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.





What's next, Harley Quinn and the Mad Love? Harley Quinn and No Man's Land? Harley Quinn and some other DC characters in something about metal?

Uh.... Harley Quinn and the Colour Coded Calamity?

Harley Quinn and The Latest DC Crisis?

Oh Wait. This is getting a bit out of hand.

I have faith in Tom King's work, so I'm sure his Harley Quinn isn't a mere cash grab.. but it's still annoying to see her in front of DC's actual Trinity during a major event.
My husband said it's probably because her and Booster both have stars on their chests.

Well, damn. Fashion Clashin'.

There’s a new kind of crisis threatening the heroes of the DC Universe, ripped from real-world headlines by C.I.A.-operative-turned-comics-writer Tom King: How does a superhero handle PTSD? Welcome to Sanctuary, an ultra-secret hospital for superheroes who’ve been traumatised by crime-fighting and cosmic combat. But something goes inexplicably wrong when many patients wind up dead, with two well-known operators as the prime suspects: Harley Quinn and Booster Gold! It’s up to the DC Trinity of Superman, Wonder Woman and Batman to investigate—but can they get the job done in the face of overwhelming opposition?

Comic Book Resources solits list

Looks like Booster and Harley are playing a major part in it both being messed up characters and murder suspects.. but if they're murder suspects, why are they just chilling in front of Batman? For that matter, why isn't Batman breaking anyone's face in with his fist?

Following Sook’s depiction of the death of Superman on the cover of issue one, Sook’s subsequent Heroes in Crisis variants will focus on Batman's back being broken by Bane for issue two, Wonder Woman killing Maxwell Lord for issue three, Aquaman losing his hand for issue four, Jason Todd's death for issue five and Hal Jordan killing Kilowog for issue six. Issue seven will feature a special yet-to-be-announced Harley Quinn moment to round out the series.

Comicbook.com

 

Aaaaand of course she's on multiple variant covers to get more of your sweet cash for the same thing you've already purchased. The classic costume cover looks awesome... but raises some questions. Not as many questions as the other two though. Why is she trying to stab Booster while staring directly into the camera, and why is she trying to be a Booster Gold zombie in some dank asylum?

This lead up campaign could be the worst though.

Ha, as if anyone believes DC will off Harley. What a crock of shite.


Anyway, to add to my woes, there was more Harley-centric titles beside this omnibus. In fact, right beside it.

Yeah, don't worry about prominently featuring Batman or Joker or the Ninja Turtles.. let's just use BTAS inspired Harley.... that should grab some monies from the nostalgia crowd and her new fans!

Then there was the usual schlock of her solo trades and various Suicide Squad incarnations squeezed in around a few scant copies of her original solo and Mad Love re-prints.
This was of course, all in the first row of trades you encounter as you walk in the door.
There were more statues of her than there were of Batman or any other fathomable character in any universe. Trust me, I counted.

I love Harley Quinn though, right? So why am I so bitter about this? There is a unique pain in seeing your favourite character become super popular by...  well, ironically, CHANGING her entire character and being shoved in everywhere as a selling point. Back in the day, comic store staff didn't even know who she was. Now she's haunting everywhere I go, but more often than not it's a weird alternate universe version of her that everyone else seems to love, love enough that I feel like I'm going mental watching it all, wanting to scream 'that's not even her!'

Harley wasn't meant to be a main character - and by that I mean she's better in small doses. She is an annoying character, a flawed character and someone no one else takes seriously. She's not a hero, she's not a flat out criminal, she's not even really an anti-hero. She's someone who just fell into this life and for her own reasons won't leave it, she's happy wandering around and sampling the buffet.
She's not supposed to be up there with Batman and the heroes saving the world. It doesn't work to have Harley more powerful than Joker - even though she is - it takes away from what makes Joker so much of a threat.







Does that matter? Yeah. Especially when she's still shown
with Joker relationship aspirations and others she's vehemently against him.

Not to mention there are more versions of Harley than there are days of the week - if I tell someone that Harley Quinn is my favourite character they might think Suicide Squad movie/DC Superhero Girls/ Animated Series Harley/Injustice. Some might even confuse her with one of the original Harlequins, Joker's Daughter Duela Dent. When the New52 came out, anyone could be forgiven if they got the two confused because they were basically grotesque copies of each other.





Sigh. Now I know how Deadpool fans feel.