Book Review - 'How to Catch a Witch' by Abie Longstaff

Spoilers ahead:

In my quest to consume every witch/magical girl product in the media - every witchy thing I come across - here is 'How to Catch a Witch', which is... one of them.

It's an obscure little witchy book for children, first discovered and sought out because I like the author's 'The Fairytale Hairdresser' picture book series, and I have things I want to say about it.

I have decided to list the positives and negatives in bullet points:


Positives:

• It is a cute and quick book that can be read in a day.

• The main character, Charlie Samuels, is a "weird" loner new girl in town, and considerably a "scaredy cat", but not really. She is inquisitive, and shy, yet she gets on with things and is brave and determined. She's highly imaginative and superstitious in a way that a lot of young children are. I could see my younger self in her, especially in our shared intrigue and fascination with fairy tales and witches! It is one of the reasons I know I would have liked 'How to Catch a Witch' a lot more if I had read it as a child.

• Charlie could be on the autism spectrum, too. She constantly makes lists. And she has a stutter, which explains her social anxiety when it comes to communicating with and connecting to people. Thankfully, she learns that her stutter is not a "curse" (she really thought this) that she needs to overcome. It is a part of her, and there is nothing wrong with it - there is nothing wrong with her. It's nothing to be ashamed of, and she's great as she is. She grows in confidence as the book progresses. Her stutter doesn't magically go away by the end of the book. Good, subversive, challenging, refreshing, and reassuring representation for child readers there.

• Charlie's family are a laugh and a delight, especially her dad and baby sister. They are charming, funny and endearing.

• There are authentic details when it comes to the witchcraft aspect, such as symbols, sigils, herbs, flowers, and referencing paraphernalia like witch bottles, candles, familiars (not all of them animals, as it turns out, but I'll get to that), and grimoires. There are pagan and wiccan influences. It's pleasantly surprising to see in a light, playful, playground children's book. All witchy stuff is taught to Charlie by the witch she "catches" (well, more like whose cottage in the woods she just happens to wander into one day), whose name is Agatha. Plus, there's even a witchcraft shop in Charlie's new town called Moonquest.

• The fairy tale references are neat, and add to the overall cuteness of the book. Nice to see that in this modern fairy tale, not all witches are evil.

• Nice feminist messaging, when discussing past witch burnings and persecuted women, too.


Negatives:

• Not much actually happens in 'How to Catch a Witch'. It is very tame, with no (living) antagonist, no difficulties, hardly any pushbacks or low points, and no serious threat or stakes beyond a girl we hardly know losing her singing voice (yes, really). There are many contrivances and convenient moments, to either help the child protagonist Charlie along without hardship, or to serve as annoying setbacks; bumps along the road to make the short book longer. There's nary a plot to speak of, beyond: an oblivious schoolgirl, Suzy, who is barely a side character, is cursed to lose her ability to sing on her seventeenth birthday, and Charlie must help a witch in the woods, Agatha, and attempt to cast spells herself to break the curse.

• There's very little about "catching witches" in 'How to Catch a Witch, as it turns out; an imaginative Charlie wants to seek out a witch to "cure" her stutter and fit in in her new school, and she finds one easily on one trip in the woods. Agatha knows about Suzy, whom Charlie met in her neighbourhood and then her school, and that she's cursed to lose her singing voice on her seventeenth birthday, due to a tragic backstory and history with a mysterious dark witch friend, and Charlie sets out to break or delay the curse with Agatha's help. They become master and apprentice, and friends. Magic is real! It's not a bad idea for a children's story, actually, and it shows how witches, and magic, are not inherently evil. It teaches tolerance, and antiprejudice. Then there's this final line in the book: 'Charlie grinned as she remembered the list she'd made: Ways to catch a witch, she'd called it. Now, in her head she added: Number 7: Look in the mirror.' (page 175) Maybe the whole idea and execution could have benefitted from being longer and more developed, to reach its full potential, and earn the ending of its well-meaning premise.

• Speaking of underdevelopment, this also applies to the characters. Except for Charlie, everyone is pretty one-note, and not that fleshed out. Suzy barely figures into the story, when she is the reason there is a story at all, because of her curse (BTW, the witch who cursed her at her Christening is dead before the events of the book take place), a curse she remains oblivious to - she never finds out about it, nor the existence of magic and how it is effecting her life. She's a plot device, and nothing more. She only interacts with Charlie like, twice throughout the novella, whilst Charlie gets to stalk her and perform amateur, potentially dangerous spells on her without the older girl's knowledge or consent. It's kind of creepy and screwed up, if you think about it.

• There is absolutely nothing concerning stranger danger when it comes to Agatha's character. It turns out that Charlie going into the woods alone and into a complete stranger's home there is okay. No red flags, no warning bells ringing, at the recluse/hermit woman saying off the bat that she's a witch, and that magic is real and the little girl who entered her cottage should do spells for her to "break a curse". No suspicions, no questions, no apprehension on Charlie's part, not even initially. That Agatha does turn out to be "good" (though that's debatable, but I'll get into that in a bit) and "safe", and that this is a subversive fairy tale where there are "friendly" witches, is beside the point; going into a stranger's house in a hidden area in a place you're new to is a reprehensible message to put into a children's book.

• Agatha isn't, in fact, a very good or friendly character. As a Baba Yaga-archetype, supposedly, she's cold, stoic and formal, and scares Charlie, though there's every indication that she doesn't mean to, and she is just bad at socialising, as a loner local witch in the woods. Worst of all, she puts the child in danger with no appropriate amount of care and remorse. She allegedly gave up magic after her best friend, Eliza, who made mistakes and tragically turned to the dark side of magic, cursed Suzy with a bad singing voice because she wasn't invited to her Christening (yep, and it is silly and makes no sense). Then Eliza died. Agatha felt guilty, but apparently never once attempted to break the curse herself throughout Suzy's seventeen years of life. Charlie shows up conveniently about a week before Suzy turns seventeen; before her curse would take hold. It turns out Agatha needed a child's help to do risky, dangerous curse-breaking magic for her. She's a tragic mentor character who never gets off her backside to do anything herself, outside of her house. At best, she's useless and pathetic. At worst, she's heavily irresponsible. Child endangerment is definitely on her list of crimes.

• In what could be another flaw in Agatha, or a flaw in the writing, is as follows: she explicitly states to Charlie a few times that no one is to see her performing magic - whether out of secrecy and the risk of magic exposure and a resurgence of witch hunts, or the spells will not work otherwise, or both, is unclear. Another girl at school, Kat, catches Charlie in every instance of her trying out magical solutions on Suzy to break her curse, and has even deliberately prevented her from performing them a couple times. It turns out that Kat is magical, too (but not a witch, specifically, but oh, I'm finally getting to that next up). So, does the no-witness rule count if the witness is also magical? Would all of Charlie's spells worked regardless? Why doesn't she keep trying the same ones, if her first attempts failed due to either bad timing or sabotage? Are there any real stakes, obstacles and difficulties in 'How to Catch a Witch' on any level (including metaphorically)?

Aaaaaand speaking of Kat...

• After her third failed curse-breaking spell, Charlie thinks Kat, aka her obvious future first friend her own age in town, might be a witch. Kat can see "glows" - essences in things and people. Charlie is disappointed because she thinks Kat is a witch and not her, and so Kat would become Agatha's new apprentice and leave the "poor, stuttering, magicless" Charlie behind. This is despite the fact that Charlie has been performing magic spells throughout the book, even succeeding in one or two. Also throughout the book she feels a "buzzing" in her body whenever there's magic present. We get a drawn-out sequence where Charlie takes Kat to see Agatha in her cottage in the woods, where she expects the older woman to declare her friend a witch and Charlie a nothing, when it is obvious she is a witch. Both girls could be witches, together. But what ends up happening is the most baffling "twist". Agatha does say that Charlie is a witch, and Kat... is a familiar.

Okay. Strap in, rant ahead:

In this book, witches' familiars can be people as well as animals. Not witches themselves, but assistants to witches. Servants. Second to them. Lower than them. So low that they're comparable to an animal, and Kat seriously says that animals have always liked her, and she connects to them more than people. Human "familiars" absorb energy and magic and give them to the people who are supposed to be the witches. Why aren't they witches when they too can cast spells? Can they only do any kind of magic when they are partnered with a "real witch"? Is a "real, proper witch" just more powerful? How are they special? How are they different from familiars? Are familiars basically witches' slaves? Are human familiars destined to be slaves to witches? They have no choice in the matter? Like, tough, it is something they have to deal with, as it's their undisputed lot in life, set in stone?

Wow. If I were Kat, I'd be raging, dispirited, disheartened, even devastated. Quite literally dehumanised. But no. She is delighted by the news that she has to play second fiddle to Charlie; to be what is essentially the equivalent of a pet cat. Heck, she's compared to a cat in appearance a few times by Charlie, and her name is Kat! It's good that the two magical girls become friends, and are happy and close - the best of witchy friends by the end of the novella - and they share a kind of psychic connection, with Charlie's buzz and Kat's glow - but why can't Kat be a witch, too? How is she not a witch? Why a familiar? What makes a familiar? What is the difference? Who makes these stupid, elitist, bureaucratic master-and-subservient rules?

Ahem.

Final point:

• The ending is too abrupt and too easy. Charlie, with Kat's "help" via energy transfer to the "real witch" (urgh, how is that fair and equal?), captures Suzy's curse from outside her window, at night, while Suzy is asleep (totally not creepy at all), and bottles it, and hands it to Agatha, who destroys it by breaking it in her fireplace, and Charlie and Kat each go home to sleep, and that's it. The reader still hardly knows anything about Suzy, the blissfully oblivious victim who should have been a friend and confidante to the protagonist. If Suzy was made aware of the curse, and indeed of anything that's going on, at some point in what little story there is, it would have been a lot shorter, or more dramatic, emotional and personal, depending on how well the writer could pull it off convincingly and flowingly.


'How to Catch a Witch' isn't empty and unsatisfying, exactly, as it is funny, clever, cute, and contains more laudable messages than bad ones. Additionally it's breezy and easy to read. But I wanted more substance, more character work - solid characterisation - even if the magic, figuratively and in-story, was still there. And that human familiar idea needed to be outright rejected in-story, for the reasons already mentioned above, not accepted as a done thing, no question. Not something to be happy about and proud of. Not something that is natural and normal. Not an assigned, destined role, due to what I can only assume to be genetics (witch genes are mentioned), which should not define a person, and it is another dangerous and irresponsible message to send to the youth of today.

Phew! I managed to say far more than perhaps was necessary about an unassuming little children's witch book that is meant to be read at school during playtime. But like I said, this is something I would have liked as a witch-loving schoolgirl myself, so there is a nostalgic wonder to it for me.

It sadly wasn't enough for my adult brain. My wise, weary, worldly adult brain and heart.

Final Score: 3/5

Graphic Novel Review - 'Power Girl Vol. 1: Electric Dreams' by Leah Williams (Writer), Eduardo Pansica (Artist), Julio Ferreira (Artist), Marguerite Sauvage (Artist, Colourist), David Baldeón (Artist), Romulo Fajardo Jr. (Colourist), Becca Carey (Letterer)

'Power Girl Vol. 1: Electric Dreams' is the sort-of sequel to 'Power Girl Returns', and it picks up the main storyline of that one pretty well.

And it goes all out and batshit insane.

There are complicated, fraught alien/Kryptonian and human relations and politics (oh joy), alien invasions, an alien virus, alien tech robot possessions (like Brainiac, or Brother Eye), Superman as Power Girl's mentor and confidant, Lois Lane as Power Girl's boss in her civilian identity, an espionage agent/possible CIA agent subplot that goes nowhere, a dying elderly lion that Power Girl forms a connection with, an entire, near-wordless issue dedicated to the nightly escapades of Streaky the Kryptocat, a plot involving a drug being sold to college kids, a not-so virtual reality/fantasy world, fantasy/alien lore, a witch, yet another hivemind control plot, and Power Girl and Supergirl becoming fantasy knight heroines and savours of said fantasy world, that's a planet in outta space.

Really, the latter stuff I mentioned would have worked great in a 'Harley Quinn' comic. Even the artwork matches Harley's cartoony style and sense of humour.

It is totally bonkers. It is what superhero comics should be.

Omen, aka Lilith, is present and still Power Girl's best friend (I still don't know what happened to Atlee). Though she is superfluous sometimes, often playing the comic relief role, more than once at inappropriate moments. Omen seemingly randomly pops up in places where it doesn't make sense, and at one point at the end it appears she was added into a scene for a plot-related reason... and then she never shows up again, like the writer or the artist forgot she was there. What the hell?

WTH also are the telepathic hero's actions, especially towards normal civilians, which are highly, morally questionable...

PG's civilian name is now Dr. Paige Stetler. It's great that she's canonically a doctor, and still a smart businesswoman seeking to save the world through safe, environmentally-friendly science and tech, but whatever happened to Starr Labs? Why does PG have a boss when she was her own boss at her own company? Why is she suddenly shy and lacking in social skills and cues? She was a CEO!

What do the general public think happened to Karen Starr, PG's former civilian alter ego? That she disappeared off the face of the earth, and then this Paige Stetler appears out of nowhere and looks exactly like her and has practically the same job as her? Oh wait, Paige wears glasses, and Karen didn't, so they are different people to everyone else, according to long-established DC rules.

Speaking of DC tropes, here's a tired one: slight spoiler, but Power Girl gets temporarily mind controlled to become evil and angry again - she gets mind controlled/possessed by evil tech powered by the colour red again! But at least in this instance she is given some agency, and fights back. But DC, please, no more plots revolving around villains taking over PG's mind and body without her consent! It's creepy, and trite at this point.

Lois Lane is a qualified, competent, confident, smart, strict-but-fair, powerful boss to Paige Stetler, and she knows she's Power Girl! Lois has seen it all, as the top, award-winning Daily Planet journalist-turned editor-in-chief, and wife of Superman and mother of his child. Her cameo, her new job, her growth and development - they are appreciated.

It's awesome to see Power Girl and Supergirl's sisterly relationship and partnership carried over from 'Power Girl Returns'. A+!

With cool, expressive, shadowy, varying, flexible artwork, and action and character work, 'Power Girl Vol. 1: Electric Dreams' is a must for Power Girl fans, and regular DC Comics fans. It is a damn entertaining superhero comic. It knows Power Girl (shifting, inconsistent civilian identity traits notwithstanding), and treats the superheroine with respect, reverence, and care. She is a worthy hero, and person.

A tragic person whose past is coming back to haunt her, to ruin everything she has built up for herself. But with help, she can overcome it. She can fight it, punch it. Again and again, for however long it takes for her own form of a systemic abuser to go away for good, and not take control of her; not take everything away from her new, remade life and identity.

She is strong in the ways that matter, after all.

Welcome back, Power Girl. Aka, the original Kara Zor-L, Superman's cousin.

Power Girl = Girl Power.

Final Score: 3.5/5

Graphic Novel Review - 'Power Girl Returns' by Leah Williams (Writer), Marguerite Sauvage (Artist, Colourist), Vasco Georgiev (Artist), Marissa Louise (Colourist), Alex Guimarães (Colourist), Becca Carey (Letterer)

'Power Girl Returns'

And return she does.

Hooray, another 'Power Girl' comic, and it's one that I like!

I'd only ever liked 'Power Girl, Vol. 1: A New Beginning', which I read ten years ago! I wanted more of Power Girl, where she is 1) written well, 2) treated respectfully, 3) not treated like a joke - for example, regarding the (in)famous boob window on her costume, 4) not overly sexualised, and used as a lazy excuse for female objectification fanservice, 5) not a throwaway victim with no thought put into her character and her trauma, 6) not a random, last minute throwaway victim with no thought put into her character and trauma, and 7) allowed to reach her full potential.

Like she matters.

Because she does.

Not because she is "sexy". Not necessarily because she is one of the strongest superheroines in the DCU, physically. But because she is a sassy, savvy, self-aware, funny, witty, smart, technologically-and-logically-minded (she's not really a meathead who just likes punching things), moody, badass, rough (not like that!) yet warm, and complex heroine.

Thankfully, the contemporary comic, 'Power Girl Returns', understands this about her. She even swears a lot in it, albeit censored by DC Comics. And there is no overt, obnoxious fanservice in the art in sight.

Sure, 'Power Girl Returns' can be taxing, confusing, convoluted, inconsistent, awkwardly paced, and annoying at times, but in spite of its obvious problems, I enjoyed it. I'm just happy to see Power Girl receive over a modicum of the respect she's always deserved.

The artwork in every issue is great, too. Very colourful, crisp, creative, and bright, even in the later, darker storyline.

The gist of 'Power Girl Returns', its reason for being, is: Power Girl just came back from nearly dying in the 'Lazarus Planet' DC storyline, which I have not read, and this Kryptonian/first-proto-Supergirl who's survived two crisis events and universe rewrites now has psychic powers, because of Lazarus Rains or trauma or something. She uses her new powers to become a psychic psychotherapist for fellow superheroes, alongside Omen, whom I've wanted to read about properly in comics for years, and am glad she is given her moments to shine, and be Power Girl's new best friend (where's Atlee, aka Terra? Idk).

With PG's psychic powers comes the ability to astral-punch, to go with her regular punching.

Power Girl herself, understandably, has severe psychological troubles and obstacles to overcome. These include self-esteem issues, self-loathing issues, suppression issues, abandonment issues, identity crises, imposter syndrome, mood swings, blocking out love from others and herself, letting go of her true emotions, letting go of her past, social anxiety, and self-isolation and avoidance when it comes to the "Superman family" or the "Super-Family". There are many traumatic events in her life to process and pick through.

She finally becomes friends with Supergirl, and comes to accept the Kryptonians on Earth - the Supermen, women, kids, and pets - as her family, where she is in fact loved and welcomed by them.

It's where she belongs, where she's always belonged, if she only lets them in, in her lonely, confusing, "insignificant" existence.

Past, present and future, Power Girl matters. She's no longer a victim, either.

Then suddenly she isn't psychic anymore (or at least she's not telepathic), and is trapped by night terrors/simulations, looping over and over again, in DC's 'Knight Terrors' event.

Typical.

We go from a light, funny, hopeful, clever, thoughtful, caring, individual and personal character angle and study of Power Girl, to dark, grim, repetitive, DC mass event canon BS.

Oh well, it's all really interesting on the whole.

Oh and PG's new civilian name is Paige, given to her by Superman's son Jon, after Omen's nickname for her, Peej. She's not Karen Starr, CEO of a billion-dollar science and engineering company, anymore, I guess.

As well as Power Girl, I am borderline stanning the superheroines featured and spotlighted here:

Omen - telepath, redhead, and PG's new superhero partner, friend and roommate, and who is very much her free therapist.

Supergirl, aka Kara - her and PG's interactions, and them finally getting to know one another and coming to an understanding, a meaningful bond, a shared-soul sisterhood, is something that's needed to happen for decades, and it is wonderful, powerful and glorious.

And Catwoman suddenly appears on one page to beat a monster of her own. The reader doesn't see her interact with Power Girl or anyone else.

There's also Kara's Kryptocat, Streaky (seriously with that name?), who reminds me of Carol Danvers's alien cat.

Other superheroes who appear are Zatanna and Mary Marvel in a 'Lazarus Planet' flashback at the beginning of the comic, and Nightwing, Beast Boy, and Superman. A sweet, caring, embracing Superman. Good. Excellent.

'Power Girl Returns' - it's a much needed fresh start for Power Girl. Even though it could have been a lot better, it could have been a lot worse, too. I'm going to take what I can get out of this superheroine's solo books, which are few and far between.

I'm happy I read it. I'm happy to own it.

Now I'm going to review its sequel (I think?), 'Power Girl Vol. 1: Electric Dreams'.

Leah Williams's comic run of PG looks interesting, experimental, dynamic, and well-thought out so far.

Go, Power Girl, go!

Final Score: 3.5/5

EDIT: I just learned that the two women on either side of Power Girl on the back of the paperback volume are Fire and Ice. I have barely heard of them, and they are not in the comic itself. And why does PG look so much like Carol Danvers/Captain Marvel? The blonde hair, the costume, the powers, everything. It can't be the cat connection, surely!

Graphic Novel Review - 'Amazons Attack' by Josie Campbell (Writer), Vasco Geogiev (Artist), Alex Guimarães (Colourist), Becca Carey (Letterer)

'Amazons Attack (2024)' is one of the best canon-run 'Wonder Woman' comics I have read in ages, and it doesn't even feature Wonder Woman herself, not once. It is about the Amazons as they are currently, as a community, and as a now-marginalised and ostracised group of people in man's world. It is about Queen Nubia, the new queen of the Amazons, as she desperately tries to take care of one disaster, one terrorist event, after another, through peaceful, diplomatic means, in a world that is determined to hate and blame her and her people.

It is an overwhelmingly violent, aggressive, deadly, hopeless situation. But Nubia will have her fellow Amazonian sisters to back her up, and help her out, even the estranged ones. The Amazons are in this nightmare together - and together, they will slowly, surely, break out of it. Out of this stigma and ostracism. The patriarchy is a powerful influencer, but so are they.

Nubia - and all Amazons, and therefore all women - will never give up their rights.

For the threat to the Amazons represents and means a threat to women, period.

Minority groups, different groups of people from the social "norm", and especially women, and anyone who threatens the status quo and, specifically, "traditional family values", "traditional gender roles" and "traditional American values" (and I thought it was the land of the free, hmm?), being targeted, ostracised, victimised, terrorised, and scapegoated through lies, hatemongering and fearmongering - resulting in the rise of hate crimes and violence and death fuelled by bigotry, not to mention systematic abuse, against people who are feared and are "banned" just for existing, which the instigators, the bigoted authorities, people in positions of power and influence, will not acknowledge, or will downplay, it in order to further their own narcissistic, closeminded self-interests and agendas - all leading to governments making inhumane, regressive and fascistic laws and mandates, to the point where the minorities - the victims of the white supremacist, misogynistic, abusive and hypocritical fundamentalist patriarchy - will have to seek sanctuary to survive... no I can't see how this could be reflecting real life right now, and how 'Amazons Attack' could be viewed as a cautionary tale for our own looming chaotic and dystopic political landscapes, what could possibly make you think that?

'Amazons Attack' also stars Queen Faruka of the Bana-Mighdall, an Amazonian tribe, Yara Flor of the Esquecida Amazonian tribe, Mary Marvel, aka Mary Bromfield, an Amazon ally and therefore a target and enforced public enemy number one, and her talking teleporting rabbit Hoppy, and later, Cassandra Sandsmark, aka one of the Wonder Girls. Nubia's lover Io is also there sometimes.

It is all about these brilliant superheroines, of different ethnicities, backgrounds, beliefs, religions or lack thereof, and sexual orientations, trying to do what is right and good in the face of the patriarchy and the corrupt American government. They are fighting for their right to exist, and in doing so they are saving their people, and the world, and I am here for it!

In spite of the infuriating and devasting real world-adjacent politics going on, 'Amazons Attack' is very fun, action-packed, good-natured at heart, brisk, breezy, and lighthearted and hilarious in places (like Cassie's character, and Mary to a degree, and it has a talking teleporting rabbit, come on!). Levity, chances to breath, these are needed in a dark, anxiety-inducing, world-saving plot like this one. These lively, upbeat moments are what I remember, alongside the moments that genuinely shocked me to my core, as a balance. The comic knows when to have fun as it's telling a story about superheroes and badass warrior women. And a talking teleporting bunny rabbit.

This is what I read comics books for. 'Amazons Attack' doesn't get too bogged down in politics and talking heads to the point where I wonder where the plot is going - even where the plot is - and the superheroes are inactive, even passive, making a tense, near hopeless situation even worse, and I want to say, "You are superheroes! With decades of experience! What are you doing?"

Looking at you, 'Wonder Woman: Outlaw'.

With 'Amazons Attack', I have not had so much fun, and I have not been so emotionally invested, in reading a modern day 'Wonder Woman' comic run. I have not cared so much. It's a gigantic relief.

At best the 'Trial of the Amazons' stuff was meh, and at worst it was confusing and convoluted AF. I didn't like 'Wonder Woman: Outlaw', nor the 'Future State' event. The only other modern 'Amazons' comic storyline I came to remotely liking is 'Nubia & the Amazons'.

I get what DC is trying to do with Wonder Woman and the Amazons; what they are trying to say, and trying to build up to. But writing-wise it does not always succeed. Too much politics, too much dialogue and exposition, can ruin a comic. Remember, writers, that you are writing about superheroes, too! Younger audiences are reading your comics, as well as older generations longing for the good old, good-vs-evil action days - remember to have fun, too! Remember to enjoy yourselves, so the readers will also enjoy themselves. Don't overwhelm your readers, and give them reasons to care about what's going on, without inundating them with everything being so dark and bleak and hopeless.

But regardless, in this comic and the rest, I love Nubia, the queer POC feminist icon, a literal queen who slays, who is strong in many ways. I adore her arc as Queen of the Amazons, despite being dumped in the worst possible time to be the queen, and left to clean up the mess... the mess she made, but it wasn't entirely her fault. She had the best intentions.

I think this is the only comic where I feel Yara Flor is given the justice she deserves. (Read my review of 'Nubia & the Amazons' (link above) for more info). I really like Mary Marvel, too, and this is coming from someone who didn't like 'The New Champion of Shazam!', of which 'Amazons Attack' works as a sequel to (don't worry, this is in fact relevant to the main story and is not convoluted), and was also written by Josie Campbell. Great job, Josie! Cassie Sandsmark is a blast - literally!

'Amazons Attack' is a huge breath of fresh air, for the 'Wonder Woman/Amazons' storylines, and for current DC Comics. Hope, fun, cleverness, thought, and cultural relevance are back!

It is not perfect - there is an Amazonian/Esquecidian oracle character, Anahi, who is important at the beginning, but then goes missing halfway through, without explanation, and she is never seen or mentioned again. And the revelation of the twist villain, and their motivation, don't make a lot of sense, and this leaves a few holes... and highly questionable retcons.

But the climax, ultimately, is awesome, empowering and feminist.

It contains - no, it shouts out - one particular message, one important angle in feminism, that needs to be considered by everyone:

Do not join - do not associate with - a cause, a group, a community, a religion, etc, that requires you to be lesser than you are in order for it to function.

Do not join anything that makes you feel small and not good enough.

Do not join anything that deliberately keeps you from the light in its darkness

Join a community, a cause, that makes you you, that encourages and loves the whole of you.

Because you are enough. You deserve better.

You deserve to be free. To live freely and safely.

You represent you. All of you.

You belong in the world.

You are the world. Let that world know you are not going anywhere.

It is absolutely uplifting and hopeful that DC seems to still have its shit together, when the rest of the world seems to be turning upside-down, and causing its own destruction in throwing away basic human rights, decency, morals, ethics, and sense of justice and goodwill, in keeping with the (still being avoided) consequences of late-stage capitalism, and adhering to a desperate and dying, regressive, archaic patriarchy.

That 'ARE YOU HARBORING AMAZONS IN YOUR HOME? ' propaganda flyer at the beginning of issue 4 really made my blood boil. It is sick and twisted what the patriarchy's - and by extension, fundamentalist Christianity's - idea of a "good girl" is. Good girls should be silent, unless it is to tattle on those big, scary, aggressive, too independent, too smart, and rebellious Amazons and Amazon sympathisers, or any female human who dares to express those human qualities. Good girls - the ideal female - should only exist to serve men. To obey men. There really are men - and women! - who still think like that. As if my faith in humanity couldn't be any lower.

Another quick mention: 'Amazons Attack' is, thank goodness, nothing like the infamous, bloody terrible 'Amazons Attack!' comic from the mid 2000s.

Terrific and horrific. Light and dark. Hopeful and hopeless. 'Amazons Attack' is a harrowing, intense story, and a demand for justice for all women, for all people. An exhale of relief - and a battle cry. And a damn good superheroine comic.

Diana isn't in it, as she's off doing her own thing relating to the global persecution of "foreign" and "immigrant" Amazons in Tom King's comic run, but good writing has managed it so this doesn't hinder the comic one bit. It is a gem.

I have called myself a feminist, an independent woman, a witch, a sorceress, a magical girl, a superheroine, an ally, an openminded philanthropist - anything that the patriarchy would hate and fear, and has hated and feared irrationally for forever now - and now I am proud to call myself an Amazon, to add to my identity.

Phew!

How exhausting. But the fight is far from over...

Final Score: 4/5

Graphic Novel Review - 'Diana and the Hero's Journey' by Grace Ellis (Writer), Penelope Rivera Gaylord (Artist), Jerry Gaylord (Co-artist), Lucas Gattoni (Letterer)

'It takes a village to raise a warrior - and the Amazons have their hands full with Diana.'

A surprisingly charming little children's DC comic about Wonder Woman as a child on Themyscira, especially after reading a similar comic from 2024, 'Wonder Woman: The Adventures of Young Diana', which is so bizarre, confusing and all over the place (a shame considering Paulina Gaunucheau's great artwork).

'Diana and the Hero's Journey' is a simple tale with no high stakes. There isn't any real danger or threat. It is about little Princess Diana of the Amazons getting up to shenanigans, and interacting with one Amazon after another, each with their own unique personality and skills, and who each tell their own version of a famous Amazon story and legend, 'Hero's Journey', about Hero, the first hero.

Diana becomes desperate to know how the legendary Hero's story ends - really ends - as she's handed off (or she leaves of her own volition) from one job to another, one Amazon to another, in preparation for a festival celebrating Hero, which she initially, inadvertently destroys, via scaring her pet goat Phyllis, at the beginning of the comic (yes, that happens).

'Diana and the Hero's Journey' is a story about stories, and how they can shape people in their childhood. Maybe this hero's journey will help shape Diana into becoming the beloved, iconic superheroine we all know and love today...

'Diana and the Hero's Journey' is similar to 'Wonder Woman: The True Amazon', only far less tragic. Even the artwork is identical, if more cartoony. Diana is such a brat here, too, though she is a lot younger than she is in 'The True Amazon', so it's easier to understand and let it slide.

Diana is a regular child. A spoiled, boisterous, hyperactive, curious princess raised among warrior women, who is absolutely obsessed with punching things. She thinks violence and punching your problems away are the only solutions to everything in life, and the adult Amazons around her, individually and together, will she show her that no, there is more to being an Amazon than fighting. The Amazonian sisters will achieve this through storytelling.

As vastly different as the rascally, arrogant, aggressive young Diana is from the warm, kind, loving Wonder Woman we generally know, she is not all bad. She's funny, playful, inquisitive, apologetic when she needs to be, and tries to obey her elders some of the time. One of her goals throughout the comic is finding a gift to give to her mother, Queen Hippolyta.

Like I said, she is just a kid. A kid living in a small, secluded environment where she can do anything and go explore anywhere within those limits. She is surrounded by cool warrior women who are often too busy for her, including her mother to an extent, and who are more her teachers than companions... and she's the only child on her entire island. Her only real friend is her goat Phyllis, who she projects her true emotions onto to hide her own hurt feelings - I've known children who have done this with their pets and toys!

Looking at these factors, of course Diana is an attention seeker and troublemaker, looking for anything to be exciting about, to boost her ego, and sense of validation and importance. The child who doesn't know any better will subtly grow and develop by the end of the comic.

She will learn that there is more to being an Amazon than punching.

'Diana and the Hero's Journey' is, ultimately, about how the Amazons - the sisterhood, the culture, the functioning society - are all about community, support, and being there for each other, and working together. And taking responsibility for your actions. And when it comes to stories and legends, sometimes the truest version of events - the truth, period - is hard to find, hard to pin down, hard to interpret and agree on. But as long as you can find your truth in it, and learn from it, that's what matters overall.

It's a sweet and hilarious children's comic, and the OTT art grew on me. I love the 'Hero's Journey' storytelling segments with their own different art styles, moods and tones, and the ones featuring the traditional Wondy (as Hero) are fantastic, and nostalgic. It's not a saving-Themyscira-and-the-world crisis Wonder Woman story, and it barely counts as an adventure, nor is it an actual hero's journey (though it could be for Diana, as an understated metaphor). But it is a nice bottle episode from Diana's youth. Her energetic, blooming, not-so-humble youth.

Plus, the legendary heroine from 'Hero's Journey' being literally named Hero - a stand-in and inspiration for Wonder Woman - and the comic being about women telling empowering stories to one another, reminds me of my favourite graphic novel of all time, 'The One Hundred Nights of Hero', so there's that for a personal recommendation!

True, I recommend 'Diana and the Hero's Journey', by Grace Ellis and Penelope Rivera Gaylord, if you like 'Wonder Woman: The True Amazon', 'Diana: Princess of the Amazons', and 'Diana and Nubia: Princesses of the Amazons'. They are awesome, young pre-Wonder Woman Diana books (avoid the rubbish 'Wonder Woman: The Adventures of Young Diana', though, and I dislike 'Wonder Woman: Warbringer' and 'Diana and the Island of No Return', too. Still, they are better than Brian Azzarello's New 52 run on Wonder Woman.)

Final Score: 3.5/5

P.S. As obsessed with punching as Diana is in this, it is nothing compared to the Amazon Tal's obsession with horses.