When we last left off, Harley had just gone to rob the zombie-like Catwoman (presumably for her poor re-design) and discovered that Catwoman was in fact home and not the rollover chump that Harley took her for. Honestly, why would your first hit be Catwoman? Do you not value your life?
In any case, the art is markedly better than the fare we've had previously even though it suffers from Batman the New Animated Adventures designs. Have I mentioned I hate these designs? Because I do. Hell, I even like the redesign for Joker more in The Batman than his appearance in The New Animated Series.
Where are your eyes, Joker?! Where?!
Honestly, I don't know what they were thinking. Not everyone suffered, but Poison Ivy, Catwoman and Joker were definitely worse for wear.
Right, well Catwoman with her gross zombie face, surprisingly small waist compared to her thighs and her whip attack Harley Quinn, and that's fair enough. Harley could have chosen literally any villain but she went for the highest profile cameo this side of Batman.For some reason Catwoman falls for the old 'help me up buddy WHOOPS I've got a joy buzzer in my pocket and it's happy to see you' which is incredibly not like her, especially as she's so understandably antagonistic towards Harley. It's not like anyone's going to buy the whole friends things when it comes to villains ripping each other off.
I return after a quick Google. Turns out Binky and Scooter were both comic characters seemingly styled after Archie. As in, they debuted and ran from the forties to the sixties. As in, really not sure which age group and demographic they're marketing this comic to. Is it a really bad tie in to the stupid Betty and Veronica meet Harley and Ivy comic? Are the writers just really old and nostalgic? Are they discriminating against people who don't know this stuff and have to Google it?
Anyway, one laugh this comic got out of me is just after this part where Harley calls Batman and Nightwing Binky and Scooter, then asks them how they found her. They reply that she was in a fart balloon and everyone knows where she is. Zing!
After that the dialogue gets a bit tedious - Batman cracks onto Catwoman and then Harley and Nightwing share a really weird moment that I'm pretty sure was just put in this comic so it would lead up to their make-out/tickle/bumping uglies moment in the Batman and Harley Quinn film.
It's just done really weirdly though.
Then Nightwing, who spent the last issue educating Batman on Harley Quinn's circus background goes 'oh no, you're going over the edge!' while watching her backflip as if she's not a trained gymnast with a super convenient returning fart balloon waiting for her.
A mysterious person in a trenchcoat and not wearing a face sells Ivy chemicals and throws in a free spiel about how much potential she has. I don't know why they bothered blacking this person out as it couldn't be more obvious who this is. Maybe if the comic came out BEFORE the movie BUT IT DIDN'T, DID IT?
Harley appears at Ivy's meeting spot and a) insults step-uncles, b) loses the bag of heist and c) probably leads Batman to their location.
Harley's all ready for some fun now but Ivy just wants to make her do grunt work with Broccoli Boy.
No-one else lives in Gotham City apart from these thugs and the main characters. Nightwing leaps from the Batmobile to stop them robbing the Pawn Store.
Before that they were discussing nothing but Harley Quinn. How she's not as crazy as the Joker (uh oh, undoing all the hard yards the Suicide Squad movie put into hyping Harley up) or as revenge driven as Ivy... Is revenge the right word though? Like, she'll get revenge for plants but she's not on a Punisher level here. Why not just say she's ecologically challenged or fighting for her humanity?
Now, this part also gave me an unexpected laugh but then I had some questions. Did Harley and Shrubby break into the pawn shop and then lock it so someone else would try to break in? Did Harley and Shrubby actually pawn anything or just rob the pawn store? Seems to me like if you were just going to rob the store anyway, why bother stealing from Catwoman? But the store's clearly not open so they couldn't have pawned anything. Did they leave the items and take cash from the register or what? I need answers people!
Harley decides to go and play poker... a game she has apparently never heard of? Geez, kids in primary school know what poker is. It comes standard on every computer out there, most mobile phones, and it's always on those stupid adverts on mobile games. Then... this happens.
* The art is a lot better than what we were first given.
* I like the look in at henchmen after work in a social environment
* Harley Quinn has never heard of poker before but spouts references to Archie knock-offs from decades ago? The hell? Why not just say she's never played it before?
* Feels like Harley flew off the handle at the club for no real reason
* Comic not long enough to have any plot apart from Harley Harley Harley 24/7
* The last panel and what it means for character development
Soo.... still not sold on this comic. The characterisation feels off and I don't think it's because there are so few pages to fill. Seeing how I've already mentioned my issues with this Catwoman, I'll turn to the shell of Poison Ivy that may as well be a robot. Batman and Nightwing not even bothering to chase Harley Quinn from Catwoman's balcony?
The part where Harley goes into what is CLEARLY a hench person's club and gets offended when she's asked who she's henching for now is to me, just strange. Like, if other villains were there I would get it but it's just hench people, henching and playing poker. Why wouldn't they assume she was henching also? Especially as she's known as the Joker's sidekick of sorts.
Maybe in this timeline she's never branched off for herself like in her Classic solo or even... if you consider her new solo canon.. brrr. Anyway, even in those she's henched or hung around those more powerful than her. The end didn't sit right with me, like the whole table flip, busted vein and dramatic declaration of "I'm Harley Freaking Quinn!" just read like forced drama or worse, like you're completely up yourself.
Look, everyone knows who you are and no one at that table claimed otherwise so sit down and play your damn hand. Stop trying to be a super empowered mix of BTAS and Hardly Quinn because it's weird. Seriously - she could have taken that question and gone, hmm, yeah, what am I doing with my life? Ivy is stepping all over me and I'm gonna tell her what's what! but instead she throws a tantrum and takes it out on these people who did nothing wrong.
Nightwing: Seriously? you were travelling by flying fart balloon. Everyone in Gotham City knows where you are right now.
Nightwing: LOOK OUT! You're going over the edge!
Harley: That's what people tell me. But how else was I gonna get away?
Harley's all ready for some fun now but Ivy just wants to make her do grunt work with Broccoli Boy.
No-one else lives in Gotham City apart from these thugs and the main characters. Nightwing leaps from the Batmobile to stop them robbing the Pawn Store.
Before that they were discussing nothing but Harley Quinn. How she's not as crazy as the Joker (uh oh, undoing all the hard yards the Suicide Squad movie put into hyping Harley up) or as revenge driven as Ivy... Is revenge the right word though? Like, she'll get revenge for plants but she's not on a Punisher level here. Why not just say she's ecologically challenged or fighting for her humanity?
Now, this part also gave me an unexpected laugh but then I had some questions. Did Harley and Shrubby break into the pawn shop and then lock it so someone else would try to break in? Did Harley and Shrubby actually pawn anything or just rob the pawn store? Seems to me like if you were just going to rob the store anyway, why bother stealing from Catwoman? But the store's clearly not open so they couldn't have pawned anything. Did they leave the items and take cash from the register or what? I need answers people!Harley decides to go and play poker... a game she has apparently never heard of? Geez, kids in primary school know what poker is. It comes standard on every computer out there, most mobile phones, and it's always on those stupid adverts on mobile games. Then... this happens.
The Good
* The art is a lot better than what we were first given.
* I like the look in at henchmen after work in a social environment
The Bad
* Harley Quinn has never heard of poker before but spouts references to Archie knock-offs from decades ago? The hell? Why not just say she's never played it before?
* Feels like Harley flew off the handle at the club for no real reason
The Ugly
* Comic not long enough to have any plot apart from Harley Harley Harley 24/7
* The last panel and what it means for character development
The Short End of the Jester Schtick
Soo.... still not sold on this comic. The characterisation feels off and I don't think it's because there are so few pages to fill. Seeing how I've already mentioned my issues with this Catwoman, I'll turn to the shell of Poison Ivy that may as well be a robot. Batman and Nightwing not even bothering to chase Harley Quinn from Catwoman's balcony?
The part where Harley goes into what is CLEARLY a hench person's club and gets offended when she's asked who she's henching for now is to me, just strange. Like, if other villains were there I would get it but it's just hench people, henching and playing poker. Why wouldn't they assume she was henching also? Especially as she's known as the Joker's sidekick of sorts.
Maybe in this timeline she's never branched off for herself like in her Classic solo or even... if you consider her new solo canon.. brrr. Anyway, even in those she's henched or hung around those more powerful than her. The end didn't sit right with me, like the whole table flip, busted vein and dramatic declaration of "I'm Harley Freaking Quinn!" just read like forced drama or worse, like you're completely up yourself.
Look, everyone knows who you are and no one at that table claimed otherwise so sit down and play your damn hand. Stop trying to be a super empowered mix of BTAS and Hardly Quinn because it's weird. Seriously - she could have taken that question and gone, hmm, yeah, what am I doing with my life? Ivy is stepping all over me and I'm gonna tell her what's what! but instead she throws a tantrum and takes it out on these people who did nothing wrong.
Wotta Comedian!
Nightwing: Seriously? you were travelling by flying fart balloon. Everyone in Gotham City knows where you are right now.
Nightwing: LOOK OUT! You're going over the edge!
Harley: That's what people tell me. But how else was I gonna get away?
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