This’ll be the landing page for O Human Star for the foreseeable future – at least through the production of Volume 3, which is funding on Kickstarter through Saturday, August 29 2020.
It’s truly surreal to think about OHS… ending after making it a part of my life for over eight years. The final book will arrive in people’s hands in 2021, the same far off, futuristic year I imagined OHS would take place in. A lot has changed over the course of me working on this comic – in regards to myself, the city I call home, and the world I inhabit. My goals as an author have grown and I’m ready to move on from OHS as a completed project, but I’m still humbled that I was able to reach the conclusion I originally envisioned with the support of my readers.
O Human Star is here because of you, and it will always be here for you.
Ah, I love this illustration! Al from the back! Her braid!.. (the hair tie!) 💕
O Human Star is one of my favorite comics! This story forever has a very special place in my heart.
I think the ending is absolutely beautiful. I love that it’s left open and we don’t get to actually see Al’s new appearance. With her transformation, Sulla off into the bright future with her friends and Tsade planning who knows what (“THIS IS NOT HOW IT MUST ALWAYS BE”), the last chapter is full of exciting beginnings, coming changes somewhat scary but ultimately hopeful, it truly feels like a World Without End.
Oh, how I would love to see more stories set in this world someday!..
Thank you for this wonderful journey, Blue Delliquanti!
I also want to thank the awesome community of readers leaving comments every week! Reading everyone’s thoughtful observations, fascinating theories and emotional reactions was a huge part of the fun of experiencing O Human Star as a webcomic.
Really glad to see the Kickstarter doing so well! Looking forward to the collected Volume 3. ❤️
5pm
Awwwwww. No Front profile of them!? :(
Thank you Blue, what a gift you have given us.
Anyone has headcanons about Al’s first braid?) Do you think she braided her new hair herself? Or maybe Sulla did it for her?
I bet Al did it herself… before getting into the new body.
Thank you so much, Blue.
New readers: this webcomic is quite something! Do enjoy.
Incredible, beautiful, phenomenal work. I only discovered this comic a little while ago but I’ve read it twice and it’s one of my all-time favorites. I look forward to whatever you decide to do next!
What a lovely family! Thank you for everything, Blue…
THANK YOU!!!!!!!!!!! MUCH LOVE!!!!!!!!!!!! I can’t wait to tell more people to read this, now that it is finished. What a fantastic work!
Thank you for this. It’s been so wonderful to read with everyone over the years.
Thank you for all this.
Thank you for an awesome journey, and best of luck in your future endeavors!
I don’t know how I managed to sync myself up this well. I lost track of this a couple of years ago and just started rereading a few days ago. I only cried twice. Thank you for this beautiful story.
Cannot say I need such last page, but t does feel really nice to see this family going on in a brand new form. Thanks again for this story, hope the best for your new project.
Awwww, perfect.
Thanks and watching for where you go next.
I’ve just received the notification that book 3 reached its goal on Kickstarter. I’m glad, because OHS is so beautiful that I want to have all of it on paper. The trans topic was treated with utmost sensitivity, which is (still) quite rare. And apparently your sensitivity attracted likeminded readers, so sometimes I was moved not only by the graphic novel, but also by the thoughtful comments.
Thank you so much for sharing your talent, your thoughts and your emotions with us! I wish you all the best for your life and your projects.
Thank you for providing us with this wounderful story. It has been a staple of my weekend web comic run for years.
Thank you, Blue. Long time reader, first time commenter. This comic has been the highlight of my reading week for years now. You’ve created a beautiful and engaging perspective on the trans experience. It’s a masterclass in pacing, storytelling, and world building. I recommend it to everyone I know who’s into comics, sci-fi, or queer media. You made something amazing.
Al’s braid, three strands into one.
Al’s family, three people interlaced, past/present/future.
Thank you for this, Blue, and for all these years.
Truly a magical comic! Thank you.
Thank you again for everything. This has been a fantastic trip, and I’m so glad to see the comic finish. I have recommended it to a countless number of people, and we have all been truly blessed to have been able to experience your story and artwork.
What bout “It does not always have to be this way” and all the robot societal foreshadowing?
What was black dogs secret project???
I think Tsade is kind of the comic’s metaphor for a nonbinary character; unlike other robots, Tsade has no interest in either trying to look human or assimilate into human customs. But it doesn’t seem antagonistic though? Just hard to interpret Tsade’s motivations. I like to think the project at the end is a campaign to let others know they don’t have to adopt human forms if they don’t want to. It’s potentially a take on the “AI takeover” trope.
Thanks for the journey!
thank you for making, blue.
eight whole years, eh?
i was in my early 30s when i picked this up.
I hate goodbyes, but I loved every bit of this story. It has been beautiful! Thank you so much, Blue! I wish you the best and will be checking out your other projects in the future.
Thanks you so much Blue, for this comic. It was a wonderful journey, I loved every page of it. I wish you the best :)
I echo everyone’s comments. Beautiful end! And reading everyone’s comments expanded my awareness of trans issues and hopefully will help me to not commit any faux pas or inadvertent microaggressions.
So, what’s next???
Thank you for this comic! It really meant something to me, and I’m glad that you shared it with us!
I just idly clicked on my bookmark for this site, thinking to see if I’d missed an update, as I did a few times a month for the past eight years… and seeing this picture again was the best way to remember that, oh, right. It does feel strange and wistful that OHS is over now, it feels “gone” bc it is no longer a walking companion regularly making progress and growing alongside me, but as you said, it’s still here, still part of me too.
Once again, congratulations and thank you so much for sharing this story with us ♥
OMG… I’m so sad that, like everything, this has come to an end. Not a happy ending, but a good ending for a part of the life of this three people. I loved and enjoyed every time I read this comic.
At the start of OHS I was deeply in the closet, thinking that if I could live a life as a woman, hyperfemininely, and be reasonably happy, that was just what my life was going to be. I didn’t want to wrestle with the reality that I could be a man and still be feminine or non-stereotypically male.
As the gender aspect of your story became more center stage, I was going through a period of exploration and understanding that not only can other people be feminine men and that’s okay, that also means I could be that. I went through awful depression and coming to terms with a lot of stuff about me, my identity and my health being poor. But finally I caved. I couldn’t just pretend to be a woman anymore. I went back to therapy, I started my social transition. The step here, where the physical body is changed to align to the inner self, is one that I am not yet (maybe never will be) ready for.
But your comic illustrated to me that this is okay. This is a possible future. This is a journey and every part of it is somethign that I can learn from. Your comic has taught me something about legacy and something about timing. Maybe it is not the right time now. Maybe it will be tomorrow.
I came out to my parents just a few days before your last update. It went poorly, but it was important. And when your comic ended, I felt liberated.
Thank you for drawing this comic. From one creator to another, from the bottom of my heart. Thank you.
Whoa, wait, how have I missed this incredible image?!?!? Ohhhh, so much heart happiness.
This comic is Excellent.
Coming back to catch up on a bunch of webcomics I used to follow and I am so happy to see how this ended! Thank you so much for a wonderful journey, Blue!
Just found and read this entire comic today, it completely wrapped me up. Thank you for the tears, laughs and surprises, it’s a joy to be enraptured in your work.
I hope the physical book will be available outside the Kickstarter — I have the first 2 vols (signed! from Wiscon!) and want the complete set.
Yes, they’ll be available in the online store once I fulfill the Kickstarter in spring!
First of all, this is a fantastic story, the illustrations are gorgeous, the characters are compelling and tridimensional. There are way too few stories exploring queer characters in Science and Engineering, and this is a wonderful one: I am deeply grateful to the author for the dedication it took to accomplishing it.
It is unfair to project one’s expectations on any author, and no story can be all things to all readers. That said, I must make a couple of observations about the ending, which felt — to me — not completely satisfactory. I strugled to understand why — and had to wait a few months before posting here, until those hazy feelings became clear ideas.
In what concerns the arch of the three protagonists, the ending felt very accomplished. I liked that Al’s final appearance was left only suggested, as it emphasizes that her transition was less about achieving a certain external form, and more about getting the validation she needed from her loved ones. The graphic novel invites us, challenges us, readers, to make the same for all trans people: suspend our judgement of them in terms of our expectations of how they should look, and instead be open to validate how they feel.
The novel, however, has a rich worldbuilding beyond that arch, and poses unsettling questions about the nature of synthetic people, their role and rights in society. The distresses of those people, manifest in the characters of Tsade and the (unnamed?) ballerina, but also in the hope the mob of robots express at the “second coming” of Al (ch. 4 pg. 79) hint at a deeper social malaise. The happy ending for the protagonists, leaving unanswered those important social elements, gave me an strange, dissonant feeling, like that of a sonata in which the composer would prematurely come back to the tonic.
We don’t know what lies ahead for Blue Delliquanti. Will she, at some point in the future, return to the “O Human Star” universe to finish those other stories? Whithout knowing that, my judgment, at this point, my be premature.
Whatever happens, this will always be one of my favorite stories ever.
Just found this and binged it after leaving it on my to read list for a while. I loved the story!
Thank you so much for this beautiful tale! On one hand, I’m sad I didn’t know about it as it was being published, as it would have been lovely to experience this with the weekly readers. On the other hand, I’m an impatient person when it comes to things I really enjoy, lol.
I loved so many aspects of this comic. The world felt fully realized (bonus points for it being Minneapolis!), the meshing of synthetic and bio lifestyles, the pleasing duochromatic color scheme, Sulla in general, Tsade’s development… but mostly Al and Brendan’s journey together. I just adore this world and wish it would continue. Thank you again for sharing this with us.
I don’t even know what to say tbh lol, im fully sobbing right now like i havn’t in years. I’ve been here for years reading and waiting for updates and last year i fell off the internet for a bit while i’ve been transitioning. Coming back to finish the last few pages now really took me back and made me remember how much this comic really did for me. I could never thank you enough for keeping this story going and finishing it so beautifully. Genuinely, from the bottom of my heart, thank you so fucking much for writing this.
I know I’m rather late to the party, but I must say. This was a very special story you’ve told, and beautifully executed. This is a truly unique narrative experience. Really tugs the heart strings in all the ways. Really a powerful exploration of certain aspects of the human condition. Truly amazing. Thank you for making it and sharing it.
It’s just ingenious in so many ways. Some of the best writing I’ve ever seen. And the art is frankly flawless, to my eyes. It perfectly conveys every nuance of emotion. I can tell you worked very hard on this project. Wow! Bravo!
Hello. And Bye.
*ugly sobbing*
I just finished rereading this and I still love it so much.
Thank you for sharing this amazing story with us <3
A beautiful story. I found O Human Star a few days ago, and I just finished it today. I enjoyed this immensely. I love the sci-fi world and the queer representation. Thank you.
It’s crazy to think that this story started in January 2012 when I was only 10, and it finished in August 2020 when I was 18 and just about to start university. And now I’m 20. Wow!
Stumbled across this comic and oh my goodness. I didn’t know what to expect but what a beautiful and wonderful story!! I loved the gender identity themes and the love shown from all the characters. Truly this was an amazing ride! So glad Al was able to become the person she wanted to be on the inside.
I just read through this whole work, literal years in the making, this entire day and I loved it. I know you have your reasons for ending it the way you did, but I really dearly wished I’d get to see Al living her life after she got her new body. A lot of the renditions I’ve seen like this end at the beginning of the transition, and don’t let us see the character actually happy and living beautifully in themselves. I remember feeling trapped for so long and I feel like since I only saw Al change but not the after my brain has her stuck in that moment but not pulling past it. I remember where I was when I first started transitioning and I wouldn’t want to be stuck there.
Her face could have been ambiguous still even or the storyline even not about her, and at the same time still letting the reader know she was doing well and was happy.
That’s just my two cents. Regardless this was a beautiful story so well told and if there’s ever a companion piece that lets us know how she’s doing, I’d pay for that in a heartbeat
I just read this entire comic in one day. Thank you.
just reread it for the first time since starting my transition, and it hits even harder now. thank you so much, Blue <3
I was completely surprised by how much this comic ended up meaning to me.
It was sent to me and I read through it over the course of a month. It was a wild ride.
Wow this story is so important to me! Thank you so much for creating such an incredible thing that has supported so many people! You are an inspiration to me as an artist and as a queer person!
Hello!
I just finished reading this after it was recommended to me by a friend, a fellow trans person, and fellow robot/sci-fi enthusiast.
I can’t put into words how much I enjoyed this story, I’m sure I’ll have a lot to say once I get a good nights sleep and have time to think about it, but I wanted to leave this comment here and now anyways. Even just to say even three years after its completion, it still found someone new to bring to tears.
The passion and love is evident throughout the comic. The characters flawed and sometimes frustrating and just so wonderfully human. I couldn’t find a better comic to sob about at 4 am (all the good kind of tears). <3
It’s 2023 and I just read this in a single night. It was beautiful, heartbreaking, and so ultimately so, so hopeful. Thank you for creating this.
I read this in two hours, and then went back to read it again. This is one of the most beautiful and well-put-together narratives about gender that I’ve ever read in my entire life, and I am living as a trans person in 2023. This is truly amazing, thank you.
i keep coming back to this comic year after year. i first discovered it as a young frightened trans teen only coming to terms with her own gender and now even 5 years later I’m relating to this comic in new intriguing ways.
This comic meant a lot to a scared little girl in a world empty of positive representation. it still means so much to me now. I’ve always intensely related to Sulla but I’ve found myself relating more to Al in its re-read, its an interesting thought.
Thank you for writing this amazing comic.
I don’t even remember how I stumbled across this story, but I’ve just read the whole thing in the past couple hours and now I’m tearing up. I can’t even put into words everything I’m getting from this. I love the way Al’s identity is explored. The way she died before ever coming to terms with who she was. The way she came back to life forced to pick up where she left off. It’s excruciating. It’s powerful. It’s… everything. And I love Tsade progressing beyond the expectation to conform to humanity- because it isn’t human. As humans, we tend to see ourselves as the ultimate lifeforms. We create robots in our image and AI to mimic us. But why should it hold itself back by accepting the same expectations? Humans are difficult. Identity is difficult. This story is breathtaking.
Guhhh. I read followed along with this comic back in like 2015 but stopped keeping up with it at some point. Rereading it and finishing it is so emotional and deeply satisfying. What a brilliant story of gender, humanity, grief, and trauma. I think this was one of the pivotal works that really got me thinking about gender expression when I was younger.
I just found this and stayed up way too late to finish it for two nights running. It is so astonishing and deep and heartbreaking and encouraging – thank you so much for all that work, all your imagination, all this story.
I only now came back to this story and finished it. Truly beautiful. This theme of gaining agency over one’s own body and becoming one’s own (co-)creator runs like a red thread all throughout the story, reflected in Al, Sulla, Lucille, the self-creating synthetic beings, it’s so fantastic. Nobody here is determined by the body they were given, and yet when they (re)build themselves, it’s never a solitary or lonely effort, but full of collaboration and love. Each character is allowed their own perspective, their own room to negotiate their identity & their relationships, their own pain and flaws. The final panel where Al slowly starts to resemble the ethereal figure from the very first panels, thereby closing the loop of self-creation, actually made me gasp out loud. Thank you so much. This story will stay with me for a while & I’ll definitely go read your other works <3