Sunday, 14 June 2026

Top 20 Favourite Episodes of 'The Owl House' AND 'She-Ra and the Princesses of Power' AND 'Hilda'

I have decided to list my personal favourite episodes of three of my favourite modern feminist fantasy animated series of all time - 'The Owl House', 'She-Ra and the Princesses of Power', and 'Hilda'. 

Partly I am doing this in anticipation of 'The Owl House' graphic novel that is coming out in September 2026, but mostly I want these magical, enchanting, creative, passionate, beautiful, brave, bold, heartfelt and hopeful shows to keep receiving the love and attention they so rightly deserve.

For all their epic, fantastical elements, their colourful, soft and smooth animations, and heart and love, they are also female-led - and majorly LBGTQ+ and POC female led!

Here they are! The trio of great cartoons and their best episodes - Artemis Crescent's Top 20 Favourite Episodes of 'The Owl House' AND 'She-Ra and the Princesses of Power' AND 'Hilda':





Top 20 'The Owl House' Episodes:


1. Knock, Knock, Knockin' on Hooty's Door (Season 2, episode 8)

2. Lost in Language (Season 1, episode 7)

3. Enchanting Grom Fright (Season 1, episode 16)

4. Keeping up A-fear-ances (Season 2, episode 4)

5. Yesterday's Lie (Season 2, episode 10)

6. King's Tide (Season 2, episode 21)

7. Hollow Mind (Season 2, episode 16)

8. Them's the Breaks, Kid (Season 2, episode 15)

9. Through the Looking Glass Ruins (Season 2, episode 5)

10. Hooty's Moving Castle (Season 1, episode 6)

11. A Lying Witch and a Warden (Season 1, episode 1)

12. Young Blood, Old Souls (Season 1, episode 19)

13. Eclipse Lake (Season 2, episode 9)

14. The Intruder (Season 1, episode 4)

15. Understanding Willow (Season 1, episode 15)

16. Really Small Problems (Season 1, episode 14)

17. Reaching Out (Season 2, episode 14)

18. Any Sport in a Storm (Season 2, episode 13)

19. The First Day (Season 1, episode 13)

20. Season 3 - Thanks to Them, For the Future, and Watching and Dreaming



Top 20 'She-Ra and the Princesses of Power' Episodes:


1. Hero (Season 4, episode 9)

2. The Heart (Parts 1 and 2) (Season 5, episodes 12 and 13)

3. Roll With It (Season 2, episode 4)

4. Corridors (Season 5, episode 3)

5. Promise (Season 1, episode 11)

6. Save the Cat (Season 5, episode 5)

7. Stranded (Season 5, episode 4)

8. Mer-Mysteries (Season 4, episode 7)

9. Boys' Night Out (Season 4, episode 8)

10. Princess Scorpia (Season 4, episode 6)

11. Protocol (Season 4, episode 5)

12. Once Upon a Time in the Waste (Season 3, episode 3)

13. Shot in the Dark (Season 5, episode 8)

14. The Perils of Peekablue (Season 5, episode 7)

15. Raz (Season 1, episode 3)

16. The Coronation (Season 4, episode 1)

17. The Valley of the Lost (Season 4, episode 2)

18. White Out (Season 2, episode 5)

19. Huntara (Season 3, episode 2)

20. Ties That Bind (Season 2, episode 2)



Top 20 'Hilda' Episodes:


1. The Deerfox (Season 2, episode 9)

2. The Windmill (Season 2, episode 5)

3. The Fifty Year Night (Season 2, episode 8)

4. The Hidden People (Season 1, episode 1)

5. The Midnight Giant (Season 1, episode 2)

6. The Fairy Isle (Season 3, episode 8)

7. The Stone Forest (Season 2, episode 13)

8. The Train to Tofoten (Season 3, episode 1)

9. The Troll Rock (Season 1, episode 5)

10. The Giantslayer (Season 3, episode 3)

11. The Forgotten Lake (Season 3, episode 6)

12. The Witch (Season 2, episode 3)

13. The Nightmare Spirit (Season 1, episode 6)

14. The Tide Mice (Season 1, episode 8)

15. The Fairy Mound (Season 3, episode 2)

16. The Nisse (Season 1, episode 12)

17. The Black Hound (Season 1, episode 13)

18. The Eternal Warriors (Season 2, episode 4)

19. The Jorts Incident (Season 2, episode 11)

20. The Laughing Merman (Season 3, episode 4)





Reading material:


  • Text from a post of mine from a few years ago:
On a much needed positive note, happening in the present, I have now seen all of The Owl House. It is a great, wonderful, clever and highly emotional series. It might even be my favourite show of all time. It was made for me. I love it so much, and it makes me happy to see that so many other people do, too. This fandom is so positive and adoring. No toxicity in sight! Yes, one can't help but be saddened and wonder what could have been if Disney wasn't run by a complete and utter *%^*$! or two, but what we ended up with in the shortened finale is awesome nonetheless. As my love of Harry Potter has soured over the years due to its author being a terrible person, The Owl House has filled that void, in my love of fantasy franchises. And what I didn't get from Buffy (ditto its own toxic and abusive creator) I got from The Owl House. A fantastic, sensitive, and diverse and inclusive, animated fantasy series, made by a loving, passionate and dedicated crew - of passionate and worldly geeks and nerds! Remember: support creators, not companies. Companies, conglomerates, they have enough money, and fuck 'em in general. Dana Terrace's dislike of musicals still baffles me, though. As yet known she isn't a problematic person, at least.

These beautiful, enchanting, emotional femme fantasy cartoons are hopeful. They signify and indicate hope for a better world, that their respective (and respected) creators dreamed of and believed in, for the good of humankind. They are each idyllic for different reasons, as well as unique in their own ways.

They are celebrations of new and difference. They defy convention.

I love them all, with 'The Owl House' remaining my number one favourite TV show.

Stay safe, kind, caring, compassionate, and hopeful, everyone. You are loved, and always will be.



Non-Fiction Book Review - 'Marilyn and Her Books: The Literary Life of Marilyn Monroe' by Gail Crowther

The moment I heard about this book, I knew I had to have it.

'Marilyn and Her Books' - the title says it all.

From the blurb: 'Timed to the 100th birthday of Marilyn Monroe comes an investigation into the literary life of the Hollywood icon and actress,' [...] 'In 2026, for her centenary, this book showcases Marilyn Monroe, the reader. Because at the end of her life, it was not her jewels or her furs, her shoes, or dresses that she cared about. It was her books.'

'Marilyn and Her Books: The Literary Life of Marilyn Monroe' by Gail Crowther is a very interesting, intriguing, fascinating, psychoanalytical, and comprehensive look into Marilyn's home library, and her love of literature and learning in general.

It is not about Marilyn the Hollywood actress. It is about Marilyn the reader.

Marilyn was nowhere near a dumb blonde stereotype in real life, nor was she a poser, an attention seeker, or a "fake geek girl". She was a bookworm, an intellectual, who would read anything she could get her hands on, through and through. Trying to overcome her lack of education from a hectic, troubled and traumatic childhood, she always strived to improve her mind, as well as her acting talents - her looks were secondary to her. She valued brains over beauty. She clearly had a very sensitive heart and soul, as well.

It is another reason to admire the Hollywood icon and goddess. Who was in fact painfully, tragically human.

It is a side of her that was not allowed or accepted by the popular culture masses. Until now. Hopefully.

'Marilyn and Her Books' also discusses all the writers Marilyn met in her life (it certainly wasn't just Arthur Miller), and the writers who may or may not have met her, but were enchanted and inspired by her all the same - all of whom are too many to count and list.

Then there are the other golden age Hollywood actors and royalty, who were also, in fact, well read bookworms who valued intelligence, such as Montgomery Clift, James Dean, Marlon Brando, and Elizabeth Taylor.

'Marilyn and Her Books' is full of surprises and touches; not least of which are these quotes by Ayn Rand (Marilyn had none of her books in her personal library), in the aftermath of Marilyn's death:


'[...] if there was ever a victim of society, Marilyn Monroe was that victim.' - page 59


Gail Crowther additionally writes of Rand: 'Describing Monroe's upbringing as Jane Eyre-ish, being both "sordid and horrifying," Rand praises Marilyn for having gone through this and still be able to present a radiant benevolence, innocence, and joy. This took, Rand claimed, "a heroism of the highest order." Making her way to the top, once she got there Marilyn discovered that not only was it as horrible as where she had come from, but that it was filled with jealousy and people who delighted in others' misfortune. Rand argued that Marilyn was envied for her goodness, her beauty, her earnestness, and her joy. Like a classic gothic heroine, she did not stand a chance surrounded by such corruption. It was the evils of the current cultural moment. Rand ended her article with a brutal accusation: "Anyone who has ever felt resentment against the good for being the good, and given voice to it, is the murderer of Marilyn Monroe."' - pages 59-60


This is the only positive reference I will ever make regarding Ayn Rand.

I'm so happy 'Marilyn and Her Books' exists - I say this as both a book lover and a fan of Marilyn Monroe.

Beautiful, informative and educational, and a deep, personal, psychological, philosophical, mystical, and ethereal journey - Marilyn would have been relieved and proud of books like 'Marilyn and Her Books: The Literary Life of Marilyn Monroe'.

I would love to visit Marilyn's library someday. Though for me, I'd like to visit every library in the world, and every single person's bookshelf...I am a weirdo bookworm.

Now for my reviews of the other Marilyn books in my personal library:


'The Little Book of Marilyn: Inspiration from the Goddess of Glam'

'Marilyn Monroe: Private and Undisclosed'

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

'Marilyn Monroe: By Eve Arnold

'My Story'

'My Sister Marilyn: A Memoir of Marilyn Monroe'

'Making Their Voices Heard: The Inspiring Friendship of Ella Fitzgerald and Marilyn Monroe'


Final Score (for 'Marilyn and Her Books') : 4/5

Graphic Novel Review - 'Little Lulu: Working Girl' by John Stanley, Marjorie "Marge" Henderson Buell (Original Creator), Margaret Atwood (Introduction), Frank M. Young (Essayist/Historian)

As an avid fangirl of comics with female leads, I thought it was about time I checked out the one that largely, supposedly started it all, since the 1930s-1940s: 'Little Lulu'.

'Little Lulu', originally created by a woman, Marjorie "Marge" Henderson Buell.

I admit I'd barely heard of the character before, but I wanted to see if this comedic, comic little girl icon holds up, and lives up to the hype; to see if she is, indeed, timeless.

I got 'Little Lulu: Working Girl', a collection in colour, with an introduction by Margaret Atwood, and at the end, 'Girls Want to Get in Everything: Little Lulu Crashes into Comics' by Frank M. Young.

These are pretty much sketches and sitcoms in comic strip form, and their quality is hit and miss, in my opinion, but they are endearing, humorous, and clever overall. Even a little dark; whether overtly, or if you think about any of them for a few second afterwards.

'Little Lulu' is madcap, subversive childhood adventures, complete with clueless and oblivious adults, and Little Lulu herself - Lulu Moppet - is rather funny, contrary, cheeky, sneaky, selfish, obstinate, rude, daring, and defiant. She is willing to try literally anything, and will get into anywhere she wants, no matter what anyone else thinks.

I can see why she would be called a feminist icon; she's a troublemaker, rabblerouser, inventor, and pioneer, defying the gender norms of the 30s and 40s. She is smart, creative, imaginative, curious, and inquisitive. She is like a proto-Matilda Wormwood, Wednesday Addams, and Hilda. And a female Dennis the Menace.

Lulu is like a normal little kid, really

I have to wonder why Lulu and Tubby (a stereotypical fat boy who loves to eat all the time, though he is still funny in his own right) are best friends*. They are pretty appalling to each other. But then, that is how kids often are, especially in their playtimes and pranks, and maybe they only hang out together because nobody else will tolerate them, and their friendship is based on familiarity, and close distance from one another's houses.

Alvin, the little psycho, kind of reminds me of Onion from 'Steven Universe'. In fact, a lot of these comics remind me of a non-fantasy and sci-fi, slice-of-life 'Steven Universe'. As well as 'Dennis the Menace' and 'Hey Arnold!'.

I wish Dolly had appeared in more than one story. She appears to be Lulu's only female friend/frenemy.

So, 'Little Lulu' - I'm glad I finally got to know her, the little feminist rebel.

If you're like me and want to know about the history of female characters in comics (who are not superheroines), and the history of American comics, specifically comedic drawings for children (think The Beano, Harvey Comics, and Archie Comics), then I recommend you check out 'Little Lulu: Working Girl', or any of her collected issues.

Also recommended: 'The Spectacular Sisterhood of Superwomen: Awesome Female Characters from Comic Book History', which highlights Lulu Moppet.

Final Score: 3/5

*You know Lulu and Tubby are going to hate-you-like-you, tsundere-date in the future.

Non-Fiction Book Review - 'The Secret Loves of Geeks' by Hope Nicholson (Editor), Various

A worthy sequel to 'The Secret Loves of Geek Girls'.

A geeky anthology, collected and published in 2018, 'The Secret Loves of Geeks' gives voice to geek women/fangirls and queer geek guys, and nonbinary and gender-nonconforming geeks (a lot of the geek creators are LBGTQA+, as well as POC - good).

These nonfiction stories, whether told in prose or comics, are so important. I didn't like all of them, of course, and some even left me seriously concerned, but they are raw, honest, personal and universal truths that need to be let out there, without anyone's permission but their own.

The writers of 'The Secret Loves of Geeks', the marginalised "minorities", definitely need an outlet; they need to be heard, now. Their very existence is constantly in danger of being erased - silenced, forced back into the shadows and into the closet - by bigoted, hateful and fearful political systems. The cishet-normative, white supremacist patriarchy is and always has been about looking out only for themselves - ensuring the wealth, privilege and pardoned crimes of the 1% - for their own benefit, comfort and entitlement. They are legitimately, knowingly evil people, and we cannot keep letting them get away with it. We have to keep resisting, and fighting back.

Never lose hope.

I love the foreword of 'The Secret Loves of Geeks' by Chris Roberson - everybody needs to read that - and Patrick Rothfuss's 'The Multifarious Monolith of Love'. My other favourites are 'The Horror, the Horror' by Margaret Atwood, 'Smudged' by Letty Wilson, 'Women Love Jerks' by Cara Ellison, 'The Walter Mercado Effect' by Ivan Salazar, 'Deceptively Normal' by Dana Simpson, 'Wife' by H-P Lehkonen, 'Our Story' by Shauna J. Grant, 'Them Struggles' by Christina "Peaches" Cortes, 'So Say We All' by Levi Hastings', 'Bear With' by Terry Blas, 'Josei' by Priya Huq, 'Trolling For Lesbos' by Gabby Rivera, 'Tell Me About Your Trans Headcanons' by Sfé R. Monster, and 'What Girls Want' by Speranza.

So while I didn't love 'The Secret Loves of Geeks' as much as 'The Secret Loves of Geek Girls', I still recommend it, despite some dated content that has not aged well, in terms of pop culture and politics.

Wonderful, vital, needed stuff.

No one is truly weird. You are never alone. There is nothing wrong or broken about you. You are fine. You are wonderful. You are beautiful. There is a community for you out there, waiting. There are people you can honestly open up to, and connect to, emotionally, not just romantically or sexually. These human connections can last a lifetime.

Heart and brains win out every time.

I would love another sequel, with modern geeks' stories that reflect our current times. Or would that be too depressing? And hopeless?

My review (or multiple rereviews, more like) of 'The Secret Loves of Geek Girls' can be read here.

Final Score: 3.5/5

Saturday, 13 June 2026

Graphic Novel Review - 'Supergirl's Family Vacation' by Brandon T. Snider (Writer), Sarah Leuver (Artist), Becca Carey (Letterer)

I found this completely by chance in my local comic book shop, visited on a whim.

'Supergirl's Family Vacation' turned out to be a happy capricious purchase, for it is a cute, colourful, creative, bright, fresh, fun, funny, emotional, and poignant all-ages superhero comic, that's also cosmic (and plenty manga-esque).

It's about young Kara Zor-El, aka Supergirl, and her cousin Kal-El, aka Clark Kent, aka Superman, his wife Lois Lane, their young son Jon, and Kara's best friend Natasha Irons (soon to be the next Steel!), as they space-travel to their holiday spot - Argo City, which Kara has set her heart on - and get diverted by superhero duties along the way, much to Kara's chagrin.

The story contains themes of identity, legacy, living in a more famous family member's shadow, disappointment, grief, colonisation, imperialism, tyranny, dictatorship, fascism, with-great-power-comes-great-responsibility, and overall, family. And life with said family, blood related or founded.

Kara/Supergirl is very flawed in 'Supergirl's Family Vacation'. She is often shallow, moody, hotheaded, obstinate, selfish, thoughtless, reckless, and irresponsible. But, she is a preteen in this DC universe/
continuity, Bizarro-ly. To her, it wasn't that long ago that her home planet was destroyed, and her parents and people died, and she arrived on earth after Supes had not only already established himself, but had married and had a kid, too. These make her flaws understandable.

This "lighthearted" kids' comic does not erase or downplay Kara's tragic past. It is an important part of her character development, her coming-of-age journey.

Extra great and fun details include: Lois Lane as a badass, kickass investigative journalist, whether she's on holiday or not; Lois and Clark being an adorable, loving, supportive couple; Natasha, a Black girl, dressing and acting exactly like a Ghostbuster; Kara's shirts displaying anime and Magical GirlTM references, such as 'Sailor Moon'! (and "Space Girls", which looks like "Spice Girls", as in, one of their albums); the character Rori Dag, who uses they/them pronouns (though they are an alien - pop culture media, please have more human characters be nonbinary as well, please); space dolphins (very briefly); and, if you can believe it, magical girl transformations! (It is like a manga!) Plus homages to other 'Superman' and 'Supergirl' comics and media - if you are well read and familiar with them, you can spot them.

Cameos include Krypto the Superdog (why couldn't he come along on the super-vacation? Isn't he super-important to Kara?), Batman, Wonder Woman, Lex Luthor, Lobo, Hawkman, Hawkgirl (sadly no Galaxy/
Taylor Barzelay, who would have fit perfectly in this story), and the Green Lantern Corp.

'Supergirl's Family Vacation' (subtitled 'A Supergirl Graphic Novel') - a delightful super-surprise. So good, and so fashionable!

really can't wait for the new 'Supergirl' movie now.

In the meantime, here are my other 'Supergirl' comic reviews:


'Supergirl: Being Super'

'Supergirl Vol. 1: Misadventures in Midvale'

'Supergirl: Woman of Tomorrow'


Final Score (for 'Supergirl's Family Vacation'): 4/5

Graphic Novel Review - 'Marvel-Verse: America Chavez' by Various

'Marvel-Verse: America Chavez'

Yes, the comics chosen for this supposed character-introductory collection are messy and haphazard, and dying for context clues, but you know what? They're still entertaining, fun, thrilling, and colourful, and surprisingly heavy and complex. They're mini, compact action-packed superhero stories, and at times they're cosmically beautiful. Each issue contains bold, gorgeous artwork.

And oh yeah, they're about America Chavez, the queer, POC superheroine from the stars and beyond, who is one of the most powerful people in the Marvel Universe.

'Marvel-Verse: America Chavez' packs a punch, quite literally!

America Chavez is very much a punchy heroine - her punches are so powerful they can create portals to alternate universes! - and she is the aggressive, temperamental, brawn-over-anything-else, even reckless and irresponsible sort. But I find I've fallen in love with her character anyway, for how brazen, robust, snarky, and 100% herself she is, with an often-no-effs-given attitude and disposition.

She is a young queer woman of colour who is bold, daring and defiant - she lets nothing and no one get in her way, or tell her what to do and how to live her life; whilst respecting her family, friends, and places/
planes/planets of origin. Now that is admirable and revolutionary.

She's out of this world - out of this universe. A transcendent, transdimensional, time-and-space travelling woman, a drifter, who can be grounded when she needs to be. She belongs nowhere in the multiverse, nor to any fixed superhero team. Nothing can keep her for long.

For all her flaws, America still manages to be interesting, endearing, and human (despite coming from another universe and planet(s) - a singular dimension, the Utopian Parallel, plus the Planeta Fuertona, where she is a Starling (whatever that is) - the tragic Utopian Parallel was her original home, where she was raised by her tragic, sacrificing two mums).

(Everything in the above is what is severely lacking in the comics collected for 'Marvel-Verse: Moon Girl', which I hated.)

America is a lost rebel and vagrant who is unapologetically herself, never doing things by halves. She is 
big. She is a literal star. Throughout her travels across the multiverse, she is trying to find her true home, where she belongs, and to find herself, destroying all limits and boundaries in order to reach her potential, which is in fact as endless as the cosmos.

America Chavez - again a queer woman of colour, and an immigrant and alien in every sense, who is not to be messed with - is a powerful being to be admired, not someone to be made into an object of fear, distrust and suspicion (by the white supremacist patriarchy, for example).

Before, I had only heard of this superheroine in bits and pieces all across the Marvel medium (other dimensions, hey!). I have seen all of her movie appearances (both animated and live action), but not so much in the comics. Now I have, and I am glad I finally gave her a chance there. This bold, brash, brass, mighty, "woke"-as-f*ck fighter deserves further mainstream recognition.

'Marvel-Verse: America Chavez' contains comics that are cosmic, creative, colourful and complex, if a little confusing (how much of the alliteration can I keep up?!). They are also diverse and inclusive as hell. So powerfully inspirational. America is surrounded by friends who are as cool, multidimensional, and diverse in rep as she is.

Also included are Loki (*sigh* of course, not like he's overused or anything), Scarlet Witch's kid Billy Kaplan, aka Wiccan, his boyfriend Hulkling, aka Teddy Altman, Monica Rambeau (called Spectrum here), Captain Marvel/Carol Danvers, Black Panther, Blue Marvel, aka Adam Bernard Brashear, Storm, Captain America/Steve Rogers (the latter four are very brief cameos), Hawkeye/Kate Bishop, Prodigy, aka David Alleyne, Peggy Carter, Moon Girl, aka Lunella Lafayette (who is as much an arrogant, self-important, self-obsessed, obnoxious, rude, disrespectful, unpleasant brat as she is in 'Marvel-Verse: Moon Girl', sadly, and yet we're still expected to adore her, with how much the other characters shill her!), Devil Dinosaur, and Lisa Halloran (America's ex, and a paramedic and doctor, who I have also seen as a friend of Jane Foster in other Marvel comics).

Not sold yet?

America punches Hitler in this.

Hopefully I don't need to sell you on anything else.

I've recently been collecting the 'Marvel-Verse' comics that showcase Marvel's superheroines, and so far 'Captain Marvel''Ms. Marvel''She-Hulk''Jane Foster, The Mighty Thor', and now 'America Chavez' are my favourites.

America Chavez - what an awesome, awestriking star!

Final Score: 3.5/5

Graphic Novel Review - 'Marvel-Verse: Jane Foster, The Mighty Thor' by Various

A great, fun collection of comics about the versatile, unstoppable and irrepressible Jane Foster as the Mighty Thor, and later Valkyrie! Except for that last classic issue, 'Journey Into Mystery #100', which just has her as Thor's oblivious and stupid love interest, and a damsel in distress (I cringed when she is referred to as a nurse, and Donald Blake as a doctor. Jane becomes one of the best doctors and scientific minds in the Marvel Universe! And '#100' was made specifically to showcase why she is not worthy of Thor, Odinson, or Asgard! It's from 1952 (!), but any superhero comic from before the 2010s was not good and kind to female characters, and Stan Lee was not always a good writer). Why was that embarrassment included?! Are there really not any better classic Marvel stories that feature Jane Foster?

As well as the Mighty Thor, aka the Goddess of Thunder, and Odinson and Loki, there are frozen Avengers, Frost Giants, Ms. Marvel/Kamala Khan, Spider-Man/Miles Morales, Captain America/Sam Wilson, Iron Man, Vision, Nova, Cyclone, and female Loki.

'Thor Annual #1' and 'Thor & Loki: Double Trouble #3-4', issues written by ND Stevenson and Mariko Tamaki respectively, are here, too, and they are marvellous.

'Marvel-Verse: Jane Foster, The Mighty Thor' - it is small, but like Jane herself, it is more than worthy (minus 'Journey Into Mystery #100', of course, you can skip that one).

Other reviews of comics about Jane Foster, one of Marvel's best heroines:


'Thor, Vol. 1: The Goddess of Thunder'

'Valkyrie: Jane Foster, Vol. 1: The Sacred And The Profane'

'Valkyrie: Jane Foster, Vol. 2: At the End of All Things''

'The Mighty Thor: Goddess of Thunder! (Marvel Thor) (Little Golden Book)'


Final Score (for 'Marvel-Verse: Jane Foster, the Mighty Thor'): 3.5/5