Book Review - 'Carbonel' by Barbara Sleigh

I thought I'd write a review to bring attention to a very obscure, classic witchy children's book, even a highly flawed one.

That book is 'Carbonel' by Barbara Sleigh, published in 1955.

I had never heard of it at all - and I am very much into witchy fantasy media, particularly on the lit front - until I saw it in the children's section in a Waterstones bookshop whilst on holiday in Birmingham recently. It's the 2015 'A Puffin Book' edition. The cover looked so cute, and the premise sounded exactly like my thing, especially since I was satiating for something like 'Kiki's Delivery Service' (there was even a leatherbound classics' version of it at the bookshop!), that I had to buy it.

After reading 'Carbonel', I don't regret it, and I did enjoy most of it. It's about a young English girl, Rosemary Brown, and a talking black cat, Carbonel, who's an exiled prince amongst his alley cats, and who has been cursed to be a witch's slave. There is a sentient broom, a cauldron, and magic spells and rhyming words. Teas, snacks, dinners, luncheons, and cafés are had in practically every chapter. It is extremely British.

It all sounds delightful and charming, and it is.

Sadly, it has too many mistakes in its writing and storytelling for me to want to keep it.

Some of it can be attributed to it being written in the fifties. The children's book is easy and breezy enough to read in one day; however, it contains baffling phrases I had genuinely never heard of before.

Examples: "I'll stand you a go at the coconut shy," (page 230), and saying "I bags" in the middle of a sentence. I'm sure there are other old fashioned sayings I'm missing. Probably the most bizarre is when Rosemary's male friend (of course she has one of those, and seemingly no female friends her own age), John, says, "My jolly boys" (page 227). I refuse to believe that any ten-to-twelve-year-old boy has ever said, "Jolly boys", even in the 1950s. Especially when he is referring only to Rosemary and Carbonel the cat! Then again, John is rich, so maybe he unconsciously picked up on that pomposity from the foppish adults around him. He once calls Rosemary, "Whacko" (page 276), and apparently calling someone an "owl" (page 304) was considered an insult way back when.

These phrases jolly well took me out of the book a fair bit!

Perhaps it is not fair for me to criticise a classic novel for its language of its time that hasn't caught on and aged well. But I can rightly criticise it for clunky sentences such as:


'They bought a little tin of sardines from a stall which was a jumble of all kinds of tinned foods which had a large placard over it which said SMASHING REDUCTIONS! A PENNY OFF THE SHILLING!' - pages 195-6


How did something like that get past the editing stages? Three times the word 'which' is used in this small sentence, with no commas or anything.

Maybe this would be better:


'They bought a little tin of sardines from a stall, which was a jumble of all kinds of tinned foods. It had a large placard over it, saying, SMASHING REDUCTIONS! A PENNY OFF THE SHILLING!'


There's also:


'She [Rosemary] hurried through the door into the kitchen. The waitress passed her coming out with a dustpan and brush, and only the one she had referred to as Maggie was there.' - page 167


I had to read the above line several times for it to make sense to me.

It should have been:


'She [Rosemary] hurried through the door into the kitchen. The waitress came out past her, carrying a dustpan and brush, and only the woman the waitress had referred to as Maggie was there.'


But that's simply my opinion, I'm no English teacher or editor.

At one point Carbonel is described as stirring the cauldron with a rung from a broken chair (page 176). It is not explained how a cat can do that without apposable thumbs. Him using his nudging head, or his mouth, isn't described, either. Prince Carbonel talking (heard by people who hold the witch's broom) is the only extraordinary, supernatural thing about him.

Also, it is revealed near the end that the black cat has, "three royal, snow-white hairs it the end of his tail." (page 284), and Rosemary says, "I've often noticed them!" (page 285). This is despite the fact that this is the first time the white hairs are mentioned in the book. I've got to ask, WTF?

Oh, and at the beginning, the start of the potentially darling little Puffin Book, it is strongly implied that Rosemary has no friends. No school friends, anyway, as a couple of girls come up to her after school to boast where they're going on holiday, then, 'the two friends hurried off, giggling, together.' (page 2). Rosemary's good mood is instantly shattered at the thought of them being able to go anywhere for the holidays, unlike her. BUT, literally one hundred pages later, Rosemary, arriving back home from John's house, 'rather hoped that one of her friends would see them [her and her mother]'. Um, what friends? She just left John's place, so she can't be referring to him. Nor to any adults living near whom she isn't that close to. Again I ask, WTF?

Then there's the 1950s casual sexism, and children playing Cowboys and Indians, and the hero worshipping of historical authoritarian men like Napoleon.

SPEAKING OF RETROACTIVITY, we have this... nugget:


'After the first surprise of Carbonel's appearance he [John] seemed to have accepted the whole story [Rosemary's talking witch's cat story], as unquestionably as you accept the fact that the world is round, when apparently it is so very flat.' - page 99


Oh dear sweet gods and goddesses, think of how that could have been worded simpler and clearer, with no room for misinterpretations! It's a line in a children's book!

I probably would have forgiven the dated stuff that, to put it mildly, has not aged well, if 'Carbonel' were written better. Unfortunately, it needed another edit or two.

On that note, I come to its biggest fault, in my opinion:

Slight spoilers ahead:

Its last few pages, which could have easily wrapped up a few forgotten story details and characters in little, throwaway sentences. And quite a few characters are forgotten entirely, such as Rosemary's landlady, Mrs Walker, and the nameless, poor, kindly old man at a market stall who helps Rosemary and John a few times on their adventure. On pages 199-200, the children decide to give him a present, a sweet from a sweetshop, for being so helpful, and they almost do the good deed. But then this idea is dropped, completely forgotten about once the witchy stuff gets in the way.

Poor old man, indeed

Finally, there's the cauldron.

What happens to it?

Seriously, where is it?!

Last we read of it, it is put into the trunk of John's chauffer's car, and then it is never mentioned again. Does Rosemary keep it? But she doesn't keep any of the other magic witch things, and she insists she isn't a witch (despite being good at casting spells from an "evil" witch's book). Everything in her and her mother's flat gets moved and refurbished at the end - does that include the cauldron?

WHERE IS IT?! IT'S MISSING!

Did the author honest-to-goddess forget about one of the most important MacGuffins in the story?

Is it in the sequel? I'm not sure, it might be.

#WhereIsTheCarbonelCauldron?

'Carbonel' is ultimately anti-witch and adheres to the 'all witches are evil' idea, even though there is only one witch in it, Mrs Cantrip, and she is harmless, incompetent, useless, and sulky (yes, really, that is what her character is reduced to). Rosemary's inexplicable, exasperating declaration that she's not a witch herself further exemplifies this. Even 'Little Witch' by Anna Elizabeth Bennett, which came out two years before 'Carbonel', is more witch-friendly.

The fifties were fervently into selling anti-independent woman--I mean, anti-witch propaganda to children, weren't they? Despite how witches are a huge part of said published works - baked, brewed and bubble bubble toil and trouble'd into their premises and selling points.

Now for a few select positives in 'Carbonel':

Rosemary has a very nice, positive relationship with her widowed, overworked seamstress mother.

The climactic battle (yes, there is a battle in this pre-"cosy fantasy"), which involves an adorable abundance of cats, is exciting, and it contains a twist I did not see coming.

I like the café scenes, and the magic spell scenes. Rosemary Brown is a competent and charming little witch, worthy of Kiki, Minx Snickasnee, Molly Utterback, Tiga Whicabim, and Moth Hush. Less so Mildred Hubble, but she counts in the witchy roster, at least in the classic sense. And Rosemary is a witch, don't lie to me, book.

'Carbonel' is slightly better than 'How to Catch a Witch' by Abie Longstaff, as well.

(I knew I was a witch fantasy media expert.)

That just about covers everything I want to say about the most obscure of classic witch lit, 'Carbonel', aka 'Carbonel: The King of the Cats', aka 'Carbonel, the Prince of Cats'.

While I don't think it lived up to its full potential, and some instances of its writing are off and odd, I don't want it to fade into obscurity absolutely. I do recommend checking it out. Any witch media that's average or above average, even ones stubbornly not 100% pro-witch, deserves to be saved and preserved for future generations.

As a last sell: fans of 'Kiki's Delivery Service', Studio Ghibli films in general, and 'Sabrina the Teenage Witch' might enjoy 'Carbonel'.

A Waterstones in Birmingham has done a commendable job in selling and showing off the 2025 edition, with the cute cover.

Final Score: 3/5

Manga Review - 'Land of the Lustrous, Vol. 1' by Haruko Ichikawa

To think when I first read this in 2018 I ignorantly dismissed it as a 'Steven Universe' rip-off (it came out before that, in 2012), and criticised its artwork and how the characters were almost impossible to tell apart. Basically, I thought 'Land of the Lustrous' was bland, befuddling, and unoriginal.

How wrong I was. And I wrote about how much I hated it in a blog post once.

I would like to apologise to everyone, including Haruko Ichikawa, for my past opinion, of which I freely admit to be wrong.

I still think that 'Land of the Lustrous, Vol. 1' is far from perfect. Despite some scepticisms and confusion I have towards its aspects, I just can't stop thinking about it. It is a pretty earworm, and eyeworm, and pretty much a fascinating, translucent worm of a manga.

I would describe the experience of reading it as "darkly colourful", in spite of it being in black and white. "Lustrous" is a good word for it, and it clearly hides a darker underbelly.

There is a creative, crystalised uniqueness to this piece of art, very rarely discovered, once in a blue moon.

It it strange and weird how much I, for lack of a better word, adore the world and characters in 'Land of the Lustrous'. Because nearly every character, well, sucks, in one personality trait or another, or in all the ways a character can suck. Uselessness, selfishness, laziness, meanness, arseholishness, vindictiveness, haughtiness, unfair and unfounded judgement of others, casual cruelty, you name it - almost every character has one or more of these flaws.

In the case of Phos, the protagonist, it's practically all of the above (plus whining and self-pity).

There is a meanspirited aura and edge to the manga, that constitute its overall humour. Oddly enough, I don't mind, and I generally despise meanspirited media. I think this is mainly due to me understanding the kind of postapocalyptic world the characters live and survive in. They are all humanoid gems, or minerals given sentience and practical structures, with varying degrees of hardness and toughness.

The manga makes a point of demonstrating that there is a difference between being hard and being tough, which ties to its prevailing theme:

Searching for purpose (it's spelled out on the back of the volume).

Finding one's purpose, and usefulness.

What is the meaning of life?

Why do we exist? To what purpose were we created?

It is merely to do with evolution and chance? Or something more?

Something to be searched for.

In the friends and frenemies we make along the way.

This is Phos's coming-of-age journey in an ovum--um, a nutshell.

Phosphophyllite is too fragile and brittle to fight the invading moon folk, the Lunarians, like the other Lustrous, so the gem is given the purpose of writing down the natural history of the planet, its environments, and lifeforms. Any obstacles are mostly of Phos's own doing, due to their laziness, selfishness, and whining.

Maybe, despite how Phos is largely seen as useless by their peers, they can still make friends with a few of the fellow humanoid crystalised lifeforms, including one or two who are "strong" yet alone, lost, distressed and unhappy, who may need Phos after all.

In terms of the artwork, 'Land of the Lustrous' is indeed very good. The action scenes are swift, sleek, and brilliantly done, and I like the designs of each of the Lustrous. Although, again, because of the black and white manga format, it is difficult to tell everyone apart at times. They all nearly have the exact same body type and uniform. At least the first few pages are in colour, and help the reader to differentiate the Lustrous by their hair colour and style.

At this point I have to give a standing ovation to a triumphant subversion in 'Land of the Lustrous': its complete dismissal of gender.

While the Lustrous may appear to be female, with the exception of the top gem and headmaster, Sensei, everybody is referred to by name only, with a few instances of they/them as pronouns. The Lustrous, presumably the last living, sentient creatures left on earth, are sexless and genderless. They are organisms (meteor-based, maybe?) from the ocean floor that evolved into crystal people. They are formed (and made and rebuilt if shattered into pieces), not necessarily born.

This is not the only thing categorising the manga as LBGTQA+, either. You bet it belongs on that list.

It is yet another feature that marks 'Land of the Lustrous' as a truly special work of fiction. It is science fiction that boldly goes far and wide in the unceasing cosmos of imagination and breaking conventions.

It can't easily be categorised into any popular genre of manga. I love it for that.

It could be classified as 'sci-fi', 'shōnen', and 'magical girls' without the girls.

'Land of the Lustrous, Vol. 1' is certainly an interesting, one of a kind manga, that I have so many thoughts and feelings about, and will be thinking about for a long time. Its flaws are secondary to its creativity.

One other flaw in this diamond in the rough is at the beginning, with Phos's verbal exposition of how the earth and the Lustrous came to be as they are, because of Sensei ordering them to "recite the introduction" of "the origins of our land" during a crisis moment. It's clunky and contrived.

However, it runs parallel to another quality it has: there are no narration boxes anywhere, and we never read any of the characters' inner thoughts, only their dialogue. Dialogue and action speak for us. Keep piling up like crystals those unusual feat(ure)s for a manga, that work in its favour.

'Land of the Lustrous' is phantasmic, philosophical, astronomical, dazzling, daring, wondrous, and just a bit nebulous and cynical. It could be a spectacular multiplayer video game, where I would love to play each of the lovely, charismatic, badass, and oddly, charmingly morbid and jerkish Lustrous. My favourite would not be Phos, but Morga, the fair-weather "friend", because I am a fangirl for pink hair.

My guilty pleasure manga of 2025. I should have read it properly and been more fair and appreciative of it way back in 2018. Ah well, better late than never.

Final Score: 3/5

Graphic Novel Review - 'Jem and the Holograms: Dimensions' by Various

My final 'Jem and the Holograms' reboot comic review.

I'll try to make it brief. We'll see how that fares.

'Jem and the Holograms: Dimensions' is an anthology comic, featuring titchy little "adventures" with the characters. It is the only 'Jem' comic not to be written by Kelly Thompson. Instead, we have multiple writers and artists for each story, including Kate Leth, Sarah Kuhn, Sarah Winifred Searle, Sam Maggs, Kevin Panetta, and the return of Sophie Campbell for the first one, 'Catnap' (alongside regular colourist M. Victoria Robado).

These stories are... okay. Mostly mediocre.

'Catnap' and 'Shooting Stars' are cute. In 'Catnap', I like Misty (hijabi rep FTW!), and seeing Clash and Blaze together is awesome. It's like a toxic fangirl/internet troll fight in the snow, on a ski trip, but in a fun, goofy, campy way, reminiscent of the classic eighties cartoon. Plus it has Pizzazz's cat, Madmartigan, as a star. Speaking of, 'Shooing Stars' has the 'Starlight Girls', the young foster girls and the Holograms' protégées, take center stage. Though why does Jem's dress have a boob window in this one?

'Stargirl' (a lot of stars, huh?) is very good. It has the best art - the prettiest art - and it showcases Shana and her talent as a fashion designer exceptionally well. I adore Andre - fellow fashion designer, model, and drag queen.

'Tasty', about the Misfits, Pizzazz, photography, magazines, imagery, and celebrity exploitation, is also pretty excellent.

But the rest are definitely mediocre, in writing and art.

The 'Dungeons and Dragons' story, 'Roll with It', which this whole anthology supposedly owes its existence to, is random, baffling, illogical, and disjointed. What was the point of it? However, at least it contains more of Synergy than any of the later 'Jem' comics. In fact, I don't think she appears in any of the other stories here! WTF?

What the hell is up with the art and ending of 'Haunted'? The ending is far too rushed, and Jem and the Holograms and the Misfits look like bodybuilders and construction site workers, and their smiles are more terrifying than anything in their "haunted" spooky TV environment.

Some of these 'Jem' tales are cute, but some others are flat and pointless.

Hardly any male characters are present. No Rio, no Craig, no Tony, and yeah, you can forget about Techrat. I do not miss Riot, though. There's Andre, and Eric Raymond in 'Tasty', plus a sleazy photographer guy, and that's it. 'Dimensions' is truly girl power and femme empowerment central.

The index page at the beginning of the comic lets the readers know (in parentheses) when each story is supposed to take place in the 'Jem' canon, most notably whether it's set before or after 'Infinite'. The parentheses in the final story, 'Jemojis', misspells 'Misfits' as 'Misfist'. Typo. Oops.

Sorry, I have to add: Why do Kimber, Shana, Aja, and Raya look utterly stoned on the comic's cover? Seriously, the way they stare, they look dopey as hell. Shana looks like she's seeing some %$*@!

I think I'll end my crowning 'Jem' review by mentioning something in the comics that I had previously barely touched on, and that I wish to rectify now. It is, specifically, about a character:

Clash, real name Constance Montgomery.

Basically, she is the Misfits' eternal groupie and coffee girl. Which is fitting, considering she worked in a café before Pizzazz hired her, as seen in 'The Misfits'. She possesses no musical talent; she is only their toady and tool woman. She is a complete simp who will go along with, and even orchestrate, any of the Misfits' schemes, no matter how dangerous and deadly. You never really feel sorry for this hopeless, hapless yet enthusiastic fangirl.

Clash's relationship with her girlfriend Blaze, the Misfits' lead guitarist and singer, who may leave to front her own band someday, is the cutest.

'Catnap' shows Clash at her best. It's her own wacky skiing misadventure, where she cat-sits for cute little Madmartigan, and it ends on her and Blaze kissing!

Aaaaaaaaaaaaaand that's it.

And I mean it this time.

Farewell, IDW's 'Jem and the Holograms'. I will be coming back to reading you again and again. You are a gem of a magical girl series, a dark horse, when I'm not normally into music bands and brands.

Thank you for your colours, style, cuteness, and diversity, and your rebooting, retooling, and updating of a nostalgic property done right.

Best of all, thank you for your girl power. These are the stars in my eyes.

'Jem' and 'The Misfits' - such good girly comics.

I stand by my claim that 'Jem' deserves a reboot cartoon series, and a real movie adaptation.

Final Score (for 'Dimensions'): 3/5

Graphic Novel Review - 'Jem and the Holograms: Infinite' by Kelly Thompson (Writer), Stacey Lee (Artist), Jen Hickman (Artist), Jenn St-Onge (Artist), M. Victoria Robado (Colourist, Lyrics Letterer), Various Colourists and Letterers

As far as I'm concerned, 'Jem and the Holograms: Infinite' is the true - truly outrageous - ending to the comic series; infinitely more so than the comic volume actually titled 'Truly Outrageous'.

I mean, the stakes have never been higher, and it has a bit of everything, from the series proper and in general.

Behold! Therein lie: a dark alternate universe, not-so sci-fi horror, real deadly dangers, a class divide via a literal wall (which always means a kind of paywall), 'Mad Max' vibes and energy, Jem and the Holograms and the Misfits working together once again, major Stimber content and fanservice, tense, uh, tension between Jerrica/Jem and Pizzazz, dad Emmett Benton being alive in the alternate world, heartfelt and tearful reunions, Eric Raymond finally getting to be the evil corporate CEO he was always meant to be, Techrat is back! (alternate dimension Techrat, but still), a kind of reconciliation between Jerrica and Rio, and terrific, colourful artwork all around.

It is a sci-fi dystopia: 'Jem' edition.

It doubles as a sort-of sequel to the 'Dark Jem' arc.

All these music women with clashing personalities are dynamic and magnificent together, whether any one of them would admit it or not. But of course this time there is more at stake than their rivalry. The fate of the world lies in their hands. And in Synergy and her groundbreaking, revolutionary technology.

There are subtle little character moments throughout that mean something, too, if you've read the rest of the comics.

It is noteworthy and timely that 'Jem and the Holograms: Infinite' is a warning about the dangers of AI and how it can be exploited and abused at the cost of humanity - of the economy - and the unending, unsatisfied greed of the 1% and the unsustainable non-growth of capitalism are entirely to blame for it. The same can be said of other unethical actions taken by rich men, just so they can get richer.

'Jem and the Holograms: Infinite' - a better, more exciting, meaningful, and satisfying, and less-rushed, ending to this comic series, with sparkles and showers of potential still to be tapped.

The whole comic run and line had to have been cancelled for some unknown reason. A strong case for this argument in 'Infinite' is it ends on a 'The End?', and it has plot threads and even characters that're left hanging with no resolution as to what happens to them, or even what their point in existing is (I'm being vague due to spoilers). It was meant to be a sequel hook, I'm sure of it.

Despite my overall praise, and the return-to-form and gone-above-and-beyond in 'Jem''s sci-fi premise and content, there remains not enough Synergy. I swear she appears less and less in each comic release.

It could have found further use for Raya, the new Hologram, and given her a highlight; a chance to shine in the spotlight; a reason to be.

But I'll take it as it is. 'Infinite' is probably the closest we'll ever get to a real ending to the 'Jem' reboot comics.

Entertaining, loud, outrageous stuff - what 'Jem' and comics were made for.

Oh yes, one last thing: PUNK ROCK REVOLUTION!

Final Score: 4/5

What I've been up to the past few days...

I'm on my second week of my summer and birthday break.

I went to Blenheim Palace yesterday, in my new birthday dress, and today I went out in my best purples and pinks ever. I won't show photos of myself, since I'm trying to not post too many pictures of myself online, but I know I looked fab-tabulous!

I'm a lilac witch princess geek. A Witchess!

I also ate a Wonder Woman donut.

Photos of Blenheim:

It is a huge place.

There were a lot of ducks. And wasps. And statues of Greek goddesses (including Artemis!) and female monsters, as well as lovely portraits of duchesses. Plus mouse dolls for a scavenger hunt for the kids.

Graphic Novel Review - 'Jem and the Holograms: The Misfits' by Kelly Thompson (Writer), Jenn St-Onge (Artist). M. Victoria Robado (Colourist, Lyrics Letterer), Shawn Lee (Letterer)

A comic about "bad girls" in the entertainment industry has never been more investing, engaging, humanising, poignant, powerful, empowering, biting, bold, and beautiful.

This isn't a run-of-the-mill gossip column, tabloid magazine, or faux journalism news article aiming to tear down famous women driven to desperation - reality TV - for a sick sense of schadenfreude, that's for sure.

I am completely sincere when I say that 'Jem and the Holograms: The Misfits' is not only one of the best things to come out of the comic reboot series, if not the best...

... It is one of the best comics to come out in the last ten years--correction, the last twenty years now.

It is just so inspiring, meaningful, and heartfelt. It is true female empowerment, and female love, support, and friendship and family. It is something you would not expect from a comic entirely about the Misfits, and that's the point.

These "mad", "bad", "crazy", "difficult", "washed out" "has-beens" and "divas" and "trainwrecks" have depth. They are not "bitches", they are human, and they have real lives of their own, as well as real talents they want to show the world.

It's not their fault society dealt them a bad hand, and they were let down by people from their pasts who were supposed to love, protect and support them. They now have each other, and that's what matters.

Their music, and each other, matter to the Misfits.

In that way, they are not so different from Jem and the Holograms. Though they won't admit it.

They are the Misfits - their whole purpose and identity are in their band name - and they do not have to explain themselves to anyone, nor prove anything to anyone.

No one is perfect, perfection is impossible, and they embrace that. They let their talents and humanity shine through.

No one with any sense would want these firecracker misfits - the "bad girl" band who will set the world on fire in a good way and make music history - to change.

They are the new, 21st century feminist rioters, roarers and punk rockers, set alight, alright.

In 'The Misfits', readers learn a lot about Jem's rival band from their last ditch effort to save their careers after no music label will touch them - reality TV, set in Pizzazz's pad. It is a desperate last resort that, miracle of miracles, does turn out for the better, and it shines a new light of truth on the band women.

Pizzazz, real name Phyllis Gabor, aka the green girl - frontwoman, lead singer, and guitarist - is like a female punk rock Daffy Duck with a criminal record. She is more than an unhappy rich girl from an absent, loveless family, who is lashing out - she is a great advocate for other music-minded women, and loyal and supportive to her friends no matter what, even with her rage issues. There is heart and encouragement underneath her "nasty", "hateful", "resentful" temperament. I love her. It's honestly surprising that the violent and borderline unstable rockstar wasn't given a drug abuse and rehab backstory; maybe it would have been too mature and sensitive a topic for a YA audience?

Stormer, real name Mary Phillips, aka the blue girl - keytarist and songwriter - let me tell you, her story and closing words on what it means to be a fat woman in the spotlight - and a fat queer woman at that - in a society and culture obsessed with thinness in women, and how that's upheld as the desirable default in modern beauty standards, it is an enlightening tearjerker. She will not hide any part of herself, she is here to stay, and she will take up any space she wants. &%$@! what anyone says. I love her story.

Blaze, real name Leah Dwyer, aka the red and orange girl - singer and lead guitarist - is a sweet and beautiful transgender icon. She is currently thinking of starting her own band, inspired by another female singer from her childhood. She is meeting the other band in secret, in fact. But she will always be a Misfit, and they are her girls, and part of her family (plus her girlfriend Clash, real name Constance Montgomery).

Roxy, real name Roxanne Pelligrini, aka the grey and white girl, is not just a "dumb" drummer girl and bagel girl (seriously, she is obsessed with bagels). She came from a poor and tragic family and homelife, and any setbacks and deficiencies in her education are not her fault. She is not stupid. She is passionate, and loves music as much as the rest of the Misfits, her found family.

And speaking of, last but not least is Jetta, *ahem* real name Sheila Burns, aka the black and white lightning girl, and the Misfits' bassist. I won't dare spoil much about her, but her story is all about found family. Ultimately, that is the Misfits. Jetta is an iconic Black rockstar woman who leans in on the angry Brit stereotype. Roxy is her best friend, and she will do anything to defend and protect her. She will protect her from the invasive reality TV crew...

I love every woman in this comic, but especially every one of the rock'n'roll ladies. Their fierce drive and passion - not to mention their love for one another, as, again, a found family, when they had no one else (well, Blaze has her sister Courtney, and Clash, and her new band, and Stormer has her brother Craig, who is dating one of the Holograms, Aja, and of course she is also dating a Hologram, Kimber) - it is infectious. You can't help but feel for these loud and proud individuals, and their individual, unique stories. They won't let anyone or anything stand in their way towards earned fame and recognition.

Together, they will turn their reality TV show to their advantage; they will flip the narrative in their favour, and make the show their own - for the comeback of their band and label.

Found family. Found label.

For someone like me, who cares not a stotch about music news, and celebrity gossip and culture, and who is vehemently against all the toxicity and systematic abuse that comes with the famous lifestyle, to love a comic book like 'Jem and the Holograms: The Misfits', is saying something massive. It might be revolutionary, even.

It is damn funny and witty, to boot.

The artwork is great. Top tier. Ten out of ten.

I want to hug this comic.

It is something special. Not quite a five star for me, but it comes extremely close. It might be my favourite 'Jem' media product that doesn't feature Jem and the Holograms themselves.

The Misfits are equally as terrific and valid. Whether their songs are better is up for debate.

Eric Raymond, wannabe evil mastermind manager, is in this, too. But Madmartigan, Pizzazz's cat, is more of a star than he is.

I'll leave off with part of Stormer's speech to the reality TV crew at the end of her story/issue, because it is that good, and everyone needs to hear it:


'I'm not just putting myself out there so that I can have a magnificent life. I'm also doing it for you. Because if people like me run and hide, if we pretend for you that we don't exist, then you just don't get any smarter. If I disappear, you win. And I'm not remotely okay with that.

But If I can just be strong... not all the time, but just the times when it feels impossible, if I can get through those moments and get to the next easier one... then... the world can actually be better. Someone somewhere said being fat in public is to be a revolutionary. I didn't want to be a revolutionary... [...] ... All I ever wanted to do was write, sing, play... I thought that was what I had to offer... but giving music... it's all the same. It's all me. It's all giving the world a piece of me.

[...] And if you--any of you--have a problem with that... then, well... just try to stop me. I'm made of storms and I will tear. you. up.'


@&^%!ing brilliant.

Final Score: 4/5