Scribble #132

Scribbled thoughts at this moment in time and history because I feel so helpless and hopeless:

If I could have one wish, any wish at all, it would be to make every gun in the world disappear.

The world is ruled by men who would literally rather burn everyone and everything than go to therapy.

People are carelessly, apathetically voting for people who not only wouldn't piss on them if they were on fire, but would happily, gleefully set fire to them themselves, and light their cigars on the burning corpses.

Don't let apathy win over empathy, please.

When did wanting to be kind turn into a bad thing?

When did it become okay to not want to listen to people?

When did it become okay to not want to learn from others? To try to understand them? To help them?

Since when is wanting to be empathetic and altruistic frowned upon? Since when is caring about other people - about anything, in fact - uncool? Since when are caring and empathy taboo subjects? Since when is ethics - and not being shortsighted and indulgent and selfish - off the table? Since when is a cold, heartless, ruthless, destructive, evil monster - a human who doesn't care about humans, about life - a new pioneer for humanity to aspire to?

Since when is not wanting to be a fascist a controversial take? Why is that? Always ask why.

Any legislation or authority in society that doesn't want you to question anything - doesn't want you to question how it's even being run - is never a good one.

Would the heroes in fiction that you admire and idolise - and especially those you looked up to since childhood - be okay with how things are now in the world? If not, then why are you okay with them?

What is your definition of a good person? Really think about this before you make a political decision (note: everything is political, whether you like it or not).

Why, in 2025, are so many people still misogynistic, racist, homophobic, transphobic, classist. antisemitic, xenophobic, and ableist? Seriously, how did it get like this? Why are we regressing and not progressing? How are reactionary politics allowed to get this far? It is insanity. How did it get to the point where anyone, but especially the rich and white and male, can casually break how many laws they want and face no consequences?

Why are the rich allowed to get away with literally anything?

"There is no such thing as an ethical billionaire!" - Lisa Simpson (I think).

No one is a minority. No one is unimportant.

Actions have consequences, no matter who you are.

Capitalism needs to be replaced, for the benefit of everyone. It's beyond late-stage at this point and it can't go on as is. We literally can't keep living like this. There needs to be a new societal system in place for us all to live happily, safely, and freely in.

Let no dystopian fiction become reality - they are a warning, not an instruction.

No one who derives joy from harming others is ever truly happy.

No one who is bigoted and hateful is ever truly happy themselves.

No more hate. No more fear. No more violence. No more corruption. No more scheming. No more distrust. No more toxicity.

No more white supremacist toxic masculinity.

Remember 'Where is the Love?' by the Black Eyed Peas.

That's it for my unfiltered, depressing, "taboo" thoughts that need to be let out. Right now the only things that are keeping me going - that give me any hope at all - are my books (banned or not, because I don't give a shit and fuck you, we need education and we need to encourage reading, and let people read whatever the hell they want), my cats, and the fact that I finally got my driver's licence (since January 6th!) and I have a great, nice red car now.

Remember who your true, loving, supportive, caring friends and family members are, too.

We need to remember that, despite everything, sometimes life is good. It can be good. It should be good.

As always, be safe.

Keep resisting. Keep fighting back.

Keep hoping. For a better world. We can do it. Together.

Scribble #131

When I get a new bookshelf - whether an additional one or replacing an old one - and I fill it up, I am reminded of just how many awesome books I own, and how many shine a light on my personal tastes; more than anything, they tell me and anyone else looking who I am. It helps if the book jackets have colours that are my favourites and that reflect on me. Great books, great colours, great me. I'm indescribably happy.

Book Review - 'Shark Girl' by Kate Beaton

'Shark Girl' - a very funny take on 'The Little Mermaid. It is also like a reverse 'Moby Dick'. It is about more than a little Shark Girl, and revenge; it is about ethical fishing, protecting sea life, the environment, and unionising.

It also makes an important point that, despite what a movie from the seventies told us, sharks are not that dangerous, and they don't like to bite humans, let alone eat them. There are far worse predators out at sea. Many of them like to walk and strut around on land finding prey, too.

'Shark Girl' the girl in question could be called Jawsette no wait scratch that that's sexist and inaccurate, where a sly, rascally little blue half human/half shark vows revenge on an evil, narcissistic sea captain who caught her and her fellow fishies in nets. It's revenge via infiltration and mutiny. It's vengeance most cold(blooded).

There is humour, fun, and political satire, as is to be expected from a work of art by Kate Beaton. This art reminds me of Nickelodeon cartoons. There is, crucially, a level of heart to balance out the cynicism, especially towards the end.

The ocean is the Shark Girl's home, and she will do anything to protect it.

When enacting her toothy, grinning, coldblooded shark plan. she learns that not all humans are greedy, unfeeling monsters.

This fairy tale picture book for children is about sharks and humanity, and how they should exist in harmony. By taking down capitalism.

Fun, funny stuff, from the brave and bold Shark Girl and humans, who are courageous enough to stand up for themselves and others.

Apropos of nothing, Shark Girl reminds me of Ruby Gillman, Hilda, Nimona, Marceline the Vampire Queen, Mebh from 'Wolfwalkers', Princess Mononoke, Invader Zim, and Danny Phantom all rolled into one. But she's her own unique, blue, feral and hilarious creation.

'Shark Girl' from 2025 - a new favourite picture book/comic from Kate Beaton. 'The Princess and the Pony' (2015), about a farting pony, is another favourite to stand beside it. These are works of genius.

I feel I should win an award for going a whole review of 'Shark Girl' without mentioning 'The Adventures of Sharkboy and Lavagirl'.

Final Score: 4/5

Non-Fiction Book Review - 'My Story' by Marilyn Monroe, Ben Hecht (Primary Contributor), Joshua Greene (Foreword)

'My Story' is Marilyn's story, told in her own words, chronologically and linearly but in pieces and snapshots, from her childhood to her rise to fame in the fifties. It is an unfinished story - ending abruptly just after she married Joe DiMaggio and was singing for Korean soldiers on what should have been her honeymoon to Japan.

This adds to the sadness of this brave, spectacular and forever misunderstood woman's entire life.

Fame can be a curse more than a blessing and a miracle.

More so for women. The system is rigged so they can't win, and remain under the controlling thumb of the men in power. Marilyn wanted to change that. She fought for it.

No matter what, she never stopped fighting.

'My Story' is told somewhat sporadically, though it is still readable and highly engaging. It can be sorrowful and shocking, such as when Marilyn talks about her traumatic and/or exploitative experiences. But it also be surprisingly light and funny; it is generally a quick, light read. It is very quotable; Marilyn Monroe was smart and self-aware.

She loved acting, and always sought to improve her talents, onscreen and off. She loved to be loved and worshipped by the public, but for the right reasons. She had been love-starved her whole life, to be sure.

It's intriguing and ironic that one of the most famous and enduring sex icons of all time was in fact not interested in sex, and rarely thought of it, at least earlier on in her life. (Was she asexual? We'll never know for sure.) She never meant to be sexy or alluring onscreen.

One of her best quotes is: 'People had a habit of looking at me as if I were some kind of a mirror instead of a person. They didn't see me, they saw their own lewd thoughts. Then they white-masked themselves by calling me the lewd one." (page 183).

Other poignant quotes relating to the above are:


'It was surprising that a woman's bosom, slightly revealed, could become a matter of national concern. You would think that all the other women kept their bosoms in a vault.' (page 169)

'"Because I want to be an artist," I answered, "not an erotic freak. I don't want to be sold to the public as a celluloid aphrodisical. Look at me and start shaking. It was all right for the first few years. But now it's different."' (page 174)

'I wanted to be myself and not just a freak vibration that made fortunes for the studio sex peddlers.' (page 174)


She was ever so insightful. She knew what was what firsthand (especially at famous people parties, and award ceremonies).

Hollywood has always been toxic, and full of lies, abuse and corruption, thanks to capitalism and the patriarchy.

'My Story' includes more wonderful photos of Marilyn, from the iconic to the obscure. With so many photos taken of her, she can never really die. She is an immortal goddess - for her innate talents and natural charisma, more than anything else.

I kind of wish it included other writings of hers, too, such as her poetry. And additional iconic quotes.

A sad woman, yet with so much to say, and so much to give to the world, that didn't truly respect her, nor appreciate her for what she could do. How she could give and receive so much love, and not the sex kind.

She wasn't some supernatural, otherworldly siren. She was a real human being.

'My Story' - our story as well, now in our hearts. A valuable item for any Marilyn Monroe fan's collection and archive.

For my further thoughts on the starlet, read my reviews of:


'Marilyn Monroe: By Eve Arnold'

'Marilyn Monroe: Private and Undisclosed'

'The Girl: Marilyn Monroe, The Seven Year Itch, and the Birth of an Unlikely Feminist'


Final Score: 3.5/5

Graphic Novel Review - 'Renegade Girls' by Nora Neus (Writer), Julie Robine (Artist)

Oh, wow. I mean, wow.

Sweet Gaia. I did not expect 'Renegade Girls' to be this good.

Now this is feminist historical fiction. This is a historical women's journalism story done amazingly and spectacularly. It is also a great sapphic love story.

It also deals with the roots and evils of capitalism, and corrupt governments and bureaucracies, and subsequently worker abuse, and abuse of all "minorities" in society, by a white male supremacist caste system.

Unionise! Socialise!

To think that I could never be as brave, bold and daring as the stunt girls, women journalists, reporters, and justice seekers in 'Renegade Girls', and the real historical women they are based on.

Hard-hitting, relevant, boundary-pushing, exciting, hopeful, life-affirming, humanity-affirming, and full of female support and teamwork and love, and surprisingly funny, playful, joyful, jovial and entertaining, 'Renegade Girls' is one of the best graphic novels of 2025.

Yes, crossdressing is included - women dressed as men, both for fun and for an investigation. It is glorious.

On that note on fashion, I love the colours of each of the woman characters' dresses and other clothing, that add contrast and are symbolic of their individual character and mood.

Even more inspirational, 'Renegade Girls' is authored by Nora Neus, a real life journalist and reporter who has been oh, let's see: in Ukraine during the Russian invasion, behind bars at a maximum security prison, 14,000 feet above sea level on the San Juan Mountains, and in rural Puerto Rico during earthquakes. She's a real wartime and natural disaster journalist. She's been through it all, direct, front and center, with true ethics and an uncorrupted, unbeaten sense of justice. And she's taken the time to write this important, sapphic, historical fiction comic. I may have found a new hero. She is a hero.

'Renegade Girls' is doubly reminiscent of modern 'Little Women' adaptations - comics and screen, plus 'I Shall Never Fall in Love', 'Girl Taking Over: A Lois Lane Story', and 'The Little Match Girl Strikes Back'. In my opinion, it is a better version of 'Ink Girls' by Marieke Nijkamp and Sylvia Bi.

If I have to mention flaws, it's that 'Renegade Girls' could have done a bit better in its racial and ethnical diversity (most of the important plot stuff, and the central w/w romance, revolve around white people in their actions and causes and effects (the former), and their relationships (the latter)). Not to mention its body type diversity is lacking; therein are lots of thin women. A few minor characters, and bit players, could have received more development and page time to make their stories and inclusions more satisfying and worthwhile.

And it is a feminist news story that is set in 1888, in New York City, but there is no mention of women's suffrage. WTF?

But all the same, I love and live for 'Renegade Girls'. It is bloody fantastic. It is books like this that are one of the reasons why I'm a feminist, and why I'm openminded, worldly, sensitive, considerate (or I try to be), conscious, and awake, or "woke".

Progressive, lifesaving social change is always possible. I have to believe that.

I highly, highly recommend this historical not-so fiction, and not-so fabricated piece of writing and journalism.

Adventurous writer and creator heroines away!

Final Score: 4.5/5

Graphic Novel Review - 'The Restaurant at the Edge of the World' by Oliver Gerlach (Writer), Kelsi Jo Silva (Artist)

Food! Glorious food!

'The Restaurant at the Edge of the World' ('Off Menu' in the US) - what a loving, warm, passionate, rustic, authentic (oddly enough), otherworldly cosy fantasy graphic novel. It is like Gordon Ramsay's 'Hell's Kitchen' set in a fantasy world. It is like if 'The Café at the Edge of the Woods' was a full-blown comic book. It is 'The Lord of the Rings' with its focus entirely on restaurants, food chains and marketplaces. I could practically smell the foods and the kitchens in this.

Accurately depicting working at a real famous restaurant and all that entails, it is an intense, stressful, hustle and bustle, and hard-hitting experience, but it is worth it at the end, for the good-vs-evil, poor-vs-rich story's empowering and hopeful message.

In my humble opinion, 'The Restaurant at the Edge of the World' is one of the best cottage cheese core fantasy books I've ever read. It belongs among the spice racks of 'Legends & Lattes', 'The Baker and the Bard', 'Delicious in Dungeon' (a reach, but still), 'The Bakery Dragon', and the works of Kay O'Neill.

And how similar it is to another recently released graphic novel I read at the same time, 'Crumble'. That one also has a young (human) female protagonist who is a talented chef and baker, who grew up in the business, and who has a nonbinary best friend who loves to eat her food. The main differences are that 'Crumble' is extremely lowkey fantasy, and Soup, the protag of 'The Restaurant', has a found family and community theme to her character arc, as well as needing to overcome an obstacle of getting out more and exploring new horizons and adventures, and the stakes are much higher in her story.


'A villainous boss, a magical bet, may the best cook win...'


I like that Soup, by the bye one of the few humans in 'The Restaurant''s fantasy world, is a fat girl. Throw away sour and stale tradition and convention: let's celebrate different body types as well as races and species. Additional rep: Soup is implied to be bisexual at the beginning, in her introducing herself, her restaurant home, and her world to the readers. There's no romance in the story, otherwise, which is good. Keep up the originality and convention-breaking.

There are bits of 'Imelda and the Goblin King' and 'Basil and Oregano' (though 'The Restaurant' is far better than that) to this cuisine, too.

It's not a perfect recipe. The main flaw I find with it is it doesn't really develop any characters who are not Soup, her nonbinary friend Clarion, and her evil, toxic, abusive, unethical, narcissistic, megalomaniacal capitalist boss, Trysil Heldritch. (Oh, and there's Squillace, Soup's dishwater elemental companion. He's cute.) I could barely tell the side characters and the very minor characters apart, and now and then I even got them confused with background players. This goes against the comic's friendship, found family and community theme, somewhat. Forest fae spirits are sort of thrown in near the end, too, with little-to-no build up.

But I don't know. The book overall is rich, raw, flavoursome, and enchanting. It's cute and sweet, to add to the meaty-and-veggie mixture. Oh, there's so much mouthwatering food! It's a delicious, delectable graphic novel, and I dare anyone not to feel hungry after devouring it.

Basically, if you like food, cooking, and fantasy, then read 'The Restaurant at the Edge of the World'.

Bon appétit.

Final Score: 4/5

Graphic Novel Review - 'Crumble' by Meredith McClaren (Writer), Andrea Bell (Artist)

An absolutely cute and adorable kids' graphic novel, that you can read in under an hour.

The same time it takes to wait out a delicious cheesecake in the oven, in fact.

It's impressive how cute 'Crumble' is, actually, considering it is not all sunshine and baked goods and cafés and middle school (elementary school in the US) drama: it is also about grief. It is about the process of losing a family member in a sudden, tragic accident, framed in the slight magical realism element of "baking your feelings" and "eating your feelings". (Are young Emily and her family witches, or...?)

When grieving, numbness is not the same as being better. Feeling nothing is not feeling better. The pain hasn't gone away. It is still inside you, supressed, lurking in the dark, barely hiding, biding its time, waiting - for a trigger, a moment to strike, terrifyingly, again.

You can't will your bad feelings to stop. There is no quick and easy "cure". Bottling it all up inside and "releasing" it through distractions, for some reprieve, like an addiction, it not helpful. It won't make the bad - the pain, the fear - go away for good.

It's important to talk about it to loved ones, and let it all out, before it hurts you and others any further. Release the valve on the pain, fully, and share your feelings and truth around you.

That is how the crumble, well, crumbles.

That is how the raspberry tart rises and relieves.

Okay, I'll shut up.

Getting back on track:

'Crumble' reminds me of those Saturday morning cartoons from the nineties that weren't afraid to get dark and serious once in a while, without falling into cringey, insincere PSA territory. There are a lot of slice-of-life anime for much younger audiences that are like this, too; that are not afraid to tell kids the truth about life.

The graphic novel really is cute and tasty enough to eat. It contains a shortbread's sum of sugary, sweet and simple yet satiating and satisfactory substance at its center, and it isn't saccharine (try saying that sentence multiple times). It's like a dessert at a party, or a baking contest, that was made with the right amount of ingredients.

There is also lovely LBGTQ+ rep in this children's comic. Emily, the cute little, cinnamon mini roll protagonist, has a nonbinary best friend, Dae, who has two dads. Then there's this dialogue exchange between Dae and Emily: "Boyd laid some eggs." "The class bird? Mr. Granger said it was a boy." "Gender nonconformists. We're EVERYWHERE."

"My family makes feelings!" (Emily at a show-and-tell) - 'Crumble' is similar to 'The Happy Shop' in its magical realism, emotional education and processing theme. Another book to compare it to is 'The Baker and the Bard', only without the otherworldly fantasy. It is kind of like 'Kiki's Delivery Service' without the broom and the travelling, and a little like the manga, 'Kitchen Princess'.

'Crumble' is so chibi! It's creamy chibi! Chibi-tastic!

Infrequently included, and with two at the end with the authors' notes, are real recipes! I've got to try these easy-bakes.

What a wholesome, cosy, no-antagonists, heartwarming little slice-of-life-and-cake treat of a comic.

Final Score: 4/5

Graphic Novel Review - 'Rainbow! Volume 2' by Sunny and Gloomy

At last! The second and final (?) volume of 'Rainbow!' is here!

It is more dramatic and intense than the first, but it manages to remain hopeful, heartwarming and cathartic throughout. It is realistic and harrowing, yet at the same time unrealistic and too optimistic. This is a webtoon series that has somehow masterfully balanced different tones simultaneously.

No element, no arc, no development, no character is forgotten about, and by the end, it is very satisfying. You will laugh and cry, and feel an adoring sweetness fill up in your heart, fit to bursting.

I don't want to reveal too much - it is best to go in blind and surprised. What I do want to add, however, is that Boo Meadows's imaginative tendencies are used very well here, and sparingly, perhaps more so than in the first volume (progress?). Boo - dear, wonderful, sensitive sweetheart Boo, who needs a hug on every page - has a gift. Her fantastical, active imagination is a gift, and other people recognise her for it, and want to encourage it. Help her express it in a healthy way. Make her a better, happier Boo.

...

Okay, sorry, but I'm going to go back on my word already - I have to mention this slightly spoilerific scene:

A domestic argument and abuse is happening in flashback, and it is imagined by Boo as being played out by wooden puppets and manikins. The backgrounds are dark and bare throughout. I mean... wow. You don't get more unsettling and haunting than that.

It is a shame that 'Rainbow!' doesn't have much in the way of positive mother-and-daughter relationships. In fact, they are abusive, in different-yet-similar ways, there is no getting around it. Boo's mother is awful, and so is Mimi's. They are irredeemable. Even the blurb describes Boo's life as "toxic", and it ends with, "[...] is dealing with Mimi's disapproving mother any better than dealing with Boo's mom?"

But at least Clarice, the café owner and Boo's boss, happily takes on the role of a positive mum figure. She would do absolutely anything for Boo (and Mimi), and she doesn't have to be a biological mother, or a wife, to give and receive love - and comfort, support, and shelter - at 100% to those who need it. I love her. We need more people like Clarice in the world.

'Rainbow!' is about helping people in trouble, and making life more bearable for them. It is about, to make it absolutely clear, who the real victims of child abuse and gaslighting are. It is about a found family, in addition to its lovely, well developed, slow burning, realistic, naturalistic LBGTQ+ romance between Boo and Mimi.

There is also a surprise trans character - that is, the fact they've been an out trans person all along - to add to its queer representation, and it is treated as no big deal. Good. And the trans character has two dads. All the wins - all the stars - to this rainbow.

'Rainbow!' is such a good webcomic series. It is precious. It is not perfect, but then what is? Who is? The shortest, most simplified way to describe it is: "Cute yet dark".

Read both volumes, and have an enriching, beautiful, heartaching, breathtaking experience, and believe in love and hope again.

Read my review of 'Rainbow! Volume 1' here.

Similar comics: 'If You'll Have Me', and 'Heartstopper'.

Final Score: 4.5/5

P.S. There is no school content, let alone school stress, in this volume, despite what the blurb's first paragraph says. And Boo still never fights monsters as a magical girl in her daydreams.

Non-Fiction Book Review - 'The Girl: Marilyn Monroe, The Seven Year Itch, and the Birth of an Unlikely Feminist' by Michelle Morgan

'The Girl: Marilyn Monroe, The Seven Year Itch, and the Birth of an Unlikely Feminist' is a light, fun and cute read, compared to Michelle Morgan's previous book on Marilyn, 'Marilyn Monroe: Private and Undisclosed', which is more detailed, sombre and serious. It's less objective and didactic than 'The Girl', too. You'd hardly believe they're by the same author.

'The Girl' is mostly about Marilyn's life around her time on her movies - 'The Seven Year Itch', 'There's No Business Like Show Business', 'Gentlemen Prefer Blondes', 'Bus Stop', and 'The Prince and the Showgirl'. But mainly 'The Seven Year Itch' and then 'The Prince and the Showgirl'. Inexplicably, it barely mentions her other famous films, such as 'Some Like It Hot' and 'The Misfits' (boo!). It is also about Marilyn's role as a surprising, unlikely feminist role model for her time - her fight for independence, away from the abuses of Hollywood men pigeonholing her and taking her for granted, and her starting and running her own company - and as a woman and a human being.

In a way, it is like an abridged version of 'Private and Undisclosed', and viewed from different angles, similar to an alternate cut of a movie.

It vitally mentions the #MeeToo Movement. Plus facts like Eartha Kitt, Justin Trudeau, and Patrick Stewart being outspoken feminists.

Marilyn Monroe was definitely never a dumb blonde, or merely eye candy.

No matter how she was dehumanised, and grossly treated by the public, and by the marketing, merchandising, advertising, and even the agricultural departments - blatantly, even while she was alive.

I love that Marilyn loved books and reading; that she always tried to grow and improve herself and her talents is a characteristic of hers that should never be overlooked. I love how determined, proactive, and dynamic she was.

Included in 'The Girl' are some of the best photographs of Marilyn I have ever seen. My favourite is one in colour of her reading a book on a bed (I think?) in a room with a bookcase at her home. It looks very sixties, though it was taken "during her early career.". How did she manage to look so glamourous and charming in everything she did, and in every mood she was in?

'The Girl: Marilyn Monroe, The Seven Year Itch, and the Birth of an Unlikely Feminist' - about Marilyn the inspiration - during her lifetime and beyond - and ultimately the tragedy. It's 'Private and Undisclosed'-lite, but it is just as engaging and addictive, if not more so. It makes for a wonderful, juicy (not in the exploitative, tabloid way) holiday read. Even better (and more highbrow), it's interesting, educational, and relevant feminist nonfiction.

Fuck, how very little things have actually changed for women since the fifties, especially in the entertainment industry. Millions of women are still being abused, taken advantage of, underestimated, underappreciated, neglected, shut out, silenced, and ignored - everywhere, all the time. While the narcissistic, entitled, empty, self-loathing, apathetic, pathetic, amoral, rich and famous men in power - often with no talent except in failing upwards and knowing how capitalism works - only face consequences for their criminal actions 0.1% of the time. It's sickening. It's inhuman. Why have we not done better?

Anyway, read 'The Girl' if you also liked 'Marilyn Monroe: Private and Undisclosed' (link to my review here). Likewise read my review of 'Marilyn Monroe: By Eve Arnold' for further thoughts on the greatest starlet who ever lived.

But I'm sorry, Michelle Morgan: I will not be convinced to like 'The Seven Year Itch' enough to list it as one of my favourite Marilyn Monroe films. You must be wearing blinkers, performing mental gymnastics, or unintentionally using doublespeak to explain away certain scenes from that picture. Same goes for 'Bus Stop'.

Final Score: 3.5/5

Graphic Novel Review - 'Beetle & the Chimera Carnival (The Beetle Books #2)' by Aliza Layne

The second I heard there was going to be a sequel to 'Beetle & the Hollowbones' - one of the cutest, most magical LBGTQ+ fantasy graphic novels ever - I thought, "Just hook it to my veins!"

I couldn't wait for its publishing release date, and, finally, when I ordered it online on the day, it was late in delivery, and it arrived on the same day I was going on holiday abroad, so I had to wait until after that to read it. Typical.

But through it all, it was worth it. 'Beetle & the Chimera Carnival' is as magical, cute, and lovely as its predecessor. The stakes are much higher now, and there is much more of the worldbuilding and people-building (quite literally) to explore. There is a lot more plot, too; maybe too much plot, as it gets convoluted and a bit helter-skelter and clunky, especially towards the end, which sets up yet another sequel.

It isn't a complete story, and the "twist" (meaning, quite obvious) villain's motivation and backstory are never made clear.

One or two major characters are forgotten about, as well.

Where did the fun, geeky, fanfiction-writing element from the first book go? Not to mention the cat ears?

But but but, it is all such a colourful, blooming, booming joy to behold. There is the overarching theme of hiding-turning-into-a-"monster"-from-family-as-a-metaphor-for-puberty-but-predominantly-it's-for-remaining-closeted-from-family. Pretty much from the beginning towards its triumphant conclusion, the graphic novel is more proudly, explosively queer than ever before. It is, in every sense, beautiful.

The love story between Beetle the goblin girl/dragon girl(?)/dog girl(?!) and Kat the skeleton girl - both witches and sorceresses (and I think they're still preteens?) - is so adorable.

Beetle's relationship with her grandmother is wonderful and warm, too. At one point her gran says to her, "BEETLE! USE EXPLOSION MAGIC ON MY BUTT! NOW!". No I will not give context. Gran is the best, and hilarious.

Oh, and there are a magic ton of dragons in 'Chimera Carnival'. There's even a female dragon doctor. Vampires are in this volume. Anything goes in this fantasy world.

Except there's homophobia in some areas. Boo! But those wastes of life are definitely portrayed as being in the wrong, and not worth anyone's time and effort.

The colourful artwork looks cartoony, and it can be chaotic, but there are instances where it looks serious, beautiful and well drawn when it needs to be, depending on the situation. It is varied, and always expressive and charming.

Another thing: there are at least two minor male characters, which is a step up from the first volume. The girl power and presence dominates!

'Beetle & the Chimera Carnival' - and the 'Beetle' series as a whole - is just like the 'Unfamiliar' series, the 'Meesh the Bad Demon' series, 'The Tea Dragon' series, the 'Witchy' series, 'Hellaween', 'Nimona', 

'Star Knights', 'The Baker and the Bard', 'Witch Hat Atelier', 'Once Upon a Witch's Broom', 'Leila, the Perfect Witch', 'The Owl House', 'Wicked', 'The Nightmare Before Christmas', and 'Undertale'.

Great, witchy, bright, colourful, otherworldly stuff.

Final Score: 4/5