Graphic Novel Review - 'Harley and Ivy Meet Betty and Veronica' by Paul Dini (Writer), Marc Andreyko (Writer), Laura Braga (Artist), Adriana Melo (Artist), Arif Prianto (Colourist), Tony Aviña (Colourist), J. Nanjan (Colourist), Deron Bennett (Letterer)

And the award for the biggest, pleasantest surprise comic I've read this year goes to...

I mean, 'Harley and Ivy Meet Betty and Veronica' has everything against it:

It's a crossover idea that, while seeming fun on paper, can too easily turn out bad and insultingly stupid instead of fun stupid, with anything less than the most careful, thoughtful, knowledgeable and professional execution. One of its writers is Paul Dini, whom I've lost favour with in recent years, but especially after he wrote the terrible 'Batman: Harley and Ivy' comic (yes that was over twenty years ago but still!). I had no faith in any 'Betty and Veronica' crossovers after reading the even more terrible 'Red Sonja and Vampirella Meet Betty and Veronica, Vol. 1'. Speaking of, I have yet to read a decent Archie 'Betty and Veronica' comic*. Granted, I am not that familiar with Archie Comics beyond 'Sabrina' and 'Josie and the Pussycats'; I am no scholar, but what I have read of 'Betty and Veronica' has... not impressed me, to put it nicely.

(And no, I have not seen 'Riverdale').

I am, however, far more acquainted with DC Comics, and Harley Quinn and Poison Ivy. I am a huge fan of both of them, individually and as a pair, so I wanted to give 'Harley and Ivy Meet Betty and Veronica' a go, despite my less than stellar knowledge of one franchise compared to the other in this crossover event.

Plus, girl power and sisterhood. Girls teaming up, ya know?

Now, after finishing this momentous and epic event, I have to say: How the $%^#! does 'Red Sonja and Vampirella Meet Betty and Veronica' have a higher Goodreads rating?!

Because 'Harley and Ivy Meet Betty and Veronica' is momentous and epic. It is big. It is refreshingly entertaining. It is funny as hell. It does not waste any character, any golden opportunity and potential. Almost every kind of comedic and clever (and meta) idea is included in this bizarre, unlikely yet oddly sensical crossover between two comic book properties. The number of in-jokes, and their quality, it's peak; it's goated.

The comic was clearly made by people who knew a lot about both DC and Archie, and how the multiple characters in each IP work. So much is put into it, and it should be a mess, or worse, an unfun, underwhelming mess, haphazard and poorly thought out and edited, like a lot of crossover events are, unfortunately. But it isn't.

I am astonished by how well written 'Harley and Ivy Meet Betty and Veronica' is. Of course it's silly and goofy - it's what it's supposed to be and more! It's like very smart fanfiction.

Not to mention, Harley Quinn and Poison Ivy, the villainesses/antiheroines of Gotham, and Betty Cooper and Veronica Lodge, the "good girls" of Riverdale - both female duos are treated with equal respect. Page time, plot importance, in-character interactions, working together, sharing action sequences and set pieces - it is equal on both sides. No character is favoured over another.

Like I said, no opportunity, and no character, is wasted. There is love all around in this crossover!

A crossover with, get this, no multiverse BS - the DCU and the Archie universe just exist the same world in this comic only. It's treated as a given, and that's okay. How %^&*ing refreshing for a crossover event!

The plot is, basically, Veronica's richer-than-the-gods father, Hiram Lodge, wants to build a university, as part of his corporate brand/scheme/scam, over a preserved swamp in Riverdale, and Ivy is angry over the environmental and economic atrocity and ode to gentrification and capitalism, so she and Harley go to Riverdale to try to stop the plans from going ahead. Criminals are after them in Gotham. All sorts of hilarity ensues, including body-swapping, and displacement. There's a costume party in Riverdale (containing some of the best ironic and meta jokes in the comic), to go with the crime boss and industrial sabotage shenanigans.

Also included are Sabrina the Teenage Witch (who dresses as "Merlin Monroe" at the costume party), Zatanna (whom Sabrina is a fan of, so brilliant and cute!), Josie and the Pussycats (yes!), Catwoman (who's a fan of Josie and the Pussycats, ditto brilliant and cute!), the eternally-hungry Jughead, Reggie Mantle as the Joker via bonked-on-the-head amnesia (it is like reading a cartoon, and it's great!), and a crime boss who literally has a peach for a head.

Comics, am I right?

How can anyone want to miss this?!

Cheryl Blossom and Archie Andrews are in it, too. Nearly nobody is pointless or reduced to a cameo. And is Veronica's dad's assistant seriously named Smithers? I swear.

The art is great. Practically, efficiently, and colourfully perfect. Gold stars shooting like candy and confetti for Laura Braga and Adriana Melo!

The only major flaws of 'Harley and Ivy Meet Betty and Veronica' I can think of are:

Are Betty and Veronica best friends or frenemies or archrivals or what? It seems to vary with each comic I read about them. They're famous "frenemies" and "archnemeses" in this version. If their friendship is so capricious and turbulent, to OTT comedic degrees, then it's toxic, no matter the genre and medium.

Harley and Ivy are actually referred to as "gal pals". That term has always needed to die a swift death. It is an infuriating, stupid, cowardly copout, rooted in queerphobia in the media. Like queerbaiting, it is part of sanitizing queer relationships; a crappy paint job to render them "safe" and "palatable" for "mass" audiences, never explicit to them. Translation: the ignorant, cowardly and hateful pandering to the ignorant, cowardly and hateful.

Even in 2018, Harley and Ivy's relationship was heading towards a romantic one in DC Comics, so what the hell? The only explicit queer representation in 'Harley and Ivy Meet Betty and Veronica' is Kevin, and his sole contributing scene is where he picks out costumes for Betty and Ronnie (Veronica's nickname) at a clothing shop. How groundbreaking, and not stereotypical and tokenising.

Tokenising is patronising, just a little PSA for ya.

Why does the cover have Harley and Ivy flirt with the underaged, teenaged Archie? Ivy flirts with him in teeny tiny amounts in the comic, as well. What the hell?! Harley and Ivy are not that evil, for %^'s sake!

Oh, but the rest of the comic is ^*£$ing good!

'Harley and Ivy Meet Betty and Veronica' - it is delectable. It is a fun, clever, and hilarious book. A cartoon in comic book form in the best way. It is what Harley and Ivy are supposed to be (minus the "gal pals" part), and what I imagine a good-to-great Archie comic is supposed to be.

It is how comics should be. How comic crossovers should be.

Final Score: 4/5

*'Betty & Veronica: Vixens Vol. 1' has potential, with laudable feminist intentions. Many female Archie characters are spotlighted. Midge Klump certainly is given more to do than in 'Harley and Ivy Meet Betty and Veronica'. But sadly, 'Vixens' is a very messy, unfocused and inconsistent comic, so I can't recommend you pay money to read it.

Non-Fiction Book Review - 'The Book of Forgotten Witches: Dark & Twisted Folklore & Stories from Around the World' by Balázs Tátrai (Writer), Lilla Bölecz (Illustrator)

'The Book of Forgotten Witches: Dark & Twisted Folklore & Stories from Around the World'

What a unique, amazing, fantastical, monstrously creative and imaginative, spooky, creepy early Halloween present for this witch and witch fan.

It is about individual witches, sorted into types/categories, throughout mythology, folklore, and history. It is also a prolonged narrative, with you, the reader, as the curious visitor of an ancient, forgotten witch's library, the Corpus Corvorum, now in ruins atop the gothic Raven Hill. It is a moonlit night, and a mysterious ghost is your host, and the keeper and custodian of the library. You are about to embark on a journey, where you will tear away the veils and barriers of the world.

The ghost will tell you, in brief descriptions, about different witches, and magical creatures, mythical creatures, demons, the undead (including vampires, a bonus), gods, and monsters (not all of them are misunderstood, via tainted and dictated history, but nearly all of them have been previously lost and a target of attempted erasure), based around the process of spirituality, mysticism, and alchemy, and the drawing of tarot cards - the Major Arcana - and their symbolism, so we can discover and purify ourselves, towards enlightenment.

At the end of each witch category list, and stage in the alchemic/spiritual method, the ghost tells the reader a thrilling and scary short story, linking to a different tarot card. Every story is about witches, or otherwise magic, and nature, time, curses, dreams, and people.

I'm sure I'm making the book sound more confusing than it is.

But throughout 'The Book of Forgotten Witches', the reader is transformed and empowered. For witches have always been about empowerment. Most especially, female empowerment.

It is a chimera of a book. It is a dark, educational, and enlightening experience. Whilst reading, I fell under its spell. It felt like it had a darkness to it; something ominous, yet helpful in its own way. A witch like Baba Yaga could have written and stitched it together (incidentally, surprisingly, Baba Yaga's inclusion and description here is one of the shortest ones).

It is haunting, enticing, hypnotizing, and proudly, gleefully unconventional. It is almost necromantic. A codex of the occult.

This review would be far too long if I pointed out my favourite witches and magical creatures listed in 'The Book of Forgotten Witches'. Hecate is a major example. But one inclusion I feel I must highlight is Lilith and Eve (in the 'Fate-turners' category, with their powers being: 'independence'), 'the two major female figures of Jewish mythology' - page 326:


'Lilith stands up for herself and becomes an outcast of the system [literally demonised]. Eve remains in it but as a perpetual scapegoat. She suffers a similar fate to her predecessor, trying in vain to conform to a system that sees women as natural sinners. If Lilith and Eve could join forces, we would be one step closer to a more equal world.' - page 326


Holy shit. I love this book.

This is why we need feminism.

I will add that my favourites of the ghost's short stories are 'Pierced Gitta's Stall' (it is very Roald Dahl's 'The Witches'), 'The Green Rose', 'Nightfall' (an important LBGTQ+ story, about religious propaganda and fearmongering, ostracising, and "We tolerate your existence, barely, and now you want rights?! and to be seen?!", and it is my absolute favourite alongside 'The Green Rose'), 'Dragon Sister' (about a legend concerning the countess Elizabeth Báthory! Plus it has dragons and vampires, what more could you want?), and 'The Stone-dweller's hare' (very 'Watership Down' and 'The Animals of Farthing Wood'). Most of the other stories are confusing, unclear, and just plain baffling, but I see their meanings and morals. All are well written and gripping.

The art by Lilla Bölecz is gorgeous, ethereal, shady, and eerie; an extra scary, unsettling, ghostly touch, and aura and spirit.

'The Book of Forgotten Witches: Dark & Twisted Folklore & Stories from Around the World' - I cannot stress enough what an experience it is. It is unlike any nonfiction and fiction book I have ever read. It is wholeheartedly witchy, atmospheric, gothic, twisted, educational, versatile, and diverse, with shadows, fog, fangs, plants, ravens, and blood and guts.

It joins my list of witchy and folkloric nonfiction: 'The Element Encyclopedia of Witchcraft', 'The Field Guide to Witches: An artist’s grimoire of 20 witches and their worlds', 'Rebel Folklore: Empowering Tales of Spirits, Witches, and Other Misfits from Anansi to Baba Yaga', 'Warriors, Witches, Women: Mythology's Fiercest Females', 'Rejected Princesses: Tales of History's Boldest Heroines, Hellions, and Heretics', 'Literary Witches: A Celebration of Magical Woman Writers', 'Fierce Fairytales: & Other Stories to Stir Your Soul', 'Witchcraft: A Graphic History: Stories of wise women, healers and magic', and 'Women Who Run With The Wolves: Contacting the Power of the Wild Woman'.

Thank you to the Goodreads friend who recommended 'The Book of Forgotten Witches' to me.

Happy early, eerie Samhain.

Final Score: 4/5

Graphic Novel Review - 'Agents of the Realm: Semester 1: Volume 1' by Mildred Louis

It's a miracle I managed to receive this Magical GirlTM webcomic series in paperback, but I did it. I tracked it down, I performed the spell, and severely dented my bank account to do it correctly, i.e. in online shopping, but now I, Artemis Crescent, Fantasy Feminist and Internet Witch, have my own physical copy of 'Agents of the Realm: Semester 1: Volume 1'.

After ten years, I finally see what the high praise, adulation and adoration is about.

And it is glorious.

It is far from perfect. Some scene transitions and character introductions are rushed, abrupt, and confusing, and some plot details, developments, and revelations either don't connect well, are not clearly explained, or are sprung from nowhere. The comic and story as a whole doesn't always flow organically. Maybe this is to do with how it was originally a webcomic, with different formatting.

However, it doesn't excuse things such as a character or two, and info regarding another character or two, such as them apparently having a parttime job, seeming to be completely forgotten about after they are introduced. Explored and developed in further reading of the series?

The transformation sequences, and the action scenes and monster battles, are few and far between, and too brief and easily won.

The comic also weirdly doesn't always put question marks at the end of questions in its dialogue balloons.

But in the name of the moon and the realms, is 'Agents of the Realm' epic. Realm knight/warrior Cosmic Power, Make Up, was it clearly created with passion.

At its most basic component, its gemstone of an idea, it is about magical girls as college students, and not one aspect of that premise is wasted or poorly thought out. It is also about other agents of a different realm than Earth - from the past, and in spirit.

It has very interesting ideas. Not all of them we haven't seen in other Magical GirlTM series' before, like the "dark" and "subversive" ones, but it's powerful, emotional and enjoyable stuff nonetheless.

Most importantly, it was created with artistic intent - and diverse, inclusive intent. Nearly every character in 'Agents of the Realm' is a POC and LBGTQ+, and it is femme as f%$^! Feminine in a nonconventional sense (these "magical" young women are so normal!), and feminist. Not every magical girl is skinny, either. Author Mildred Louis's Foreword at the beginning of the self-published paperback edition of the comic is a must-read.

Representation matters. It is everything.

Not every character is "likeable", either. Everyone has flaws and hang-ups. Everyone has shifting moods, doubts, and fears. Because magical or not, they are human. This is another artistic choice I applaud.

Additionally, I like that each character has their own colour for the font in their dialogue. It gives them an extra uniqueness and personal shine, and makes the comic less confusing about who is supposed to be talking.

'Agents of the Realm' is like 'Sailor Moon' (there are affectionate references - the love for the genre is palpable!), 'Puella Magi Madoka Magica', 'W.I.T.C.H.', 'Zodiac Starforce', and 'magnifiqueNOIR'. It is the magical girl genre for teens and older.

I love how much love the enchanting genre has received over the years, the decades - is continuing to receive - worldwide, and through different mediums. Its effect on the pop culture sphere, its openminded and diverse fandom, and thereby its impact concerning diverse rep, especially for POC and LBGTQ+ people, cannot be denied.

Okay, now's the time to confess: I wanted to read 'Agents of the Realm' (physical ownership, preferably) because it is referenced in 'The Magical Girl's Guide to Life: Find Your Inner Power, Fight Everyday Evil, and Save the Day with Self-Care'. Many magical girl references, and my recommended Magical GirlTM series', are in my review of that particular self-help book.

'Agents of the Realm: Semester 1: Volume 1' - I might not ever read the second volume (I might not be able to, no matter what magical power I possess, and how much money I procure), but it is a worthy Magical GirlTM item for my collection.

I adore magical girls, and always have - since childhood, and up to my thirties - in case that wasn't clear to anyone who knows me.

Final Score: 3.5/5

Graphic Novel Review - 'Steven Universe Volume One' by Jeremy Sorese (Writer), Coleman Engle (Artist), Rebecca Sugar (Creator, Writer), Various Writers and Artists

The first 'Steven Universe' comic volume is a series of vignettes. There is no overall plot present, nor stakes higher than a one-shot bug/gem/monster of the week. It is definitely more slice-of-life 'Steven' than sci-fi, cosmic action 'Steven'.

Based on the earliest work and concepts of the first season of the cartoon, it doesn't explore any of the lore of the Gems, or anything of the franchise, not overtly, anyway. It doesn't even explore any Gem fusions. Each story could easily have been a three minute 'Steven Universe' short.

The cover gallery at the end is arguably the best part of the volume.

But it is a cute and colourful collection for children and 'Steven Universe' fans. The humour is on point, and really funny and sweet, and everyone is in character. Speaking of, each of the mains from the first season receives a spotlight, and it's not just the Crystal Gems; there's Lion, Greg, and Connie, as well.

The artwork, and the speech bubbles and their placement, are mostly chaotic and messy, but go with the flow and it becomes easier to follow through. It is like a cartoon in comic strip form.

'Steven Universe Volume One' - cute, funny, sweet stuff.

I guess if it had a message and purpose as a whole, it would be to show that being a good person, caring for other people, and finding your inner child, don't have to be about saving the universe every week.

Wait, is this one of the messages of the cartoon? (I know a few of them are about self-love, and the loving support of others, and family, including found family.) Is the comic perfectly fitting to the canon after all?

I really need to rewatch 'Steven Universe'. It's been forever.

Feel free to read my review of 'The Answer' here for further 'Steven Universe' content worth lionising and adoring.

Final Score: 3.5/5

Graphic Novel Review - 'The Answer (Steven Universe)' by Rebecca Sugar (Writer), Elle Michalka (Artist), Tiffany Ford (Artist)

A lovely fairy tale version of the 'Steven Universe' episode, 'The Answer', told in comic and picture book form. You could say it is a nice fusion of the two.

'The Answer', as well as 'Steven Universe' as a whole at the time it was made, is vital for LBGTQ+ representation in children's entertainment. Its themes of breaking the system, breaking the "norm" and "order" and protocol, stopping to appreciate and respect nature, knowing who you really are, that it's okay to be different, messy, uncertain, and unpredictable, that change can be good, that anyone is capable of adapting to change, that no one is a "freak" and "disgusting" and "broken" and "wrong", that no one is alone, and why we need to rebel against fascism and militarism, are as important as ever.

That a story like this exists as both a cartoon and a storybook proves that love and hope are real, and are obtainable.

To live like the Gems Ruby and Sapphire, and together, become like Garnet, is a great goal in life.

It's so sweet too!

'The Answer' is the answer, or at least one of them, to standing against the evil, greed, hubris, violence and cruelty of certain people in a once beautiful world that is now dying, because those "powerful" people are, in truth, cowardly, fragile, obsolete, bigoted, monstrous 1%-ters who refuse to see things any other way, who lack imagination and love, and who refuse to accept how wonderfully, brilliantly diverse, flexible and changeable the human race is.

I recommend this answer to everyone, whether they are a fan of 'Steven Universe' or not.

One legit criticism, though: maybe Ruby and Sapphire's song, 'Something Entirely New' (is that what it's called?), could have been amalgamated with it somehow?


'Could this Gem's unthinkable courage override reality?'


'How could Ruby have ever hoped to combine with a Gem so valuable, so precious, so powerful, that she could see beyond space and time?'


'She was never meant to see Sapphire look at her like this--fascinated, bewildered, impressed--as if Ruby were the most important Gem in the universe!'


'But neither of them could deny that these things that were never supposed to happen were definitely happening!

And they started to wonder if what they were supposed to be and everything they were supposed to do

might just have been one of an infinite number of possibilities.'


'Ruby and Sapphire wondered if they'd get an even clearer view of this incredible planet...

...if they tried looking at it through the eyes of the Gem they'd made together!'


Now I really need to rewatch 'Steven Universe'.

Final Score: 4/5

Graphic Novel Review - 'Red Sonja: Worlds Away: Volume 1' by Amy Chu (Writer), Carlos Gomez (Artist), Marcio Fiorito (Artist), Mohan (Colourist), Simon Bowland (Letterer), Tom Napolitano (Letterer)

I've read a bunch of 'Red Sonja' comics by now. Well, maybe not that many, as it seems there are hundreds to choose from, and I've only gotten into them in a short space of time, but I think I know enough to know what to expect from them; what their types, formulas, and standards/criteria are. Some, be they standalone tales or first volumes, are okay, even solid, but some others are just tasteless, edgelordy, dense, overwhelming, frustrating, and surprisingly overly-political and pretentious and, worst of all, boring.

I mean, come on, it's Red Sonja! Have fun with her! She should never be boring! Sword and sorcery adventures should never be boring! Involving her in real world politics and war is fine, but don't let it take over everything else! Dial down the hell out of the dialogue and narration, too, please. Less is more.

All this is regardless of the She-Devil's attire, or lack thereof. Another surprise is, however she's dressed, however she's drawn, it very infrequently effects the overall quality of the comic she is in, and my enjoyment of it, and it is rarely a distracting enough issue for me to be concerned by it.

In addition, most if not all of Dynamite's 'Red Sonja' comics seem to be in the competition of 'How Many Artists Can We Get to Draw the Big Boobed Redhead in the Chainmail Bikini for Our Cover Art Gallery at the End of Our Trade Volumes, and How Many Female Cosplayers Can We Get to Pose for Us'.

Thankfully, 'Red Sonja: Worlds Away: Volume 1' by Amy Chu is one of the few 'Red Sonja' comics I have read and wholeheartedly enjoyed, right after Gail Simone's 2010s run, 'Swords of Sorrow', and 'The Falcon Throne'. It is fun! And not too heavy - it is lighthearted, even - and clever and creative.

The basic premise of Sonja being sent to the future of modern day New York City by an evil wizard is executed with freshness, style, mirth, and meaning. It is very 'Samurai Jack' and 'Hercules in New York', but it's its own silly and fantastical thing.

There are female friendships and companionships, and a partnership with a male cop that, amazingly, does not ever get romantic in the slightest. Even in scenes where, yes, Sonja is nonchalantly naked in front of him, all carefree. 'Worlds Away' deserves all the accolades in the world for that alone. You know the relationship between Sonja and the man she stays closest to more than anyone else would not be allowed to stay platonic if this comic were a movie.

There's lots of diverse rep (it is New York), including older women, and an LBGTQ+ relationship between two women (though it isn't explicit, for example, we don't see them kiss), one of whom is a BIPOC.

Plus, as well as an evil patriarchal, capitalist wizard, there is a giant mothafuckin' dragon as an enemy for the She-Devil to slay!

The only real downside to 'Worlds Away' is the way she is clothed, or not clothed.

Yes, after I said that that is usually not a detriment or dealbreaker in these comics, here I'd say it is its only flaw. While the artwork is bright, colourful, and very good, Sonja herself does not look nearly as battle-worn, rough and experienced as she should; she looks like a twenty-year-old peppy cosplayer, and her tiny chainmail--sorry, they're scales in this--bikini covers practically nothing. Her skin is protected in the same way a Band Aid protects a mutilated torso. She's almost naked when she isn't naked. And I swear her breasts are the same size as her head. I don't care if her appearance is part of the humour, and to highlight how much of an outsider she is in her new environment and society.

It isn't merely feminist ranting against gratuitous fanservice on my end - it's just too silly and unbelievable, even for Red Sonja.

Girl loves her sword, though, and she can still drink, like, fifty times her body weight in beer. In this fish out of water story, she is as fierce, fearless, formidable, crafty, and determined as she is widely known to be. She is innocent and curious in the modern world, but never stupid, naïve, or scared. She will protect the weak, the helpless, and her friends, and punish the power-hungry, the greedy, the murderous.

'Red Sonja: Worlds Away: Volume 1' is a strong recommendation from me for fans of the She-Devil with a Sword. If you can overlook how its heroine is pretty much naked throughout the whole volume - and she fights giant monsters and armed goons in New York, in winter! - you will likely have an enjoyable time with the comic.

It's goofy, campy pulp entertainment, as well as feminist commentary (which 'Worlds Away' isn't exactly overt with, but it's present) - as a high calibre (Excalibur, hehe) 'Red Sonja' comic should be.

PSA left to the final paragraph of the review: It is a female character's character, her humanity, her spark, and how she is written, that makes her popularity endure, not any kind of fanservice and objectification. Porn has been freely available and everywhere on the internet for decades now. It is no longer special.

Final Score: 4/5

Graphic Novel Review - 'Red Sonja: The Falcon Throne' by Marguerite Bennett (Writer), Aneke (Artist), Diego Galindo (Artist), Jorge Sutil (Colourist), Morgan Hickman (Colourist), Erica Schultz (Letterer)

Red Sonja brings about the beginnings of a democracy to Hyrkania, rising from the ashes and dirt a phoenix as she overthrows a new, tyrannical king and dictator with a god complex whose goal is to make his nation the militant superior, and thereby rule the world through it. She fights in a rebellion, a revolution, and a war, alongside the newly inspired and enlightened people of her land.

Mostly she does it out of boredom, but her sense of justice and allegiance to no one and no caste is as fiery as it ever was.

She is neither a queen, nor a goddess, nor a legend as people tell it. She is not a curse, nor a gift.

She is Sonja. Huntress. She-Devil. The one and only. Owned by no one.

Hero and friend of the downtrodden. The defenceless. The helpless. The poor. The frightened. The "foreignborn".

A person. Doing what is in her power to make right.

(She is also as good with words as she is with a sword, better than she gives herself credit for.)

That is the gist of 'Red Sonja: The Falcon Throne', the first of many 'Red Sonja' comics I have started reading that are not by Gail Simone. How fun, funny, clever, and inspiring it is, as well as political! It is reminiscent of Simone's 2010s run - it even references it!

The pulpy, sword and sorcery comic says a great deal about how a lot of our "legends" are just about people - ordinary and flawed people like you and me, and their stories, told and passed on through generations, are mostly not true, if at all.

Stories are important. They are what make us human. They give us hope, joy, freedom (in the sense of in the heart and mind), possibilities, ideas, visions, incentives, and the motivation to carry on in life no matter what. But, depending on other, substantial proof, they don't really tell us about the people who lived before us; what they could have been like, and what they could have actually achieved, as a "hero", "good person", or even a "god".

But however much they inspire us, give us the strength and hope to rise above any hardship and injustice in the world, to propel us forward, we have to believe in ourselves to do it, as a true first start and first step, and not rely so heavily on a legend, an icon, an idol. Idolising people and putting them on a pedestal isn't realistic, stable, or helpful to anyone.

Trust yourself first to make change and right wrongs. Be aware of your own circumstances, and educate yourself and ground yourself in reality as much as you can, then act.

In other words, as I like to say whenever the subject of idolising and hero-worshipping comes up: Don't be like your heroes, be better than them.

We can always be better than those who came before us.

I'll still look up to the entirely fictional Red Sonja, as it's fun, and (here at least) she is a female empowerment icon and written to be a genuinely awesome heroine.

Plus, redhaired heroines are just the best, ya know?

In 'The Falcon Throne', Sonja has many female friends and allies, including slightly queer partnerships here and there. Most of the men in her life either end up dead or evil. How's that for a "political agenda", eh?

It is one of the 'Red Sonja' comics that puts her in decent clothing, as well. Mind you, that's not saying much when, in her chainmail vest (not string bikini) and cloak, her arms, legs, neck, head, and lower torso remain exposed. She needs more armour.

'Red Sonja: The Falcon Throne' can be read as a standalone, and if it is anyone's introduction to the character, they won't be lost and confused, and they certainly could do far worse.

I know it's made me extra pumped about reading some of her other comics. I only know of Gail Simone's solo comics run, and 'Swords of Sorrow'. I can't wait to devour further adventures starring the She-Devil with a Sword.

Red Sonja - legend or no, she deserves her credit and iconic pulp comic status. And writers and artists who respect her - respect the hero she is, and what she stands for: the people.

Final Score: 4/5