Batgirl #18 'O, Harley Night!'

Judging by the snow and the red and green coloured title, it's already going to be an American Christmas. Why did I specify that? Because I'm English, but now live in Australia.. where the concept of it snowing at Christmas, which is generally the meltiest time of the year but it's because the heat soars higher than any sleigh, and the drops falling are just filthy sweat... not snow.

There is a reason why we amend our Santas to look like this;

for if we don't... THEY SUFFER FROM OVERHEATING. 

So the general or popular opinion that you have to be buried in ten feet of snow for it to be actually Christmas gets a bit grating at times but yeah, sure, it's set in American and it's comics so sure. Ok.

But of course - our Harley is still running around wearing her usual outfit and ... a scarf?
Like - OH NO, It's cold! Better wear a scarf with fluffy boots and not like... do my jacket up or.. heaven forbid, wear pants or something covering my midriff!

She also adds purple and green leggings to her already horrible mish mash of red/black/pink/blue. Why? Who knows. Also not a massive fan of the change of Batgirl costume. I know - I'm behind the times there and it does seem to suit her more youthful appeal but you just can't beat the classics.
Also, how did Harley beat Batgirl to the point where she's just casually looking up at this arse clown while her back is surely breaking? And that my friends, is a 'too soon' for me moment.

Variant cover is alright, Harley is channelling Joker in the face but it's still better than wearing a band-aid on her mug like in cover one. At least here she commits to the Christmas theme and goes full red and green - even though she's wearing booty shorts, at least her jumper is done up and she's wearing warm gloves. The jingle bell belt is nice and I approve of the pigtail fluffy scrunchies and the the British looking old school lamps in the snow, however it seems like Batgirl was drawn by a different artist? And why is her hair made of spray paint? Still, the little gift-bomb is a nice touch.

So - why is this happening?  Let's have a look.

Ah, main heroine getting ready for a night out, very easy to relate to. Except for the part where the towel stays up properly and isn't a hindrance... and the fact that apparently Barbara has an entire sauna localised entirely in her bathroom.

Luckily for Babs, crime happens right outside her bathroom window an- ......wow, that sounded unappetising. Um, she saves some random guy from some random Christmas themed jerk. I don't even know what he was doing. Was he going to suffocate his victim in wrapping paper? Was he going to kidnap him? Re-gift him to a lousy relative? Did he pick this victim because he kinda looked like the criminal himself?

Whatever it was, it gave Batgirl the chance to make a few quips and then reference the Batman version of "Jingle Bells." Then she carries on to her party - the master of the quick change is she - and the party locale looks cool, even if it is hipster.

There's some drama about being double booked with another company - which is just weird because there's only one room, so.. that doesn't make sense. Would make it difficult to control who is on who's tab and I don't see anyone here wearing wristbands. Could also potentially be a fire/overcrowding issue. Drunken brawls? Apparently neither company knew about it before-hand.. what if they were rival groups??
Who approved this? Damn you, hipster rooftop bars! I thought you had potential!!

Anyway the girls trash talk the head of the other company because apparently he is totes evil. Well, Alycia says he donates to anti-LGBTQ-plus organisations and we see him being a bit swarmy with a few ladies but that's all we get. I don't usually read this comic so I don't know if he's been foreshadowed or done anything else evil so we're just going on Alycia's say-so I guess?
I mean, I'm not condoning giving any money to those groups - which... again is a bit vague. Are these like hate groups or just organisations that aren't shown to support anyone with queer eyes?

What's the other shady stuff? If they're setting him up to be the main villain, I wanna see it, not just be told "Oh, he's sooo shady, here's one thing he did."Yes, he doesn't sound nice but also like... could the comic at least tell us where Alycia gets her intel from? If his brand is completely homo/trans/queer/et al - phobic... then he's probably in the wrong line of work but also OK I can understand people knowing about it if he's literally broadcasting it.
Otherwise, do people normally broadcast where they donate to? 

Anyway, let's get past this kinda vague point. Here's a random judgemental Santa.

Yeah - um, you just walked in the door, fake Santa, what do you know? Stereotype much?
Also, what sort of reaction face is Party Goer pulling.. by her words, you'd think she'd seem hurt but she looks like she's still down for it.
So Santa gives Bradley a gift that is just sparkly unicorn farts but she says it's a killer airborne virus.
Barbara does the ultimate of quick changes - AGAIN - and tries to grab the Santa....

Wait. She tried to grab a fake Santa.. by the beard? What sort of idiot does that?
Not to mention the bad joke that Batgirl has literally pulled a lesbian out by the beard.. I mean, wow.

So Harley has come out from Belle Reve - Louisiana - to Burnside, which is essentially Gotham's Brooklyn, even though there is an actual Brooklyn not far from Gotham apparently.. to take out this one guy. That's a heck of a grudge to carry for a dude we've just met. I mean, damn, at least sneak in a "Oh yeah, Barbara, that's the guy who was leading that anti-rally on the news last week!" or something.

The hostages in the back are a bit on the nose though

In any case, Harley has set her sights on this one guy - not even the people writing the papers that reduce rights (although I do recognise that funding is an issue with these things) but to take him out, she's poisoned an entire roomful of people? So, go team terrorism?

Actually curious about what rights and social safety nets (I assume this is an American term for welfare or something?) have been restricted given that she's a felon who generally does whatever the hell she wants anyway. Like, were you thinking this hard about people's rights when you were out there killing them or robbing them? No? Mmm, okay sweetie.

It gets better though. Harley leads them on a wild goose chase. Everyone else fears to spread the contagion so they forbid anyone from leaving, except the main characters plus Bradley. Sure, they wear face masks but there would be particles on their clothing and limbs. Meanwhile, one party goer asks what it's like to have a boss that isn't pure evil.

This worries me. Everyone should accept everyone and be tolerant of others.. EVERYONE. Even when you don't agree with them or their point of view. So when you put people in boxes saying 'Pure Evil' when all we know (or were told, I guess) about this guy, is that he has funded some not-so good bill-pushers and made a joke about firing Santa.... You tell someone they're pure evil, then you wonder why they aren't an ally. So, has he done something else, like say, go on a murder spree? Or is he just uneducated about other people's rights?
Because one of those things can be fixed, but terrorism probably isn't the best way to go about it.

Goose Chase:
First stop - Bradley's childhood home where Batgirl meets his nice parents and some freaked out raccoons.
Second stop - a food bank where Harley - champion of people's rights, sets a bomb up in the oven to explode so that disadvantaged people in the area who try to eat there after tonight will suffer for who knows how long after.
Third stop - a church that has an actual camel in their Nativity play. Wait, is it actually Christmas Eve or something? Anyway a puny mozzie manages to enrage the camel so Batgirl has to tranq it. I'm having flashbacks to the circus incident again!!

Where is Batgirl getting info on Bradley's life anyway? She's not asking him, she's looking at her phone. Wikipedia? I mean, would his one weekend shift at the soup kitchen have really made it on there? Anyway, Batgirl's figured out that Harley never left the party, and the four idiots have probably spread airborne contaminants to a whole lot of cookie baking/starving/church going folks. Great.

Harley in hot pants sitting in the snow. F-R-E-E-Z-I-N-G!

Harley gets hit in the head by an elf themed high heel and drops the antidote, then falls down off the roof but ultimately escapes. Bradley - seemingly out of danger - now acts like a douche bag until his whole team rage quit and tell him they're suing or something?

This whole plot hinges on him just being a jerk but what exactly are they suing for? Technically, he's just as much of a victim in this as everyone else, thanks to My Little Terrorist Harley.
Also, maybe it's different in America, but don't they still have to follow their companies guidelines for leaving?
Also also... why is the head of a company that designs scents about to run for office?

I mean, if that was the whole issue.. why was his running for office mentioned only in passing? They could have had a whole thing where Harley ran a smear/murder campaign. She's good at that - just read her Volume Two solo comic!

Anyway everyone trustingly sprays whatever snake oil Harley put in the antidote and just assumes they're cured or were even poisoned in the first place. No medical/science team seems to attend to confirm this and everyone just leaves happily. The end?

The Short End of the Jester Schtick

Okay this comic sucked.

I've already deplored the lame set up for the 'villain' and pointed out how problematic our 'anti-hero' Harley is. That food bank thing really ticked me off. Plus Barbara seems awfully happy throwing labels like psychotic around. I mean, in this case, I agree, this was an absolutely crazy scheme Harley set up that simultaneously has a lot of thought but also no thought put into it.

Still, calling someone psychotic all the time just doesn't sit right with the ultra PC vibe of the comic.
The unneeded goose chase was.. well, really unnecessary padding and would have been a real fast page turner if not for the beautiful art. (Points for taking off Harley's ugmo make-up - minus points for giving her hot chocolate mug a face band-aid though. Gross!)

Also - I know Batgirl's here for the younger age and obviously all of her friends and roomies know her secret identity... but running around with her friends, taking selfies and calling them by name, them saying 'Batgirl' promised them some time.. Alycia flat out tells everyone that her car is the super-green prototype of the company sharing dinner tables upstairs - five minutes of research and Bradley or ANYONE could easily deduce who Batgirl is.

The overly 'just' tone sort of reminded me of the really stupid 'Men's Rights' issue of Harley's.. just over the top nonsense that isn't even satirical enough to pass as the satire it was trying to be.
Also... Have Harley and Batgirl met before in *this* series? All of her roomies seemed preeeeetty familiar with her.

Also Batgirl could have totally taken out Harley's escape parachute. Let down.

Wotta Comedian!

Barbara: I told you, I'm off men until after the New Year. I'm here to hang out with you and Alysia, not to cruise for my next mistake.
Frankie: I'm'a hold you to that T. Swift.

Party Goer: I've been baaaaad, Santa! But you don't care 'bout that, right?
Harley/Santa: You ain't been bad, sugar. You're too boring for that. 

Bradley: Aw, you shouldn't have. You really shouldn't have, 'cause if this present sucks, someone's getting fired! Haha! 

Harley/Santa: That's right! Stay calm! No point panicking -- it's already too late!

Frankie: Hashtag, White Elephant.
Alycia: Hashtag, Spirit of Christmas.
Batgirl: Hashtag, could you please not post this? I'm trying to present a more serious image.

Frankie: The apple fell, like, ten miles from the tree.

Max: Is that a real camel?
Frankie: That is totally a real camel.

Harley: I've gotta run, run Rudolph. If I don't get back to Belle Reve by midnight, I'm gonna turn into a pumpkin!
Frankie: Oof. Can't anyone keep the holidays straight?
Batgirl: The pumpkin thing isn't a holiday. It's Cinderella.

Frankie: You learned your lesson right?
Batgirl: Good boys get presents and bad ones get a visit from Santa's most psychotic little helper.
Bradley: The moral, I'm getting is, bad boys get good girls to clean up their messes, and ultimately face no consequences.

Bonus Panel!

This would be a very nice piece except that;

A) Wonder Woman is the only hero present without a sidekick
B) The fun loving heroes are not having fun and the solemn heroes are grinning ear to ear
C) Diana has plastic surgery smile face on and is thiiiiis close to an upskirt.