Author Archives: Elana Levin

Creator Jadzia Axelrod on Galaxy The Prettiest Star for DC Comics

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“Being normal was never going to save me,” says Galaxy the trans space princess protagonist of GLAAD Award Nominated graphic novel Galaxy: The Prettiest Star. “That’s my ‘with great power comes great responsibility’ moment. That’s [Galaxy’s] superhero moment,” says co-creator, writer Jadzia Axelrod.

Jadzia is the author of Galaxy: The Prettiest Star, a new YA graphic novel illustrated by Jess Taylor and published by DC Comics. Jadzia joins us to talk about creating this new trans (and not just metaphorically trans) superheroine, her creative process, some DC Comics queer history, why David Bowie works in a contemporary graphic novel and Hawkgirl’s favorite football team.

“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.”

Dungeons & Dragons and IP Law: Getting Lawful Neutral with Linda Codega

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Swift fan organizing gets the goods! Dungeons & Dragons planned to change how independent content creators could monetize their D&D-related work, but backlash caused the Hasbro-owned company to change the controversial plan. Hear what this Gargantuan news from the world of tabletop role playing games means for comics fans and fandom at large with the TTRPG reporter who broke the story, Linda Codega.

Keep up with Codega’s reporting here https://gizmodo.com/author/lcodega

http://lindahcodega.com/ 

Listen to the GP Radio guide to getting into TTRPGs – https://bit.ly/ttrpgGP 

Graphic Policy Radio: X-Men and the MLK Legacy Roundtable

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One of our most listened to episodes of Graphic Policy Radio discussed the X-Men and their use as an allegory of the civil rights, it covered the series throughout its many incarnations and writers. The discussion also veered into the depiction of minorities in “comic” entertainment and Marvel’s continuity. In honor of MLK Day, we present that podcast discussion.

Guests joining in on the conversation were:

  • Steve Attewell – A political & union activist, Steve holds a PhD in History from the University of California, Santa Barbara. He is the founder and writer of Race for the Iron Throne as well as The Realignment Project
  • David Brothers – David works for a comics publisher, blogs about stuff at 4thletter.net, & tweets about everything at @hermanos. Find his life story at iamdavidbrothers.com.
  • Gene Demby – Gene Demby is an American writer and journalist & the lead blogger for NPR’s Code Switch team.
  • Emma Houxbois – Emma is a queer blogger for hire out of Vancouver, BC most recently attached to Girls Read Comics. Follow her @emmahouxbois
  • Kendra James – a blogger who writes on race, comics, television & more for Racialicious, follow her @wriglied

You can listen to the archive above or go here and download it for on the go.

What are the top 50 comic book events of all time?

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Shelfdust.com asked 150 comic book critics to list our favorite event storylines, “You know the type – something big, dramatic, crossing over a dozen different comics across the course of a few months, with everybody being effected by whatever it is that happens at the end of the story. Whether it be a Crisis or War of some kind, or just the latest in an annual routine which sees Earth invaded by some kind of bigger and badder threat than any that Earth has seen for, well, at least six months or so.”- Steve Morris, founder of Shelfdust.

Critic Steve Morris joins us to talk about the results of the critics poll, what makes for a great event and what even counts as an event anyway!

Read the lists of top 50 comics events: https://shelfdust.com/tag/top-fifty-comic-book-events/

Support Shelfdust – https://www.patreon.com/shelfdust

My essay on OMAC for Shelfdust’s notorious Infinite Crisis series https://shelfdust.com/2020/10/08/infinite-crisis-with-elana-levin-who-or-what-is-omac/

Andor S1 part 2: “The Internationale” Goes Intergalactic, Star Wars Style

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Rebel organizer Charles Lenchner and Jedi Master Klaudia Amenábar return to cover the second half of Andor season 1, showrunner Tony Gilroy’s revolutionary Star Wars show– which airs, somehow on Disney+. 

In part 1 of my podcast’s Andor coverage (listen to that episode first https://bit.ly/ComradeAndor) we joked about a Star Wars reimagining of “The Internationale”. I loved the idea so much, that we made one. Original melody composed by Pierre De Geyter, Star Wars-ified lyrics by Katie Unger. Vocals by me while I was sick with COVID but didn’t know it yet (hence the delayed release of this podcast and my less than polished singing). 

Check out Klaudia’s podcast: RuPalp’s Podrace: A Queer Star Wars Podcast https://rupalps-podrace-a-queer-star-wars-podcast.simplecast.com/ and find more of her writing and Star Wars resources https://linktr.ee/kaludiasays

Follow Charles Lenchner on twitter (for now – https://twitter.com/clenchner ) 

Black Panther Wakanda Forever: Film Critics and Movement Organizers Discuss

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From the sound of Mayan spoken in a Marvel movie, to the beauty of wearing a mask to breathe, Ryan Coogler’s new Black Panther movie, Wakanda Forever has a lot to say.

And so does my panel of experts:

Moji Alawode-El, Feminist Buzzkills Podcast https://www.aafront.org/fbklive/

Marcus Pinn,  Zebras in America podcast / Pinnland Empire film blog http://www.pinnlandempire.com/

Felicia Perez, Head of Memes at TaskForce.US . https://www.feliciaperez.com/

PS there is an audio glitch when Elana is explaining Riri Williams. Elana is trying to say that in the comics the character Riri Williams was specifically designed to be a superhero.

Andor: Star Wars rebels and real world revolutionaries. Part 1

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Comrade Nemik isn’t alone in developing a revolutionary analysis of the world of Star Wars. My expert guests bring a knowledge of the history of revolutions, the huge Star Wars mythos and real world activism to their analysis of the first 7 episodes of the series, Andor.

“I do love when Star Wars is like, yes, I know they’re Nazis, but did you know they’re also the United States” –  Klaudia Amenábar, RuPalp’s Podrace

“Both sides are attempting to use polarization to advance their goals.” – Charles Lenchner, Organizing 2.0/former political prisoner. 

“What is the Rebels’ Ladder of Engagement?” – Elana Levin, host/ Organizing 2.0.

The first approx 20 minutes of this episode are entirely spoiler-free. 

For Klaudia’s podcasts, writing and social media  https://linktr.ee/kaludiasays

For an uncorrected transcript of this episode: https://share.descript.com/view/obP89Xhg4Wr

For people imagining a Star Wars version of The Internationale, stay till the end.

Deep Space Dive: A Deep Space 9 pod w/ NY State Senator Gustavo Rivera

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From Bajor to the Bronx we’re joined by State Senator Gustavo Rivera, a tried and true Trekkie. Serving in the New York Senate since 2010, Gustavo has beaten the odds, facing down real world Kai Winns, negotiating soil reclamator disputes and championing New York’s Medicare for All bill.

We talk about communities, real and fictional alike, pulling through the wreckage of colonialism. Especially Puerto Rico and Bajor.

Follow him on Twitter at https://twitter.com/Rivera4TheBronx and https://twitter.com/NYSenatorRivera

Donations still needed for the Puerto Rican-lead Hurricaine Fiona Community Response Fund https://secure.actblue.com/donate/fionaresponse

Elana takes full responsibility for the really sloppy photoshop images. 

Blade Maidens: Sword Lesbians, Monsters, Magic, Disaster Humans in a webcomic

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Blade Maidens is a fantasy adventure romance comic starring two disaster mercenaries trying to get by. Read it online for free at https://www.blademaidens.com/

The series’ creators joined me to talk about their fantastic debut series. Also, the X-Men, a little.

Valentine Smith is a writer, illustrator, and comic artist. They were shaped by a love of horror movies, music, and comicbooks. Their website has the wonderful X-Men fan comics the team made prior to making their own series. http://www.valentinemsmith.com/

Zoe Tunnell is a trans, lesbian writer who previously wrote criticism and essays for sites like WWAC and ComicsXF and has transitioned (for the second time in her life!) into writing comics proper with Blade Maidens. Follow her https://twitter.com/blankzilla

Deep Space Dive: A Star Trek Deep Space 9 podcast: Mirror University

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DS9’s Mirror Universe episodes: simultaneously campy and tragic, we love these episodes’ windows into other possible Star Trek worlds. Join us as we recalibrate the transporter polarity for a journey through the looking glass.

Deep Space Dive is a Star Trek Deep Space Nine podcast where we examine the series’ social and artistic themes and characters– particularly with a queer lens. We don’t do recaps, we do do spoilers. DS9 came out in the 90s, so watch then listen. 

Catch up on our podcast within a podcast with this playlist of Deep Space Dive episodes https://graphicpolicy.com/deep-space-dive/. This is episode 9. 

Got a question? Tweet at Elana – https://twitter.com/Elana_Brooklyn or email: deep space dive podcast gmail.com (no spaces).

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