Graphic Novel Review - 'Jessica Jones: Alias, Vol. 1' by Brian Michael Bendis (Writer), Michael Gaydos (Artist), Matt Hollingsworth (Colourist)

So I read some 'Jessica Jones' comics this year.

I had been missing out.

I'm glad I got to fully know, appreciate, and admire and even love Jessica Jones eventually, at any rate, no matter how it happened.

The idea behind her character is genius: A mediocre superheroine gives up the cape to become a private detective, to help people through mundane means that don't involve big battles and cosmic threats (superpowers and destroyed, falling buildings may still apply, depending on the people and how situations escalate), thus introducing readers to a more cynical, dark, adult underbelly of the Marvel universe. The heroine's stories are of the crime mystery genre; less stringent in their superhero content and focus. It is like superhero noir, and underground Marvel, where the "normal" way of "fighting bad guys" is in fact no more civilised and safe than in the traditional superhero sense. It is brilliant, brimming upon opening with a myriad of storytelling and character development possibilities and opportunities.

Jessica's hero name was Jewel, but she has become jaded.

Traumatised. Broken. Even for a person with superstrength and near invulnerability, some scars never heal.

It's also fantastic to show an SA survivor be a hero. To show her get through anything, in spite of everything that has happened to her, that no human being should have to suffer through. And in her fluctuating trauma and healing processes, she still manages to have a happy family life, with a husband and child. For Marvel to grant a happy family life, to allow lasting happiness of any kind, to any of their heroes, is a rare and beautiful accolade, but to give it to someone like Jessica Jones, as an extremely flawed female character in male dominated spaces, and as a traumatised victim and survivor... I don't say this often, but Marvel, you are extraordinary. You broke the mould, you broke "tradition" and general, societal expectations, human cruelty and cynicism be damned, and I thank you for your bravery.

Since it is Marvel, however, Jessica will never have a "normal" life, per say. She will always be dealing with fucked up shit, and her pain will never truly go away for good (I don't think it ever will be allowed to for fictional storytelling reasons, for "conflict", which is terrible). On the other hand, that Marvel had chosen to deal with such heavy and sensitive subject matters - SA, trauma, PTSD - with one of their heroes to begin with, as far back as 2002, and in ways that are handled well for the most part, and they have stuck by them decades later, improving all the time, it must be commended.

I remember the year I decided to read 'Black Widow' comics, and I had thought Natasha Romanoff was a Marvel superheroine who had gone through the worst, most vile and intense shit imaginable. But Jessica Jones... I want to give her a hug and tell her everything is going to be okay. Even though, again, it is the Marvel universe, and a superhero comic universe at that, where writers make it a standard to never be afraid to brutalise their characters, to find new, sicker means and angles to make them suffer, so I know it won't be okay for long. But Jessica, in how she is regularly written to be so flawed and human, and how she seems like me and other women I know (we are both flawed, messy adult brunettes surviving in the world, for one), I feel like I want to be her friend; I want to support her and everything she represents.

One part of that representation is she is an "unlikeable" female protagonist. Kudos there, Brian Michael Bendis and team, from over twenty years ago now.

I'll start my 'Jessica Jones' reviews with where it all began: 'Jessica Jones: Alias, Vol. 1'.

In truth, I first read it eight years prior, after watching the first season of the 'Jessica Jones' TV series, and I wanted to know her origins, and see what the praise was about for this exceptionally unique Marvel comics heroine. And then I completely forgot about the comic, and the show. Life and other pop culture fixations caught my attention at the time, I guess.

Finally deciding to give it another chance, I recently reread Bendis' first volume, and like with Jessica herself, I have come to appreciate it better than I did when I was younger and naïve.

'Jessica Jones: Alias, Vol. 1' is a Marvel classic for a reason. It is an adult crime mystery thriller set in the Marvel universe, that's grittier than grit. The super elements are put on the side. Any superhero action isn't the focus.

No, the focus is Jessica Jones and her cases, and how deep they go, and how they affect both her clients and herself.

I won't reveal any more of this mystery comic, but I will say it is very good. Bendis knows how to write - the atmosphere, the structure, the pacing, the flow, the deeper, inner lives of the characters, and their interactions with each other, and their dialogue. (Jessica has female friends - her best is Carol Danvers, the future Captain Marvel - and she has conversations with them over coffee, and it is wonderful). The comic is "dark" in a genuinely mature sense. It is very psychological, and utilises that psychology in the characters and their lives exceedingly, thrillingly well.

Bendis especially knows how to surprise the reader at every turn, on nearly every page. It adds to the thrill factor. Nothing about this comic is predictable, conventional, or safe. No one is safe.

Not even Jessica Jones, PI. Invulnerability powers cannot always save her.

Jessica is as much of a mess as you can imagine. Bendis doesn't merely write her as being "dark" and "edgy", like the Punisher or any of that nineties edgelord crap. None of that violent, bleak nihilism, that is typically male centric. Jessica is just human. A human at her lowest, who happens to be a former superhero. That part of her life is gone now, or she wishes it to be.

However, superheroes... and villains... tend to interfere in her work a lot.

She was never really a good and competent hero, and she messes up, makes mistakes, and overlooks crucial details as an "ordinary" detective, but she's trying.

Despite all the shit, she is still trying to help people, in her own fashion, her own coping mechanism.

Jessica Jones is not strong on the inside like she is on the outside, but... she's trying. She's getting there. She's surviving. She's living. She hasn't given up trying to save the innocent. She may learn how she could save herself along the way.

What a great message about human endurance, and healing (which is not linear) and finding connections and love again after trauma, that Jessica Jones represents.

'Jessica Jones: Alias, Vol. 1' has its flaws. It's from 2002, and it has its dated, antiquated, regressive attitudes and stereotypes, especially towards gay people, and even the women, who remain male dependent. There is slut shaming, and even though Jessica has friendly conversations with women, including Carol Danvers, I don't think the comic passes the Bechdel Test. Every single female client goes to her because of a man, or it has something to do with a man in a romantic proclivity and direction. And I swear every 'Jessica Jones' comic I've read has a female client, or at least an acquaintance, of Jessica's end up dead later on, if not in the same issue then the next. The political reflections and satire in her first case feel depressingly dated, too.

Malcolm, Jessica's "intern" or "secretary", can fuck off, the creep. Good on Jessica for actually telling him to fuck off many times, though he never does. I'm glad to never see him again in subsequent 'Jessica Jones' comics and other media.

Despite the hiccups, however, I recommend 'Jessica Jones: Alias, Vol. 1', and not only for seasoned Marvel comic readers. On its own, it is a good comic, superheroes or not.

The art is particularly dark, shadowy, and gritty, in the best, ahem, light. It reminds me of Alan Moore's 'Watchmen', and 'Alias' could be argued to be in a similar vein as that, in the "dark, cynical, nihilistic, depressing, and political story about superpowered humans living mundane, "normal" lives, set in a "realistic" superhero world" premise.

It's an amazing, promising start to my 'Jessica Jones' reading journey.

Additional note to put here: The only 'Jessica Jones' comic I absolutely detest is 'The Pulse' story collection. It is disgusting, tasteless, and badly written, and contains cringey artwork, and portrays Jessica at her worst and most pathetic. She's barely the main character; it's barely about her. Hell, her being a PI is never even mentioned! I don't know why she does (and doesn't do!) the things she does (and doesn't do!) in 'The Pulse'. She exists just to be pregnant and a mother. It is one of the worst Marvel comics I have ever read. It is one of the worst comics I have ever read, period. I cannot believe Bendis wrote it. What happened?! I hate it enough to want to boycott him, while finding it in my heart to continue praising his other work on 'Jessica Jones'.

Phew! Relieved to get that rant off my chest - somewhere. Back to the good 'Jessica Jones' comics, such as 'Alias, Vol. 1'.

Read it. It's worth it, no matter who you are.

Final Score: 3.5/5

Book Review - 'We Have Always Lived in the Castle' by Shirley Jackson

I've read this novella three times in my life.

The first was in 2016, when I was perhaps too young and ignorant to "get it", and I found it too weird, boring, or insubstantial. The second was a couple of years ago, during my worst mental health period and spiral, and where my sensitivity faculties were up by the thousands, so reading a horror book probably wasn't a good idea then, nor good for me to make a formal, openminded judgement and opinion of the piece. The third time, in 2025, in a safe, informed space, with my mind clear and unimpaired, and with no skimming, I can finally determine that 'We Have Always Lived in the Castle', by the complex and complicated but no doubt brilliant Shirley Jackson, is a classic gothic horror novella I like, even though I don't quite understand why.

I guess that is part of its power. Its strange, eerie, unsettling allure. It is 100%, sensibly, sensationally Shirley Jackson, especially in the last years of her life.

I completed my third read when it is coming up to October, as well. Happy early Samhain, the season and wheel of dark nights and veils!

'We Have Always Lived in the Castle' is like the most macabre, odd, byzantine, cynical, short adult fairy tale, in which uninformed outsiders may decry it as immoral, horrific, self-indulgent, and toxic, but we of the inner reading circle understand it and its genius.

There is nothing overtly supernatural about it, but that underlining sense of "This could happen", that is a horror that stays with its reader. Its true horrors lurk beneath the surface.

True goth girls, "misunderstood" girls, may be sure to like it. It is heretical, in ways I wouldn't necessarily say are good or moral, exactly, but they are enjoyable.

Enjoyably morbid. 'We Have Always Lived in the Castle' is like a black comedy soaked in venomous blackberry tea. It is ethereal, streams of consciousness escapism, bordering on "madness" that is satisfying, validating and affirming.

Therein lie poisons, poisonous mushrooms, woods, lots of housecleaning, lots and lots of food and eating (in the garden and the kitchen), "protections" around a big old house, buried knickknacks and other random stuff by a deeply disturbed child - who considers herself a witch and better than everyone else (she might, in fact, be right, but of course that doesn't excuse her narcissistic and... fatalistic tendencies) - and greedy family members, and the worst, most hostile village people you can ever encounter. Arguably, they are even more animalistic and primeval than the village pariahs, the surviving Blackwoods in their landmark Blackwood mansion, who are each disturbed in different ways.

Shirley Jackson's disposition as an outsider in "civilised" suburban society, and her disdain for smalltown people and their conformity, conservatism, ignorance, and ugly, miserable, dead-eyed, hateful narrowmindedness towards anyone different, definitely shows here.

One exquisite detail I never noticed until my third read is that Mary Katherine "Merricat" Blackwood (love that name), our disturbed, unhinged, morbid, obsessive, curse-giving protagonist, who at eighteen years old hasn't grown up past twelve years or even younger, repeatedly thinks throughout the book that she will remember be kind to her traumatised, invalid Uncle Julian, but she never even speaks to him directly, ever, nor does Uncle Julian interact with her, despite them living together. Symbolically and literally, they are ghosts to each other. It is Merricat's poor older sister Constance who acts as their mediator; it is she who they both speak to, in what remains of their family after the arsenic dinner tragedy six years prior.

All the burden is on Constance. It falls on the angelic, traumatised, vulnerable, servile, domesticated, agoraphobic Constance, who is controlled and abused by Merricat, to keep them and their home together, futile and fruitless as it is.

Merricat's cat Jonas, who is her familiar in a great sense, is just one of her obsessions - her compulsive obsessions. As part of her unchanging, habitual routines. Her biggest fixation is her sister Constance, who dotes on her, enables her, depends on her, and both loves and fears her. Literally everybody else can drop dead and Merricat would not care.

In this story, as with all of Shirley Jackson's stories, everything is broken, both at home and in society in general. It is the nasty, melancholic, bored and broken people that make it so. No kind of conceptual "order" and "normalcy" and convention is fooling anyone. Not anymore.

In 'We Have Always Lived in the Castle', it is bleak and blunt, doom and gloom, yet with a... happy fairy tale ending? It is hard to explain without spoilers, but damn is it clever, and... hopeful and feminist?

It is a very weird book. It is one of the reasons to admire it, without quite knowing the other reasons why.

'We Have Always Lived in the Castle' is shadowy and grim, and biting, sickle-sharp social satire. It may be a mixed bag for me overall - despite its short length, it contains loads of descriptions of everything, and not much happens in the story itself, and there are various nitpicks and instances of uneasiness in the writing that have nothing to do with horror - but I appreciate and admire it nonetheless. It is absolutely, fundamentally unique, and a magnum opus in classic feminist gothic horror.

It is a strange cup of tea, but I can't deny that it is, deeply, subconsciously, my kind of cup of tea.

I have read many of Jackson's works this year, including her short stories, but my favourite of hers remains 'The Haunting of Hill House', followed closely by 'The Lottery' and now 'We Have Always Lived in the Castle', at last after a few tries within nearly a decade.

I will end my review by adding that Shirley Jackson's obsession with food has extremely likely never been more prominent than in this, her final book. Anything that is edible, and how it is procured, be it via farming or going to the supermarket, and where it is stored, and how it is prepared for eating, it is all described in overabundant, overindulgent detail in most pages.

The copy of 'We Have Always Lived in the Castle' I bought online (I remember the second time reading it was of a library copy; now I officially own my own copy) is, unfortunately, the 2009 Penguin Modern Classics version, with the embarrassingly dated and inaccurate Afterword by Joyce Carol Oates (nothing against her personally; she seems like a decent, well adjusted, common sense person otherwise). However, one of the few things she got right about 'We Have Always Lived in the Castle' is: 'In much of Shirley Jackson's fiction food is fetishized to an extraordinary degree' (page 154), and it is an 'erotic component'. It is the closest that Jackson's stories come to being "sexual", at least in what is shown on page. And boy did she love to show them on page.

Food as fixation and fetishization is a theme in pretty much all of Jackson's literature, which, taking into account her well documented eating disorder, obesity, alcoholism and other addictive behaviours, only worsening until her death, it makes sense, in reflecting on the author's own life, as she projected her obsessions and coping mechanisms into her writing. There's also her agoraphobia, projected onto the character of Constance Blackwood. And it works in adding to her unsettling, suburban horror, of "order" and subservience, yet excessive indulgence; less out of hunger and more out of compulsive sating out of emptiness and depression.

Finis, my review and personal journey through 'We Have Always Lived in the Castle' is done. It has been a long time coming, but hopefully, older and wiser as I have become in my reading, in my thirties, it was worth the wait.

Final Score: 3/5

Graphic Novel Review - 'Unbreakable Red Sonja' by Jim Zub (Writer), Giovanni Valletta (Artist), Adrian M. Garcia (Artist), Jonathan Lau (Artist), Various Colourists and Letterers

A fun, insightful and introspective 'Red Sonja' comic, involving the multiverse and time travel, but not in an annoying, obnoxious or convoluted way. It's done in a way that makes sense for her character and world.

The She-Devil with a Sword's companion on this adventure is... herself. As a child. Literally.

There is powerful, cosmos-and-reality-shattering witchcraft, eldritch monsters, a "goddess" who destroyed all other gods, and reflections on cults, and religion and their impact on humanity in general. Lots of blood, violence and brutality are included.

After the main story is a one-shot where Sonja helps bring forth the marriage between two betrothed young children for an incredibly tenuous political alliance between clans determined to kill each other... it's less wince-inducing than it sounds. Hopefully. After that story ends.

'Unbreakable Red Sonja' - another 'Red Sonja' comic I recommend. For she is unbreakable, no matter what. No matter her past, her present, her future. No matter her gods and goddesses. No matter her trauma and disposition.

She is, and always shall be, a fierce, furious, loyal yet independent, observant, quick, sharp, cunning, undefeatable, and unbreakable warrior, barbarian, hunter, and mercenary, with a heart of gold.

The art is brilliant all around in 'Unbreakable Red Sonja', too.

Final Score: 4/5

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