taking her shopping for gender-affirming clothing. While Galaxy's relationship with her family is tumultuous throughout the story, they all accept her as she is by the end of the story and agree to let her live as the alien woman that she is.
Going beyond their debuts, both Escapade and Galaxy are confirmed to be appearing in more books in the coming months. Escapade is slated to be arriving at Krakoa to follow through with her promise with Emma Frost in Marvel's New Mutants #31 later this year. What story Galaxy will be joining, on the other hand, has yet to be announced. The most obvious choice is arguably Superman: Son of Kal-El, but any Earth-bound DC series is technically possible.
Galaxy and Escapade's debuts are very similar in some ways and very different in other ways, but neither is objectively superior to the other. The transgender experience is not monolithic, so it stands to reason that the same should be true of the kinds of stories told about transgender characters. Galaxy and Escapade are both wonderful characters who help expand the diversity of characters in their respective worlds, and it is lovely to see big companies like Marvel and DC greenlight projects like these. Hopefully Galaxy and Escapade both have bright futures ahead of them.