REBIRTH HARLEY QUINN #19 - Red Meat - Sucking the Marrow out of the Party

Alright, props for the variant cover for at least giving me a laugh. That actual cover seems like it should have been used as a cover for the start of the whole Red Meat saga of doom instead of where it is.

Anyway, here we have Hardly waking up in a pile of bones and talking about Holeee Something or oleees TM. 




She imagines a skull that could be Skipper but probably isn't has a fuller and more interesting life than she does while she callously breaks it's teeth to help herself out.

Then, not only does she pick a lock in two seconds, but she finds hair ties and a cache of weapons, because of course.

Of course she does.

Red Tool does his best/worst Deadpool impersonation and manages to screw himself up, and kill some random dude on the way down, but it's okay because he was misogynistic for the two seconds we saw of him and the woman saved from him thinks it's cool and not a matter of 'how am I going to explain this to the boss and the cops while not looking like a main suspect?'




The hobo stealers have been told to leave town but they're all like, no way man, you're not my supervisor! Not sure why there has been a big deal made over this because it's in their best interest and seems like the plot could have used some incentive like, oh, a time frame or something to make it a bit more compelling.

Hardly busts out and she's ready to wail on everyone, because that's what she does now in her Social Justice Warrior persona.









Ah yes, nothing like watching a bunch of violent speech bubbles and effects to let me know I'm reading a Harley Quinn comic.

Because she's so ninja. Did you guys know? Yeah, that's why we're all fans of her.. because there are no other unique character that we can get our unfunny violence from.

FYI, apparently the head hobo eater is a vampire or something too?

I don't know, we get less time to get to know them than we should. There could be a whole interesting debate on ethics here, but nooo it's just slice and dice time. Yawn.





So yeah, she takes out all of the goons at once and with ease while demanding a reward for her GOOD BEHAVIOUR you know, definitely not for doing this out of the goodness of her heart or because she's so fond of her homeless pet guy. Wotta jerk!

Everyone has screwed up, some dirty cop is calling Hardly an agent and they cordon off the block preparing to bust some crims, not take them home in body bags.
Interesting.

Remember how the cannibals were gushing over how petite Hardly is and how her frames so tiny?

Well that's out the window now, what is she, a skinny giraffe?!

That's okay though, clearly they're fine with that as long as she's skinny and can be objectified. And has killed everyone.
Yay, justice?
Only now no one can be tried for anything and we only have the word of the psychopath who killed them that they were the perps.

Good job you ignorant wiener brain.

The cop patiently explains to Hardly like you would to a four year old that there needs to be evidence not just 'but but but I heard them!'

Then when they're by themselves, he's all like you go girl, you're my secret weapon and just in time because this town needs a hero!

It's okay that you killed all these people, and your assistant killed some random guy, because people can identify with you! 
Don't worry about doing any time for these murders, but what you may need to worry about is keeping your name out of the media!

Shitcakes for priorities. This is where this series lost me. I've never understood how this fits in with her past or even her present.

Suicide Squad was meant to be secret ops but never really is, especially when she herself keeps telling people about it. Secondly, did her criminal past as Harley Quinn just escape notice entirely? She has never once, in this series tried to hide her murderous activity or her alter ego.



But she's the hero New York needs right now? Get bent.

She catches up with her failure of a parody boyfriend and they scoot off into the distance, satisfied with ruining everything for the cops and being praised for it, even if Hardly was unable to extort a fancy apartment for herself and her goons.


Harley Loves Joker Part III

Well here we have Joker throwing a TV at Batman - because that'll work, and chewing out Harley for leaving a return address on the label of her personalised jacket.
It's something she's been doing since she lost her last good jacket..? Well if she threw that in the bin too she deserves to lose it. She doesn't even understand why Joker is pissed off about it.

I'm confused about it because don't they constantly move locations and hideyholes?
Not gonna lie, I'm also still confused as to why Harley is soooo gross and pale in this series.. Haven't you screwed with Harley's backstory enough?

This is the only page where they at least seem more like the characters they're meant to be. But then I get nostalgic for Bud and Lou, who AGAIN were killed off in the New52, along with Harley's healthy looking skin and my love of comics.

Why is Harley calling Joker her main man though? That's a Lobo thing.
Forced drama, not unlike what we saw in BTAS, Joker threatens to destroy things and Harley is upset because her hyenas are at risk.

Their hideout was in a Pagliacci pasta company?
That could have been funny if it was given more attention.

Then bad writing or poor art - very unclear if Harley's butt presses the button or if Joker nudges her into it and she fails to notice but whatever, the hyenas catch up and they drive off into the distance with another ridiculous 'CONTINUED!'




When I look at other reviews for this issue, they're all overwhelmingly positive and I feel like I'm just not seeing what everyone else is seeing.

The story is crap, the art is not the best, the writing is pretty subpar, the tacked on BTAS style adventure just seems to be there for nostalgia porn (remember how we loved the naughty nightie she wore in Mad Love?! Here it is again! Don't worry, Harley hasn't got a vagina to be offended by! Hey, remember those funny squeaky dolls with the popping eyes! Here's a giant one! Yeah, nostalgia! Jokermmobile! Bud and Lou! Yeah!) instead of actually being an actual story.

The supporting characters suck, the villains are bland and overtly evil and the idea that a murderer gets away with several violent deaths, no matter how bad the corpses were, is still shitty.
Where's the suspense? Shouldn't there be at least a risk of getting caught a'la Dexter? Why should it be considered a fun, action packed comic series where all we do is watch the main character get to do EVERYTHING she wants and there's no consequences?

And she gets to pass judgement on others for doing what she does! Wonderful!

This critique is before I even get to what they've done to Harley Quinn, the character that encouraged me to seek her out and collect her comics and statues. I don't want to hate this comic, I want to enjoy reading her again but they're just pumping out this schlock and it's soul crushingly terrible.