Graphic Novel Review - 'Gotham City Sirens: Trigger Happy' by Leah Williams (Writer), Matteo Lolli (Artist), Daniel Hillyard (Artist), Brandt & Stein (Artists), Marissa Louise (Colourist), Triona Farrell (Colourist), Hassan Otsmane-Elhaou (Letterer)

Oh my goddess tier goddesses and Gotham Sirens.

This comic is amazing.

I think I have finally found my so-bad-it's-good comic.

'Gotham City Sirens: Trigger Happy', the newest 'Gotham City Sirens' comic after so many years - " WE'RE BACK! " as Harley Quinn proudly proclaims on the cover - contains outstandingly, glaringly major errors in the art and the dialogue, that I am shocked got past the editing stages. Its plot is wild, wacky, and haphazard, and not always in a good way, and its pacing is so *$%*@ing fast! It's all go-go, speedier than a rodeo manned by Speedy Gonzales.

It is rather like a Looney Tunes cartoon, that was created by high as $!*@&% college girls in Las Vegas.

It's a western with a murderous video game/energy drink cross-promotion mascot.

No I will not elaborate. I don't think its supposed to make sense...

Anyway, back to the important matter at hand:

How and why do the Gotham City Sirens - Harley Quinn, Poison Ivy, and Catwoman - team up again after all these years? How does Leah Williams's run on 'Trigger Happy' restart and develop that dynamic femme force once again? How do the trio reform and make their comeback?

It doesn't, and they don't.

They simply work together after, coincidences of coincidences, they each find a link to the same crime around the same time at the same place (presumably around the same area in Gotham), which they happened upon individually (granted, Harley and Ivy live together, but that doesn't explain Catwoman's involvement, besides her past foiling of the villain Punchline's plan, in a comic I haven't read). There's no talk, no buildup. Their past team-ups aren't even mentioned. They never call themselves the Gotham City Sirens or anything.

These gritty Gotham antiheroines, who have always been friends and acquaintances apparently, are together now, along with Jaina/White Rabbit, to thwart a Punchline plot involving mind control, energy drinks, gaming, streaming, subbing, in-game purchasing, social media, cowboys, a desert ranch, bulls and other animals.

Deal with it, modern comic book readers! This is how DC does things now!

It's incompetent, but in a blessedly fun and endearing way. It's hilarious - it made me laugh a great deal, including at things maybe not intended to be laughed at! It's obviously not meant to be taken seriously, which is refreshing for DC, though standard for any of their comics featuring Harley Quinn. Its female leads and their interactions with each other are what ultimately sell it for me, besides its funny ineptitude.

Plus, how can I not adore a comic that has a giant Poison Ivy! A Poison Ivy plant kaiju! And there are plant zombies, hot cowboys, and sweet Harlivy! White Rabbit is certainly an interesting character, as well.

Then there's this:


PUNCHLINE: Do you have any idea how DIFFICULT it is--[...]-- to find BILLIONAIRES who are MORALLY BANKRUPT?!

The punchline at Punchline's expense: NO SUCH THING AS AN ETHICAL BILLIONAIRE!


So what if the plot is unoriginal and bares a resemblance to the 2009 movie 'Gamer' (anyone remember that existing? No? Good, let it stay that way)? It's a DC ladies' night of a comic, that celebrates its antiheroines and other bad girls! 'Gotham City Sirens: Trigger Happy' (most of it doesn't even take place in Gotham) is drunk on itself and I am here for it!

'Gotham City Sirens: Trigger Happy' truly is one of a kind. It's dumb, and madly and badly written, and I freaking love it.

Why is its cover art collection fanservice-y, though? Reminiscent of the Paul Dini era? I like the lioness's share of its bonus material, however.

One of my biggest guilty pleasures. I am guilty.

These sirens, together, have at last called to me, in the best/worst means and fashion.

Final Score: 3.5/5

Graphic Novel Review - 'Spider-Gwen: Smash' by Melissa Flores (Writer), Enid Balám (Artist), Alba Glez (Artist), Fer Sifuentes-Sujo (Colourist), Clayton Cowles (Letterer), Ariana Maher (Letterer), Elisabetta D'Amico (Inker)

'Spider-Gwen: Smash' is a very flawed, but still enjoyable and funny 'Spider-Gwen' comic, filled with interesting characters and ideas. And, wow, it is a 'Spider-Gwen' comic that can be read as a self-contained book and miniseries (well, sort of, but outside continuity isn't too egregious a problem here), and you don't have to read her other comics and their convoluted, multiversal rubbish to like this one.

Shocker!

Smash! Shocker!

'Smash' isn't about the Spider-Verse, and there is no travelling between multiverses - thank *&@"£! for that - instead, it is about Gwen Stacy/Ghost-Spider and her band, The Mary Janes, and her role as a famous drummer versus her role as a (in)famous superhero (which is no longer a secret identity in Gwen's Earth-65 universe, apparently), and her contentious, complicated relationship with Mary Jane Watson, which is constantly on a thread thinner than a spiderweb. Yet it appears to be heading in a newer, fresher, and still further complicated direction...

There are bands, concerts, tours, meaningful song lyrics, and nonstop danger, kidnappings, and mutant experimentations.

Other Marvel characters include Dazzler (I haven't seen her in many things, and it's a nice change of pace that she's a major player here), Natasha Romanoff (what a twist! and in this universe, she remains a badass), the Hulk, Pixie, Mortis (my introduction to her, and I am vibing and gravitating towards the dark witch girl), Mysterio, and, uh, Carnage. Is that a spoiler? Oh well.

'Smash' is like an old school Marvel comic - short and sweet, and as simple as it can be when dealing with so many characters, each with their own individual baggage.

The superheroine comic is very girly, in that it contains a predominately female cast, and complex female relationships, that are nonetheless loving and positive. Gwen's bandmates, Glory and Betty (to be honest, I keep forgetting their names), end up being surprisingly supportive, sympathetic and understanding towards her, in her dual drummer/Ghost-Spider role, even when Mary Jane, or "Em Jay", isn't. Gwen's identity crisis is taking its toll on her, and endangering her relationship with Em Jay, in more ways than one...

Let's just say that 'Spider-Gwen: Smash' shares more in common with the 'Jem and the Holograms' comics than the outrageous, sci-fi girl bands.

Another highlight is the sweet heart-to-heart talk between Gwen and her dad near the beginning. She is his hero, as well as vice versa (I think this was established in 'Gwenverse'?), and he is her number one reason to stay on Earth-65, even when things are terrible, which they usually are. I really like how their relationship seems to have developed and evolved over time.

I'm not a fan of the artwork. It looks cartoony in an off-putting, early 2000s way, if that makes sense. But it's not all bad, as it's expressive and well detailed, even though the last issue makes the characters look like chibi children.

I would be remiss not to mention the amazing art on this universe's Carnage, however. It's one of the multitude of reasons to read 'Spider-Gwen: Smash'. What a triumph.

In conclusion, 'Spider-Gwen: Smash' is a highly interesting and new take and direction to, uh, take the superheroine Spider-Gwen. It is fun, femme, digestible, and perhaps aimed at a younger audience, but it doesn't tone down or ease up on the dark plot twists. It hits a lot of the (drum)beats of what makes any Marvel 'Spider' comic good, leaving its mark on the canon.

My reviews of the two other 'Spider-Gwen' comics I like can be found here and here.

Final Score: 3.5/5

Graphic Novel Review - 'Harley Quinn, Vol. 2: Eye Don’t Like Me' by Tini Howard (Writer), Sweeney Boo (Artist, Colourist), Steve Wands (Letterer), Various Artists and Colourists, and Backup Writers, Artists and Colourists

I read the third volume before the second volume of this run of 'Harley Quinn' - the former happened to be in my local mall's comic shop - and I'm glad I did. It turned out to be fate, because I don't think I would have carried on with this series after reading 'Harley Quinn, Vol. 2: Eye Don’t Like Me'.

It's bizarre and out-there like the first volume, but it's not always as fun. Here, it's just messy, incoherent, confusing, haphazard, jumpy, and fast paced at a breakneck speed. There're blatant plot holes and editorial issues. There's barely any time for the reader to breathe, and to process what the hell is even happening and why. Almost nothing and no one is explained properly. 65% of the time reading I was like, "Who are these characters, and why should I care?"

What is the deal with the multiverse/Warworld hyenas? What are they doing and why? What is their motive? Why should I care about a clearly evil place like Warworld anyway? And why are Harley's community college students, who ostensibly play bigger roles this time round, so underdeveloped with barely a presence?

The first issue, right off the bat, unintentionally sets up some major problems to come: It immediately introduces us, very poorly, to Janet, who you won't know at all unless you've continuously read Poison Ivy's comic run at the time, and she is never seen or mentioned again after the first four pages. What a waste.

Speaking of, the ending of the volume is one of the most abrupt I have ever seen in a comic. It's like the creative team were given only two pages left to wrap everything up. It's utterly underwhelming, frustrating, and renders the rest of the volume's arc pointless.

The arc being, supposedly, Harley Quinn versus a multidimensional Brother Eye.

Not that it matters, but slight spoilers ahead:

Brother Eye or the Brother Eyes or the Brothers Eye or whatever is a poorly established, poorly explained villain and threat. They're not one big mastermind behind everything, but a boring, generic collective. There is no mystery reveal to this hivemind; they exist and they want to use and screw with Harley - something about how she's a potentially effing powerful weapon because she's handled the most trauma out of everyone in the DC multiverse, which, like, um, what? no? - like a multidimensional bully, and that's it! By the end, the inconsistently-named-and-blamed-and-claimed villain's forced assimilations and murders are forgotten about!

Even Harley isn't like herself, at least at the beginning, where she is inexplicably mellow, forgiving, quiet, and just goes along with the multiverse WTF-ness, and doesn't interject any arsehole character's longwinded speeches with her quippy dialogue and jokes. She gets over this, thankfully, but what was with her character in the first issue? At least she ends that by getting snappy and sick of "multiversal crap. I have been doing that nonstop."

Yeah, Harley, the readers sympathise.

So 'Harley Quinn, Vol. 2: Eye Don’t Like Me' is an off and random mess of a comic.

Still, it is definitely not without its positives:

The artwork is very nice, colourful, and expressive. Different artists got to work on this, and it shows off their talents beautifully.

There is a new character, a robot multiversal P.I. named Lux Kirby, who is very interesting, adorable, and a new partner and friend to Harley. They are also nonbinary.

Kevin returns! He plays an important, humanising part in the story, and he remains important to Harley's character. (Though why do neither Lux nor Kevin appear in the third volume?).

Harley's dream sequences in between the issues are lightyears more interesting than the main plot. They're so fresh, varied, creative and fun, and awesome to look at!

There is a cartoony universe - the one that features Looney Tunes-esque animal characters such as Captain Carrot - where Harley and Ivy are Harely Quinn and Python Ivy. Why couldn't we have spent more time in fun multiverses, like the previous volume?!

And like with volumes 1 and 3, volume 2 is awash with love for Harlivy. Harley and Ivy's relationship is one of, if not the top highlight, of this run of 'Harley Quinn'. They're a brilliant couple, lovingly and thoughtfully written. They're the one reliable and satisfactory constant in the series.

In conclusion, 'Harley Quinn, Vol. 2: Eye Don’t Like Me' is disappointing and not well written, but it is Harley Quinn, and she kicks arse and saves the multiverse yet again, and learns to love herself again, and that others love her too, for who she is. It is a confidence booster and a depression beater in comic book form, even though the ending is far too rushed and tacked on for it to leave much of a lasting impression.

Meta commentary about Harley's popularity is included, and it links to Oh Brother Eye's fixation on her. However, as I have to keep repeating myself, this ends up not mattering in the grand scheme of things.

You can read 'Harley Quinn Vol. 3: Clown About Town' after 'Harley Quinn, Vol. 1: Girl in a Crisis' and not miss anything important - I'm happy the series vastly improves after the middle volume. Only read 'Harley Quinn, Vol. 2: Eye Don’t Like Me' if you're a completionist and love Harley Quinn that much, like me.

It's like a guilty pleasure, and guilty ride for little old moi. A least some of the jokes and dialogue are good.

Final Score: 3/5

Manga Review - 'Eden of Witches Volume 1' by Yumeji

'Eden of Witches Volume 1' is a great, refreshing, dramatic, emotional, thought-provoking, heartfelt, and stunning little epic fantasy manga. It's small yet near-perfectly, wonderfully compact.

It's about witches and nature, and animals and plants (and a combination of both, like a wolf called Oak!), and the cruelty, greed, hubris, deviousness, and blind piousness of humanity.

The heroine, Pili, is a young redhaired witch living in seclusion, and who has believable self-esteem and confidence issues. She is scared, but brave. She is sensitive, and strong. She is determined, and kind. The child is wiser and more powerful than she knows. I am proud of her, and her journey - towards finding the legendary Eden, a haven for witches, and planting seeds there to save everyone - and adventures, filled with tragedy, have only just begun.

'Eden of Witches' really is like 'Witch Hat Atelier', 'Aria of the Beech Forest' (there're plants, a tree home, a young redhaired witch and a wolf in that, too!), 'A Cat from Our World and the Forgotten Witch', 'The Girl from the Other Side: Siúil, a Rún, 'Frieren: Beyond Journey's End', and 'Snow White with the Red Hair', with art and themes influenced by Studio Ghibli films. As a plus, I can easily see it as a 'The Legend of Zelda' game.

But it flowers and blooms in its own light.

I can't fathom how this particular witch manga alluded me until now!

Save, respect, and preserve nature, and in turn you will save the world and humanity. Living together in harmony, working together and growing things together, instead of burning and destroying, is the key to survival.

Love grows and flourishes, hate annihilates.

Final Score: 4.5/5

Book Review - 'The Princess in Black' by Shannon Hale (Writer), Dean Hale (Writer), LeUyen Pham (Illustrator)

It took me a decade, but I've finally come to appreciate 'The Princess in Black', one of the many, many hits by Shannon Hale, and another children's princessey, cartoony, comedic, feminist romp of hers (comics, picture books, chapter books, novels, you name it), and another with her husband Dean (and with LeUyen Pham).

In fact, all of Shannon Hale's works can be considered feminist to varying degrees, and all of them are, if not entertaining, then very interesting, creative, and unapologetically girly.

As for the feminism of 'The Princess in Black', I wouldn't call it an absolute feminist mistresspiece - it is a bit too simple, with one-dimensional antagonists, including literal monsters referred to as "it", and Princess Magnolia is conventionally pretty, and doesn't seem to have any female friends yet.

But for what it is, it is a fun and humorous little chapter book for kids, especially for beginner readers. It can be devoured in under ten minutes.

There is action and comedy, and the message of how heroes can inspire people to become heroes themselves, to go with its other message:

Of course princesses do wear black!

Even if it is part of a secret identity, but still!

Plus, the idea of a superhero/Zorro/Scarlet Pimpernel-type princess sounds awesome to me, as a fan of both superheroines and princesses. There can be different types of princesses, that subvert gendered stereotypes and expectations, and they can be competent, brilliant action heroes!

Another subversive and hilarious sidenote that I'm not sure was intentional or not: Princess Magnolia has a pet unicorn called Frimplepants, but when she secretly becomes the Princess in Black to fight monsters, Frimplepants becomes an ordinary pony called Blacky, who is her noble steed (and is nonetheless tough and funny). Apparently the unicorn identity is everyday mundane (at least for royalty) compared to a pony! A pony who wears a mask and helps the Princess in Black stop monsters from eating goats, but still!

I don't think I've ever seen a black unicorn anywhere before, either way, so there's that.

Indeed, the Princess in Black is a GOAT.

Aaaaaaaaaand before I show myself out, I'll say that I recommend 'The Princess in Black' to younger readers, and princess and superhero fans of all ages. It's a neat premise with a neat execution. I don't think I will be reading the sequels - from what I've read online, they seem to be pretty much the same, following the same formula - but I'll treasure it in my book collection for years to come.

It's like 'The Fairytale Hairdresser' series, and a dragon's hoard of other feminist princess fiction that would take me forever to list (including ones by Shannon Hale).

Final Score: 3.5/5

P.S. Are Princess Magnolia's parents ever even mentioned in this series? Where are they? Is Magnolia actually a queen? Does she rule over her kingdom on her own? When she's clearly a child? What does she do when she's not the Princess in Black, besides have hot chocolate and scones with guests, and perhaps host tea parties, and other types of parties?

P.P.S. I'm surprised 'The Princess in Black' hasn't been made into an animated TV series yet. It was made for it.

Non-Fiction Book Review - 'My Sister Marilyn: A Memoir of Marilyn Monroe' by Berniece Baker Miracle and Mona Rae Miracle

Another pretty solid biography of the legendary Marilyn Monroe, that is a memoir told by her older half sister, Berniece Baker Miracle.

I am very surprised to learn that, apparently, Berniece and Marilyn were so close - at least a bit later on, after their childhoods, when they finally knew each other's existence - and that Berniece was absolutely involved in Marilyn's life and affairs, because in all the other biographies I've read about the starlet, her sister is barely mentioned, if at all. I guess some people from her family, and personal details, had to be downplayed and cut for simplicity's sake.

Marilyn truly had a fascinating, varied, multifaceted life, containing so many people who influenced and shaped her. And loved her.

'My Sister Marilyn: A Memoir of Marilyn Monroe' is a lovely, sweet, genuine, and well written memoir at 200 pages. The mundane, everyday stuff that the two women got up to together - two ordinary women, despite one of them being world famous, and both of them being constant targets by paparazzi - are just as interesting as the behind the scenes drama of Marilyn's films, which the book minimally details.

It is indeed about Marilyn the person, the human, and less about her as a glamourous movie star. A mirage movie star, a put-upon image.

Marilyn Monroe, or Norma Jeane Mortenson/Baker, was, in truth, a very special, wonderful, loving, hardworking, human woman.

I am glad to read that she had always had family who loved her, no matter what. Who tried to be there for her, and never gave up on her, up to the days towards her tragic end, and decades beyond.

Berniece always loved her sister, and she wanted to tell her story - both women's story, their story. Hence 'My Sister Marilyn', which is as much about herself as it is about her famous sibling, whom she cared for deeply and never envied, throughout all the price (press) of fame, stress, and tragedy.

The little book is funny as all hell, too. What a great many family anecdotes and tidbits!

'My Sister Marilyn' also contains more info about Marilyn and Berniece's mentally ill mother Gladys than I have read in other biographies. Same with Berniece's husband Paris and their daughter, Mona Rae, who also cowrote the book.

What a mother and daughter (and aunt!) dream team the women made.

Included on pages 105-127 is 'Illustrations and Family Tree - "These Are Our Memories..."': black and white photos of Berniece and Marilyn, plus other family members (and friends and guardians), throughout their lives, and letters, invitations, postcards and tickets, and a family tree.

No one's life can be told simply, straightforwardly and structurally, like a cut-and-dried, three act movie, as I've leaned from reading these Marilyn biographies.

I definitely recommend 'My Sister Marilyn: A Memoir of Marilyn Monroe' to Marilyn Monroe fans, alongside:


'Marilyn Monroe: By Eve Arnold'

'My Story'

'Marilyn Monroe: Private and Undisclosed'

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


A human and personal story, full of love, perseverance, family ties, and unbroken bonds.

Final Score: 4/5

Book Review - 'The Girl in the Walls' by Meg Eden Kuyatt

I finished this in one day, one afternoon.

'The Girl in the Walls' is another triumph of autistic fiction by Meg Eden Kuyatt.

It is 'Good Different' - which I also read this year, and is one of my new favourite books - but in a ghostly horror context. It leans much, much heavier on the generational trauma theme - and the family connection and understanding theme - than in 'Good Different'. It is powerful, gripping, poignant, and important.

'The Girl in the Walls' is like a haunted house tale that's mostly set during the daytime. It may remind anyone of how they used to visit and stay at their grandparents' house on holidays as a kid. There are bound to be many secrets hidden away inside old houses; hidden in locked and forgotten rooms, and within the walls.

Themes of the falsehood of "normal" and keeping up appearances to survive in an unkind and uncaring world, and the lengths you go to hide truths about yourself and your family, and finally coming to terms with them, to realise that there is nothing wrong with you and anyone else like you, and you deserve to be happy and free - it is all clear in 'The Girl in the Walls', just like in 'Good Different' (it's a motif), except with the "perfect" but crumbling old house - with its ghost, and its porcelain dolls and secrets and sludge and dead rats - added in as metaphor.

A metaphor for how endangered, closeted, marginalised people are in society.

Stigmatisation against the neurodivergent, and the mentally ill, and prejudice overall, is sick and horrific. But when it is your own family that doesn't accept you - when it is the people who are supposed to love you no matter what, who should be the most trustworthy and never change how they feel and act towards you - when they don't support you, even betray you--

That it the biggest horror.

(I'll stop comparing Kuyatt's two novels in verse now, as it's not fair. They should be seen on their own merits and standing.)

'The Girl in the Walls' has an autistic teen girl protagonist, V, who is an artist, and she loves drawing anime-esque characters, and wearing funny, cartoony socks. She's a wonderful girl. From the start she knows that there is nothing wrong with her, that her neurodivergence is a part of her, and her superpower. This is becoming harder and harder for her to believe, however, when she is made to stay with a prominent member of her family, her "perfect", "clean", uptight, stuffy, snobby grandmother, Jojo, who sees art as a waste of time, and refuses to see who her granddaughter is in a positive light; even denying her identity.

V is not so secure and confident as she tells herself she is; same goes for Jojo, who is hiding secrets of her own. Like a secret family history, deep in the dark, in her old, "clean", white, boring, rotting house...

How does the ghost factor in, you might ask?

Not telling. I'll leave it at that, when disclosing the plot. Read the book itself to find out more, and be mightily surprised.

'The Girl in the Walls' isn't flawless. There are a few confusing moments, random and ill-thought out details, and typos that could have done with a bit more revising and editing. It could have done with further branching out in terms of diversity and inclusion, especially considering its themes?

However, regardless, it is a nice, sad, touching children's ghost story, that teaches you about art and expressing your true self with pride, never minding what other people think, and never keeping your feelings and truth hidden and festering inside.

It teaches you about empathy and compassion.

As Kuyatt says in her Author's Note at the end:


'While people I love can hurt me, they can also love me and have their own fears and insecurities and many sides.
At a time when our news and media are quick to capitalize on ugly divisive feelings, tell one-sided stories, and oversimplify reality, I think it is more important than ever that we have stories that remind us of the complexity and nuance of the people around us. In a time when hatred seems at an all-time high, we need to practice and model listening, empathy, and SEL--for ourselves, and the kids in our lives. I know I needed these reminders--that's why I wrote this book.
I hope that The Girl in the Walls makes readers feel seen, but that it also makes all of us slow down and pause in our assumptions of others. That we will take time to listen to one another's stories, and even if we don't always agree or understand, that we will respect the messiness and nuance. That we can see those around us--and ourselves--as strange and wonderful.'


No one is ever only one thing.

No one is a doll.

No one is broken.

The ghosts of our past can't stay hidden forever.

'A Girl in the Walls' - it is hard for me not to feel it is a junior novel in verse version of 'A Guest in the House', after recently reading that. It is also a bit like 'Anya's Ghost', and an autistic, junior version of 'The Yellow Wallpaper'.

But it's its own new, unique, precious gem.

It's a thrilling, tense, enlightening book on empathy and kindness, written from the heart, and from a good faith place.

Go read it, whether you are neurodivergent or neurotypical.

Final Score: 4/5