REBIRTH HARLEY QUINN #17 - Red Meat or overdone hash?

It may fit, but the diamonds and your reflection are both wrong

Same name, different characters

 Why is there Rebirth Hardly Quinn on my blog?
Is there going to be a rant? Probably.

Truth is, it's on here because I wanted to discuss the 'new back-up feature' of "Harley Loves Joker" featuring Paul Dini.

First of all... featuring? does that mean he's in the comic himself? Is he writing it?
Second of all.... ugh.. the comparison of Harley and Hardly makes my heart hurt. Hardly appears to have Friggin' Lucille from The Walking Dead in her hands, and ooh it's a grenade but it looks like a mobile phone the way she's holding it. Shit, they even gave Harley some of Hardly's tacky blue eye make-up.

There is nothing to write home about the standard issue - it opens with a run down of some jerks killing and eating some homeless folks, goes on to Hardly wanting to give her friggin' scraps to her pet homeless person.... 

I mean, for real? Just scraps? Not even an actual meal? Lovely. Everyone else and their dog has moved in with Hardly but yep, no room at the inn for a homeless person. Hardly is then told blatantly that homeless folk are terrified and going missing, that it's all over the news and no where is safe and she just goes "oh okay, so he's probably just out of town. whatever, gotta go!"

A week later, she's got some stupid meditation session and a call from her mum. "Mumma!" she exclaims with joy, "How's Dad?" and I have to really think back about WHICH parents she's talking about because she's been fucking rebooted ten million times lately and her parents turn into more and more ass-holes each time, so I can only think she's talking about the Gotham City Sirens parents where her dad's a charming creep in jail and her mum resents her for being a criminal. 

But that can't be right because this comic seems to both retcon her criminal past and blatantly advertise it as well so I DON'T FUCKING KNOW WHO SHE'S TALKING TO.

Some stupid side plot where they're continuing their lame ass vigilante crew story-line and the police come to them for help about the homeless folk vanishing. This is the sort of thing you'd expect Nightwing or similar to be doing or being approached to help. I have never understood why they have made Harley - who, AGAIN, keeps talking about her Suicide Squad past and keeps killing people left and right into a people's champion but no one seems to give a rat's arse about what she actually does? Then they trust her to deal with police and shit, having her trying to talk like an effin' detective? 

Fuck off Palmiotti. 

To top it all off, this ridiculous Harley Sinn character is back and assigned to assassinate Mason Macabre - you know, that guy Hardly was so hot for that she dumped and ran off with an assortment of other people instead? Am I supposed to care about this bit character as well?

Now it's Social Justice Warrior Harley to the rescue - posing as a homeless person and switching rapidly between empathy for the reasons people get into these situations and then being vague like "what else do homeless people do?"  apart from begging for change. 

Some kids come along and ask for a toll to be paid and then set her tent on fire. There are an awful lot of references in this series to actually how bad Hardly Quinn smells and it really makes me wonder why she has so many friends and hanger on's because it's quite descriptive. 

She's in full SJW ranter mode and doesn't even come across as bad ass but more an OP Mary-Sue character. Oh well, she expands her repertoire by becoming a damsel in distress after falling for the old chemical kidnap.  

Now over to the new feature.. and it turns out it's co-written by Dini and Palmiotti. So.... it'll be nostalgic AND shitty?

Anyway.

Opens on Joker jumping into the Jokermobile piloted by Harley.. so this is super mega old school relationship then? The Jokermobile is real, but only referenced in flashbacks from Harley's GCS days because she technically wasn't around when it was.

Their heist was foiled by a previous robbery and the couple is still in their lovey dovey hey day?
But... Harley is clearly completely white, so she's had her reboot dip dye done... so it's.. it's... aww fuhcks shake! Pick a fucking narrative or timeline and stick with it!

Like all this crap over the internet: Picture of classic Harley Quinn but references current shit comic and forgets that DC killed off her hyenas in the new 52....uh, duh-DOY

She's also got that ridiculous over powering accent that she never had to that extent originally. She enjoys Joker sneezing in her face? They keep trying to have you expect Joker violence but then it's all niceties and he's actually been planning a moonlight heist with Harley?  

It's just weird. When you go from meeting Harley in either Mad Love or Batman: Harley Quinn - you know that while there are lovey dovey moments and a definite relationship of some kind in there... it's not this cheesy. This is like reading a novelisation of Whorely Quinn and Edge Lord Joker's relationship from the Suicide Squad movie because nothing looks or feels right and it doesn't seem to have it's own place in the story. It's also over romanticised. 

And of course, being DC - there's the ever present marketing strategy. 

Palmiotti flat out said in an interview that they hope to lure in all kinds of Harley fans and new readers with this particular issue. He basically states that DC just said what? more Harley? Yeah sure go for it, whatever. 

It's also there to show how much Harley has evolved into a modern, independent woman. 

I would prefer that DV was just an issue of the past but it's clearly not. Is Harley only independent because she tried to beat up the Joker after their break up? That also sends a horrible message. Harley never had an issue with being independent - she often did her own thing and had her own friend circle, and was not usually trapped as such, but she did have an issue with loving the wrong person and being stuck in a vicious cycle. It makes her a compelling character but definitely a cautionary tale more than a role model. 

Am also sceptical if a homicidal, promiscuous, mental case with limited empathy and fucked up morals who has changed outfits only slightly more times than personalities is the best person to be a role model for independent, modern women. 

It strikes me as well that DC don't seem to have a hand or any control over Harley and really don't get a shite as long as she makes money. I just wish that other series/characters/creators and writers got the freedom and opportunities that this lame circus does. 

DON'T FORGET YOUR NEW ANTI-HERO KILLED ALL THOSE KIDS YOU GUYS!