Harley Quinn And The Birds Of Prey #2

Well here am I, sat in front of an uphill battle of reviewing something that is admittedly out of date and even after a long hiatus I'm out of patience for. Self loathing is a trip, I tell ya. 

August 2020

Same as last issue, written by Palmiotti and Conner again with Conner still doing the art. As you probably know by reading nearly any of my blog posts (another fun word for them is rants!) these guys aren't my favourites. Conner's art is fairly clean, which I appreciate but... 

Eh. As much as the taglines like to spout that these guys really push the boundaries, push the envelope, push the shopping trolleys, push the fourth wall and anything else that needs a shove... they really don't. This is the exact same as their other Harley Quinn run - from the cover layout that I've seen a million times before, the over explained re-cap with a zillion speech bubbles, the billion other characters that Harley is given precedence over, the trillion times we're reminded that Harley is now a crass horndog who really doesn't care about anyone else and the bajillion times we have to hear the same unfunny beaver jokes. 

If I can say something nice about the cover, it's that I like the Harley grenade and the logo is fairly inoffensive. The rest is just... really generic and flat. It's clear Conner loves making this art... but I know she can do better (well, maybe) and not be as lazy as this. 

So, as mentioned earlier we have a huge recap complete with over dramatic Harley even though nothing really happened in the last issue. Well things did happen, but it's nothing that Harley cares about, it's just a lame pretense for her to run away from her girlfriend troubles or the mundane issues like helping her friends recover and find a home because she wants revenge on the eeeevil loan mob she chose to deal with, even though she literally just murdered a huge bunch of them and didn't pay them the money she owed because she was off trying to simultaneously smooch and kill Ivy. 

This is not me being a Harley hater. This is me re-capping what the Harley in this series alone has done. She decided her best course of action was to take a fun road trip to get away from her immediate problems instead of helping her friends and co-workers. 

The Gang of Harleys almost died, they're homeless and with the exception of maybe Coach - they've lost their FREAKING EYEBALLS! 

It just got straight up Little Orphan Annie in here! 

Harley Quinn: fake news and rant about Screenrant

 So - spoiler alert - ScreenRant isn't exactly the headquarters of factual information but they do a lot of clickbait and are allllways at the top of any search for general pop culturey stuff, which I know because I make an effort to avoid clicking on their articles. Today though, they got me. 

I was curious about the tattoo on Harley's back so I read this article by a Thomas Bacon (1/9/2020) in which he states it says property of no-one, which is a throwback to her 'property of Joker' jacket from the first Suicide Squad movie. While I wish we could see this relationship actually play out on the silver screen, Mr. Bacon portrays these tattoos like they're a full relationship run-down and all we need to know. 

But attentive viewers will have noticed a subtle change in Harley Quinn; specifically, her tattoos. Most of these were supposed to have been made by Harley herself, while she was languishing in prison, bored out of her mind. But there are a couple of exceptions, ones in places even the uber-flexible Harley couldn't reach. And all of these conveyed a sense of ownership, suggesting the Joker had branded Harley. One on Harley Quinn's back literally identifies her as "property of Joker." It's easy to miss, but this has actually changed in the behind-the-scenes footage from The Suicide Squad, suggesting Harley has had someone paid to alter the tat. It now reads, "property of no one.
It's a subtle detail, but a great visual way of reminding viewers of Harley's character arc. It suggests Harley Quinn is following the same journey she did in the comics, where she learns to define herself as an individual rather than by her relationships. While she no doubt won't stay single - Birds of Prey subtly set up the romance between Harley Quinn and Poison Ivy - she will never again allow herself to be drawn into the kind of unhealthy, obsessive and abusive relationship she had with the Joker.
All this means Harley Quinn is more than a Joker abuse victim. Rather, she is recovering from her time with the Clown Prince of Crime, getting on with her life, and in so doing presenting a brilliant example to viewers. Superhero franchises rarely explore this theme, tending to show healthy relationships and present idealised views of love and romance. But Harley Quinn is far more real, meaning she has one of the best arcs in the DCEU to date. This tattoo confirms that arc will continue in James Gunn's The Suicide Squad.

I was curious about the 'subtly set up romance' thing because if there's one thing DC doesn't do well in it's films it's.... ok, well, one thing among many is that they ain't subtle. 

The link is in the paragraph if you wish to read it yourself but be warned, it's nothing to do with the movie Birds of Prey.

Harley Quinn animated interview

So... I read this article recently.. 

Metro.co.uk Harley Quinn's Kaley Cuoco and Lake Bell clashed over swearing limit on foul-mouthed DC series Abbie Bray 03/12/2019

....and it confirmed some things.

Kaley Cuoco and Lake Bell clashed over their characters in the Harley Quinn animated series for who could swear the most per episode – but who do you think had the last F-word? 

The foul-mouthed cartoon sees Kaley star as the titular anti-heroine, who decides to break up with the Joker and become a supervillain in her own right, teaming up with gal pal Poison Ivy (Lake) to join the Legion of Doom. Although what fans don’t know is that the show has a limit to how many swear words they can use per episode. And as a result, the stars had a bit of healthy competition by revealing they would try to claim more F-words for their characters. 

‘We don’t shoot together,’ Lake told ET. ‘We don’t record together and there’s often a fight.’ 

‘About who gets more [F-words],’ Kaley added. ‘Did Lake take the last f*** again?’

The over the top swearing made the adult themed show just that much more juvenile... like hearing Maggot Robbie spit out 'pussy' because she was under the impression that that's how you show that your character is so much more fearless than the Joker. Just... trying too hard and ultimately failing. Unless she was trying to cover us in spit, in which case she may have succeeded.

And speaking of the woman who has doomed all of my searches for the ACTUAL Birds of Prey or anything Harley related to end in her gross mug showing up, here's what the executive producer had to say about it.

DC Universe Harley Quinn #58

Standard cover here was to be expected - every time Harley catches up with Batman and ISN'T attacking him without provocation, she's trying to be a Robin of sorts. So, par for the course here. It's okay, but predictable and overdone. Variant cover is visually stunning... although riding a purple bike covered in Joker stamps and wearing a 'Puddin'' collar probably isn't the best way to spend the issue immediately after you spent a lot of time declaring yourself Joker-free.



Also, I feel like a good chunk of Japan just got stereotyped and hard. She also loses points for the shoes, not wearing a helmet, not looking where's she's going, presumably having other tattoos a la Suicide Squad, animal cruelty and for littering those playing cards everywhere. Still, at least it's unique, I guess. Couldn't help but notice one of her eyes has changed colour.... aaaaand they've added purple eye-shadow to her already quite convoluted colour scheme. I do find myself quite liking this cover as a one off though.

Now.. where we left off, Harley was being apprehended by Batman because she's a suspect in a murder. It rather looked like a parent putting a child in time out, but worse because she's a grown woman who just attacked Batman with a bat, man, because she was too impatient to listen.
 Then... She's not even handcuffed in the Batmobile? Then... she's just allowed to run free in the Batcave? Like.... did I miss something? Oh right, normal rules don't apply to Harley Quinn.

I mean, at first it looks like she's released to help solve the case, but that can't be right because she later suggests that she helps solve the case and Batman shoots her down. This is Batman - why is he suddenly relaxing his strict protocols? Then he lets himself get handcuffed to Quinn? Why is Batman being written as totally incompetent?




FYI - saying "No body no crime" doesn't exactly make it sound like you're innocent, Harley.
Neither does dismissing motive, opportunity and physical evidence at the scene as 'flimsy.'

First step of the investigation - visiting the murder victim's home... which for some reason, Batman didn't do as a first step by himself. Then he lets Harley do the talking. Clearly, they're going for a second rate buddy cop schtick here so to even get through this I'm going to have to let a lot of things slide. Which, surprisingly isn't an issue for other comics that generally involve super powers. So, that's a thing that happens now.

They meet up with the deceased doctor's house-sitter, who no one bothered to tell that the home owner is dead. Then they go to the crime scene where Harley touches the crime scene and eats a cookie crumb, declaring that suddenly she is a member of a cookie fan club and can note the complexities of the flavour even though they aren't available in her country. So, that's pretty convenient. Not to mention the main murder suspect ate the only evidence and could therefore just make up whatever bullshit she wanted.

Fortunately for her, this leads Batman to a warehouse on the docks that a) imports illegal goods and b) is registered in the dead doctor's name... because that's a smart business move that clearly doesn't warrant any further investigation. It also houses Smylex... because that's a thing that happens and they now label a concoction made by the Joker clearly. Well, points for WHS&S... but only given if they ever cover up that vat that he fell into in the first place with an actual safe cover.

Birds of Prey trailer released

You know why it's called a trailer? Because they're often linked to vehicles. As in.. my fears are becoming founded.. and Maggot Hurley is just erasing the entire awesome of Birds of Prey in favour of a Harley Quinn fame train because.. because she has Hollywood clout.. and likes herself too much I guess? I'm not linking it, if you wanna waste half a minute of your life then you can search for it.

The actual title of this movie is
Birds of Prey (and the Fantabulous Emancipation of One Harley Quinn)

Well...... when a 34 second clip of a DC comics title Harley Quinn has literally nothing to do with shows about 25 seconds of Maggot Hurley swanning around acting drunk and trying to do the seductive lollipop thing but failing miserably... aaaand the ACTUAL Birds of Prey get squished into a couple of seconds with a hideous amount of quick shots - so quick you can barely tell what's going on and who anyone is. Plus, the titular Birds have to share this time with what's supposed to be the villains, I guess and then the whole 'fade to black/see you soon' thing.


So... that's really disappointing. Not gonna lie.

Besides, you can't just whip out a fantabulous word like you're a knock off Willy Wonka!
Girl, you're not even a second rate drag queen!

"Guess who went dumpster bin op-shopping again! .....MEEEE!!!!"

I remember reading something she said back when Suicide Squad was about to come out - something about how she read a couple of comics and just didn't 'get' the character. Man, this is becoming clearer and clearer each day. I mean, I GET wanting to make a 'new' version of a character for the big screen, I do. Lord knows everyone else freakin' has their own version of Harley Quinn. At the same time, if you're not going to even be true to a tiny bit of the character's origins... why bother?

Next it'll be an unfunny Joker, a Batman that shoots people and a Superman that doesn't care.
OH WAIT.

DC Universe Harley Quinn #56

Okay.. I feel like we have already had a cover like this with Harley recently. Or maybe two if you count the 'We are Robin' "parody" in that. Then it's got the obligatory 'who let the somethings out' asked perhaps un-ironically. Probably wouldn't be too bad but.. the cats.... don't look like cats.

They kinda look like stuffed animals with some poor sod's false eyeballs. Clearly they ran out of poses for said pussy posse and they sneakily amended them slightly with different colours, hid them in the background... maybe moved a limb or two. I just can't get past Harley's freakishly tiny hands. .....urrgh.

Second cover is okay.. makes me wish it was 'who let the hyenas out' because that would be a lot more funny and then maybe, just maybe I could get past that time DC killed Bud and Lou horrifically.* Wait... where's the other hyena? Gasp!!!


So we open up on Harley staggering down the street for some reason. Is this to do with Christmas? Who knows? Anyway she gets some horrible Pepto-Bismol laced hot dog because apparently to be American is to eat partial meat substances with the antidote at the same time. Then it's back to the office! By which we mean her home? So why did she leave in the first place? Who knows..?

Now here's the part I have a problem with. She has...gained a cat allergy! *comedic shenanigans ensue* I know it's not impossible.. why, my best friend recently started reacting to her cat and they've had that furry bastard for like a decade! Harley doesn't act like this is a recent development though.. although she sure didn't mention it when she used to have that whole spare floor filled with dogs, cats, birds and a metric tonne of their poop!

Well it's relevant because she now has to evict some tenant's cats. As we all know, I skipped a good load of these comics because I couldn't stand the bastardising last 'creative' team. So.... who the heck is this guy? Was he in the comics recently? Why does he have to get rid of his cats (who appear to be talented) when Harley herself got to have the aforementioned poop-level filled with dogs that literally ate humans... when she had that poop catapult shooting crap over the city she 'loved' so much.. how she had chickens, puppies and rotting beavers in her apartment...

What a hypocrite!!

DC Universe Harley Quinn #53

Well again with the serial comic posting.. I feel like every time I'm on here I'm looking at these instead of reviewing anything else Harley Related. This issue though..

I was actually enjoying the last two issues but this one is something else, but like, not in a good way.

First cover gives a good indication of what the story's about but I think it could have done without the speech bubble. Get it? What's better than seeing your parents naked or letting out a small fart? Why, increasing your chances of getting shot by playing Russian Roulette! Second cover... looks really familiar. Wasn't there already a cover out very similar to this? Running out of ideas, mayhaps?




Alright so it kicks off in some random school room where everyone stops everything because some kid's phone goes off. Teacher confiscates it but there's an outcry.

Yeah! It could be something important, like the kid's parents calling in an emergency, teach! Don't be so uncool! .....Oh no, wait, it's just some jerk off live-streaming.

The Ten Worst Things Harley Quinn Has Ever Done!

On a similar note to the "Top Ten Worst Things That Happened To Harley Quinn" post, this time I'm going to have a look at "The Ten Worst Things Harley Quinn Has Ever Done!"

The title is unfortunate, I would have removed the 'Ever' part of it, seeing as how this video was posted back in April 2017, and the poster clearly underestimates how badly Harley can be written.
There are a lot of similar videos and posts out there too.

Let's get stuck in, shall we?

Top 10 Worst Things that Happened to Harley Quinn

Today I gave in to the click bait and watched this WatchMojo.com video titled "Top 10 Worst Things that Happened to Harley Quinn" so I thought I'd go through it here to see what it was all about, what I agree with, what I don't and what I thought overall.

After all, there are so many different versions of Harley Quinn and they've each had different experiences.. Is it going to be fair? Is it going to be mostly classic Harley, or newer Harley? Are video game versions excluded? What about TV and movies?

Let's dig in.

Woe at the Comic Store

So today I went into a comic store with my husband and it was very surreal.

For one thing, he bought several comics... I only got two. Usually I have the most, and he gets one or two. So what happened? Well.....Nothing else appealed to me in that store. What the hell, right?

I did see a couple of annoying things though.

A while ago, Gotham City Sirens was re-released with new covers. That's fine, a lot of series do that. However, I saw an omnibus today and this is what it looked like.

Harley Quinn and the Gotham City Sirens. 

Yeah, I shit you not. If that's not the most blatant cash grab combined with complete lack of understanding of the comic... I don't know what is.

I mean, she's on all of the covers anyway... was it not clear who this trio was comprised of??

How gracious of Harley Quinn - the clear leader of this trio - to allow some 'minor villains of lesser fame' to join her on her adventures! Or rather, use her name to boost sales. Bloody hell, is this how sad we're getting, DC? Just slap Harley's name on anything and it's good to go, right? Especially with Maggot Robbie running around trying to ruin that series AND Birds of Prey at the same time!

I thought Gotham City Sirens did a great job of making sure each character had enough screen time and had everybody play to their strengths and even their character flaws. Hell, Selina being the 'main' ish character and the one who brought them all together.. you'd think she'd be the one in focus but no, everything was equal.

Well, that's what I thought anyway, but apparently I just read another 'Harley Quinn and her bitches' book entirely wrong.

DC Universe Harley Quinn 41

It's been a while since I checked out the recent Hardly Quinn. I've been so disappointed with DC comics lately that I just haven't been able to muster the strength to crack open a comic.
Especially since someone saw my classic Harley Quinn mug at work and asked me who it was.
I said this is Harley Quinn and they said oh, like Maggot Robbie?

No. Not like her. This one was funny and talented, not a useless, unfunny, looking like something the cat dragged out of Blondie's reject wardrobe, drugged out gangster ho, the butt-less wonder.
I could go on. The only compliment I can give Maggot Robbie is that her agent gets her juuust enough gigs that she doesn't have to rely on T&A.. which is good, seeing as she hasn't got any but gets her kit off regardless. Sigh.

Remember Harley Quinn? The character DC forgot how to write and just turned her into whatever the Tumblr generation thinks is cool at the moment?

Which brings me to this review. I've had a stressful week, and I want to take it out on something so here's my review on this month's crappy Hardly Quinn.


As usual, the Frank Cho cover greatly outshines the generic thug who eats pizza in weird outfits cover.
I shouldn't have to explain why I think this but good gravy the basic cover has Hardly so... POINTY.


How does she cross her legs without giving herself discount surgery?

 Discount bargain basement Barbie barbarian.





Oh, and this is the first advert they show.

Team Wisdom? That suits her about as much as 'Entropy' suits Batman. Geeez.

From Polygon:

And since he knows their enemy best, Braniac’s in charge of all the team rosters.

That’s a narrative hook that allows Justice League: No Justice’s creative team to indulge in some serious comic book “moneyball,” as Snyder calls it. There’s team Mystery, consisting of Superman, the Martian Manhunter, Starfire, and major villains Starro and Sinestro; team Entropy, including billionaires Batman and Lex Luthor, the assassin Deathstroke, the alien bruiser Lobo and the Teen Titans’ Beast Boy; team Magic, consisting of the mystical heroes Wonder Woman, Doctor Fate, Zatanna, Raven and Etrigan the Demon; and finally, team Wisdom, made up of the Flash, Damian Wayne (Robin), the Atom, Cyborg and, implausibly, Harley Quinn.

Truth be told, I found Dark Knights: Metal kinda lame and basically just skimmed it so sure, maybe Hardly Quinn is on team Wisdom because it's a plant eating entity and not because she's (or this Hardly at least) is anywhere near the smarts of Cyborg, Flash, Robin and Atom. 

Which is annoying because she could be, but she's not there for the empowerment, she's there because she fits the quota of 'at least one girl per team' and she's the resident cash cow. Yuck. 

So, probably won't be checking this out any time soon. The art looks nice, but the colour schemes stink of that time they decided to make literally everyone a lantern of some kind.

Suicide Squad New 52 #7

This is another issue I reviewed back in the day under my original blog. If you're interested, you can check it out here. What, you haven't got time nor inclination? Well fear not, here's the into to it which I feel aptly sums up what I thought about the cover.

Suicide Squad Seven - The Alliterating Issue
Yes, it’s that time of the month again, so dig out your hot pants, get ready to storm Gotham PD and grab that skinned off Joker face because it’s the SUICIDE SQUAD #7 REVIEW!

Assuming I read like a normal person, let’s start with the cover. When I first saw this cover, I didn’t like it. Now I can see it full size it’s kind of growing on me, like Joker flesh on Deadshot’s face.(Tee hee) The new Harley Quinn logo surprised me, as last time they just stole her old one. You know, the one from the ‘original’ DC universe pre-reboot, post-pre-infinite... ehh... you know what I mean. The one that doesn’t exist anymore, or kind of does in some ways, but only in ways DC can make money off it.. Ehhh, you know what I mean.

Yep - remember how they used the previous Harley Quinn logo on the issue just prior to this one? It's been replaced with a new logo for her, and also doubles as one of the nails in the original Harley Quinn's coffin. Quite useful. Apart from that, the cover also raises some questions about Harley Quinn's costume... well, I mean MORE questions. 

For one thing.. does she wear the cape or not? It seems like every other issue it vanishes. Secondly... before her arm thingies looked like gauntlets... but one this cover in particular they look more like gloves. Also her nails aren't red one hand black the other.

Is Harley Quinn a Mary Sue?

It's the name almost every writer and fan dreads to hear... Mary Sue.

It's a term used to describe a writer insert character... as in, this character is so blank it's an opportunity for the reader to insert themselves into the character's shoes and live out some brief wish fulfilment. It describes a character who has seemingly no flaws, who is loved by all and is so skilled or unusually gifted that it's kind of ridiculous.

Notably used, perhaps unfairly for mainly female characters. For example, no one bats an eye that a young Luke Skywalker - a dust farmer from butt pluckin' nowhere picks up the force fairly easily and ends up helping to bring down the Empire. Anakin had a similar story with a tragic ending but still rose to power pretty quickly. But if Rey does it - also from the same planet, at around the same age or maybe younger - she's a Mary Sue.

Luke uses his Womp Rat shootin' skills to take down a Death Star, Anakin is the only human good enough to build and race Pods...Rey uses her mechanical know how to fly the Falcon as good as Han and Chewie. All have a natural aptitude for the Force.
Why is it different?

In saying that, yes, there are still horrible examples of Mary Sue (or Gary Stu) characters out there. Probably the most famous one of recent times is Bella Swan from Twilight.

Harley Quinn takes over Batman Day??!?!!

Okay so it's Harley Quinn's 25th anniversary this year and DC is going to celebrate by giving her several covers for other issues (they haven't done THAT in a while, right?) as well as giving her Batman's annual celebration... wait, what? 

Yes, the fourth year Batman had a celebration after reaching a 75 year milestone... and he gets kicked off for a character who's only at the 25 year mark? Huh?

As much as I like Harley Quinn... it pains me that we have yet to have a Wonder Woman or Superman celebration.. or you know.. a day for any other good character that will never see the light of day as long as the Quinn is making money. It's also painful that they're celebrating Harley Quinn's 25th year after pretty much destroying what made her popular in the first place and replacing it with a.. look there's no other word for it. OBNOXIOUS ASSHOLE. 

Seriously, check out this panel and tell me it's not obnoxious. Go on, I'll wait for you while you read it, roll your eyes a few times, skull several neat whiskey's and then drag yourself back to this page. 

The other thing that pisses me off is that we also had International Talk like a Pirate day this month and it got less attention than this crap.