Retro Review: Harley Quinn #19

June 2002
"Going out with a bang!"

I gotta say it, this is one of my favourite covers ever. Even my non-comic reading extended family loved it. It is an absolute classic, like something you'd see in a Looney Tunes comic.

Now, when we last left off, Harley was 'helping' her buddy Bizarro find the perfect mate, until things got a little too.... involved. With an onomatopoeia parody of Rice Bubbles, Harley is zapped from behind with the Bizarro ray by the Dr. Chance. Meanwhile, Bizarro has a tantrum but calms down enough to be told that the Doctor needs Harley in the target area again. Harley on the other hand, thinks it's high time she skedaddled.

Of course, not before she ticks that one thing of her Metropolis tourist hit list...

Yep, officially meeting the Big Blue in the Red Underoos. Although most folks don't get to do it up, up in the air. ................Okay, I'll behave.

I like how NICE Superman is. Batman would have straight up Batarang-clothesline'd her. Harley takes to the skies to try to evade him and thinks she succeeded... but..

Heroes in Crisis #2

After what seems like a year we finally have issue two and it could be more controversial than the previous issue, which actively killed off heroes.

How, you ask? Yes, well, we'll get into that.

In the meantime, relive Batman's eternal back pain Bane. You can almost hear him screaming at the person taking the picture to get off their ass and help him. Well, classic Harley did over to the left, but then there was the whole strangling thing, sooo....












Opening up with another therapy session - this time a joint venture with Poison Ivy - and then later Harley Quinn because we can't have another Gotham City Siren in the spotlight! Their scene is kinda cute, but they probably shouldn't have a red and black fourth wall breaker do the boop.

I mean, I don't believe Deadpool has the monopoly on the boop (especially if heckin' puppers are around getting startled) buuuut there are enough comparisons between the two already without making it super obvious that this is what DC is going for. 

Batman: Harley and Ivy #3

Aug 2004
"Hooray for Harleywood"

This is by far my favourite cover of the series. The pure joy in Harley's face as she peers into a film strip of Ivy punching Batman is just so in character and it's a great way to set up the comic's premise.

This comic gets around a bit. First issue was mostly set in Arkham/Gotham City, while the second one was in a Costa Rican jungle mainly. This one has come back to a US based location.

Hollywood! Geddit? It's gonna be Harleywood.

So the comic opens with Harley kicking her "Puddin'"'s face with the reveal being it's actually an actor. And a pun on Mark Hamill being the Joker's voice actor, and also being an actor in Star Wars. Not subtle, but passable.

Obviously these two have snuck onto a set and there are no security guards to worry about. Now, the comic is not long enough to go into great background about this but I wanted to mention it because the most recent Harely and Ivy series.. as in "Harley and Ivy meet Betty and Veronica"...
the girls were struggling to get past a butler with a spring of some random plant Ivy was carrying.

This was to go to a high schooler's costume party, no where near on the level of sneaking into a normally security focused work place. Just a bit of perspective.

Okay - here we get a bit of flashback alright and it's mostly focused on the character differences between Harley and Ivy.

This one page expresses what I will always consider the base relationship between these two. It also gives the artist another excuse to cram in some more underwear based scenes.. Look, I'm not gonna lie. I think it's unfortunate. I have no issue if this was a genuine lounging around in comfort-wear situation but when we have Ivy doing her scientist thing who just happens to be playing around with lab equipment and possibly corrosive chemicals in her lacy bra and an unbuttoned shirt, I kinda call bullshit.

True, Ivy probably can't be hurt by the chemicals but like the other two issues where we had a nude shower scene and then a prison shower fight scene where our very first shot is of Ivy's crotch with her legs spread... it just seems like half naked scenes just *because* there are female leads and they saw the chance.
Harley isn't sexualised as much, hell, that looks like me every friggin' morning with my bowl of cereal over my unfortunately stained carpet (wow, that sounded wrong!) watching cartoons.


The exasperation Ivy shows at Harley in regards to her lack of help in this masterplan to me will always be their relationship. Ivy is the straight person, the brains, while Harley is the comic and while smart, is not known for masterminding schemes. This also ties into why I think these two would make a shitty couple, but are good as a duo or friends.

Retro Review: Harley Quinn #17 - #1 Am The Loneliest Number

Even if you're not a fan of the original Harley Quinn run, you have to admit that the covers are completely ace.

The only issue I could really nitpick is that Ivy - while extremely buxom and bordering on only wearing leafy pasties - has a really.. really small waist. That and her shoes look kinda dorky. But like I said, that's being picky. I love that both bad girls have attempted to beat poor, oblivious Bizarro with gusto, but he is happily enjoying their company and I really like the candy hearts background done Bizarro style - it is a nice touch.

Now, last issue we say Harley zipping away on her pilfered jet pack only to be stopped by a red and blue blur - suspected to be Superman but revealed to be Bizarro!
Harley's internal Harley pops up again to explain why Superman couldn't cameo himself - but sets it up in a way that leaves a bit of intrigue.

The nice thing about Internal Harley is that she's cute, funny and is a useful replacement for the stock standard editor notes. Have I mentioned I'm not really a fan of editor's notes? Eh, probably not.

The credits box here reminds me a lot of The Simpson's Treehouse of Horror Halloween specials where they edit the names to be a bit more thematic.. it's not obnoxiously done and you can easily read the comic without taking note of this but if you notice it it's a fun little Easter Egg of sorts.

Even if you aren't too familiar with Bizarro's origins, you can easily pick it up without feeling like you're being given the Cliff Notes versions of the superheroes/villains backstory.
It also gives the idea that Harley is at the moment, completely nutso so Internal Harley is basically not an imaginary construct but her rational mind giving her a heads up.

Honestly I much prefer this to the 'split personality' thing they gave us in Suicide Squad. Harley is Harley - that's why her rational self is also dressed like a harlequin because she doesn't see herself as being part crazy skank and part rational boring psychiatrist - she is who she is without being a cliche split personality. I mean, Joker may have seduced her but I think it would take someone who's already a little bit off the rails to fully embrace the villain lifestyle, even if she's not an all out villain villain.

Harley Quinn and Batman #5

The Last Laugh pt 5 of 5

Alright, the conclusion of this mini prequel-sequel... thing.
Haha the editor's surname is Quinn.. now that is funny!

Page one of this comic has me interested again because there are so many things I like here. One, Arkham Asylum shown in the daylight, and it's not raining? Whaaaaa?
Secondly, Dr. Leland still exists. Woohoo!
Bruce Wayne isn't on the board for a change.. woohoo!
Asylum hiring heavies from ex-boxing rings and putting them beside normal size wardens/security staff. I like how the biggest one there even has a stick for protection.
Asylum staff talking like actual doctors, and even clarifying a medical/legal distinction for insanity.

What I don't like is the art dramatically decreases in quality again.. on the next page with the facial expressions... Plus Harley is clearly wearing non-regulation inmate booty shorts. Come on!


Okay, so it's one year later apparently. Exactly one year later. Boy, that'll make Calendar Man happy.
Remember when Harley lead Batman and Nightwing to Ivy's hothouse outhouse hideout .. place.

We haven't been shown Harley telling the Caped Crusaders about Ivy's crime spree, so as far as we know in this comic she's going to be dragged back to an asylum just for existing. Hmm.

Also, I honestly doubt Batman would follow Harley Quinn straight in through the front door. Nightwing's all 'oh, now I don't think it's a trap' and that's just swell because you numbskulls would have walked right into it if it was.

Harley Quinn and Batman #4

Part four of five opens with us seeing Shrubby curse Harley for wrecking up the club after he vouched for her. He also calls her a 'skirt.' Isn't that like, 20's Italian mafia speak coming out of the mouth of a 70's themed disco vegetable? Plus, she isn't even wearing a skirt which makes it a bit stupid to refer to a female as a certain part of clothing if she doesn't normally wear that style.

Anyway, Batman and Nightwing are waiting in Shrubby's apartment because of course they are and the whole thing sounds like a bad domestic violence screenplay

Batman: That's quite a shiner there, Dougie. Been in a fight?
Shrubby: I walked into a door.

While they're talking, Shrubby just straight up walks over to the window, opens it up and tumbles out. Does Nightwing make a habit of this happening? Of course, Batman's put a tracer on him and they're going to follow him straight to Harley Quinn.

Side note, Shrubby's feet just don't look big enough to support him standing let alone jumping out of a few storeys and running off. What is he, a six year old ballerina?

How much time has passed here? I assumed this was all occurring immediately after Harley flipped out for no real reason but in this time frame Batman and Nightwing have already heard the news about the fight and have in their own words - talked to literally everyone - and now Poison Ivy is apparently on a weird tutorial date with the Floronic Man.

Retro Review: Harley Quinn #15 Metropolis Mailbag

Feb 2002

A really nice cover here - Harley just layin' around... picking um, a lot more than a a few flowers. Is she playing Love me Love me not or just spelling out her name? Let's hope Poison Ivy doesn't see her doing whatever this is or it may just be convenient that she's in a graveyard. 

I really like that Harley Quinn carries a hand bag around. It adds a fun level of realism to these larger than life comics. 

This issue opens with someone sending in their mail to Chance@Love - Holly Chance's romance advice column at the Daily Planet. This is a recurring subject in this issue, so watch out for our our guest star later on. Meanwhile, Harley Quinn herself is out robbing a garden supplies store and mocking it's employees. 

She's having a bit of fun doing this and doesn't want to leave until Poison Ivy formally advises her that their business there is concluded and Harley can drive. There is apparently nothing more that Harley Quinn loves more than racing around erratically in a drop top. Yep, even more than puddin'.


But there is something else missing from her life.. she says it's Thorn but she pretty much just symbolises a challenge. 

After a hard night's larceny, Ivy goes out for a sun-bake but warns Harley not to be late for her new job. It's fine though! Harley assures Ivy that she has a built in clock and for her, oversleeping is a physical impossibility!

So naturally she's several hours late for work - Harley truly is all of us. 

Gotham City Sirens #5

Out of the Paest
Dec 09

Can I just say how awesome this cover is? My only quibble is Harley's twisty ass and tits torso and what one of my old work friends used to call 'mono-boob'. I think you could put a pencil under one side, and lift the entire set equally. It's a disturbing notion, yet somewhat tempting. Hmm.
Apart from that though, the dynamic background, the nice work with the shadows and lighting effects, the sweet cane pose and the pop gun... it's just a nice cover.



Anyway, where we last left of in Sirens, a horrifying Joker car-drone had just driven into their hideout and exploded. Selina and Ivy are alarmed by the sudden appearance of fire while dear Harley Quinn - ever on the ball - simply gets peeved that Joker didn't try to finish them off with a funnier gag.

Ivy - a woman of entirely plant parts and wavy hair - leaps dramatically from the fire, into the frying pan. Which is also very much on fire. She quickly grows and then sacrifices one of her budding cacti which is enough to extinguish the fire but can't avoid creating another kind of damage.

Needless to say, the other Sirens aren't exactly pleased with
Harley's dismissive and unhelpful attitude.









They decide enough is enough, this Joker's gotta go. Harley, true to form - doesn't seem to want him dead and offers anything apart from that - plant shopping trips, getting a restraining order...
Finally Ivy gets through to her by telling her what she wants to hear and then smacking her in the face with reality.

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 and Ivy meet Betty and Veronica #1

Oct 2017
Part 1 of 6
Writers: Paul Dini and Marc Andreyko
Artist: Laura Braga

What's the Story?

Free college tuition for all Riverdale residents?! That’s the plan-after the town drains the wetlands that lie between it and Gotham City and then builds a new campus. The only snag? A certain botany-obsessed super-villain.
When Poison Ivy enlists her bestie, Harley, to kidnap both Veronica Lodge, daughter of Riverdale’s most important citizen, and her friend Betty, she’s counting on some assistance-and the mayhem that ensues will probably work as well!
DC Comics and Archie are proud to present the adventure of a lifetime for all these best pals. Their hijinks are brought to you by the real-life team-up of Paul Dini (HARLEY QUINN) and Marc Andreyko (WONDER WOMAN ’77), with art by Laura Braga (DC BOMBSHELLS)!

What the Heck?

I'll be honest, when this solicitation was announced I was confused and pretty sure I wasn't going to actually review it because.. well, why?

Some of these recent cross overs just seem like complete balderdash, anything with Harley in it just seems to be a blatant cash grab and I don't know jack about the whole Archies thing. 

All I know is that there are two girls named Betty and Veronica - one's blonde and one's dark haired. They hang out and fight over a ginger named Archie. There was an awesome 'sugar sugar' song that came out of it ...... and that's all I know. Some other knowledge is vaguely tied in there too like Sabrina the Teenage Witch and Josie and the Pussycats being tied up in this lark. 

Apparently this whole Archies thing is an American rite of passage where everyone knows about it even if they weren't born in the 60's. 

Well... I'm a young British born Australian. A new audience for you. Market to me!

Let's do this!

So the original cover is actually nice and reminds me why Amanda Connor got popular in the first place. There's clearly a lot more effort here than her usual covers though. The girl's hair looks really well done, the vinyl seat is rendered really nice, the table reflecting the scene above is a good idea.. 

It's a bit disappointing that the girls have stick figure arms and it's still weird seeing Connor/Palmiotti's lobotomised love interest of Poison Ivy doing cutesy things.... I do have to wonder what it is they're actually drinking because it looks oddly mouldy on one side of the milkshake. Hardly's eyes are bugging out something fierce. Archie gets little to no attention and may not even have arms but that's apparently fine because he's a dude and no one cares what he looks like. 

Now the variant cover is by Adam Hughes and...
Okay does anyone else think that he's purely phoned this one in?

Harley's face looks to be in his style but the rest of her body looks like.. shit we're running out of time just draw anything out of proportion, it doesn't matter is she has no internal organs or a waist or a butt or anything...

To the right is an example of his work with Harley Quinn.
Notice anything different?

The rest of the girls in the line up look fine, they look human and well rounded enough to look healthy and right for their body types but damn, look at Harley's elbow and compare it to her stomach. It's almost as big. You know, I know there are plenty of jokes about Adam Hugh's detailed work making him run out of schedule but if that's the case.. ask him to do one for the first issue and use it in the second issue so it will be on time! Buuuut they won't because they want his star power. 

The only other issue I have with the cover is that someone has clearly taken inspiration from Rihanna for whatever Poison Ivy's got going on.

Naturally, I can't find the exact picture I'm thinking that I've already saw of RiRi that was like this but it's kinda like if these two photo's mated and then grew a severe attitude.

Retro Review: Harley Quinn #14 Bright Lights, Big City Pt 1

January 2002

Welcome to Metropolis

When we last left off, gal pals Poison Ivy and Harley Quinn were making their road trip from Gotham City all the way to Metropolis in order to avoid the chaos gunning for our sweet little jester's head. This cover is great - while I don't believe that's the Harley Davidson that Harley stole in the last issue it's kitted out in perfect Harley Quinn colours and looks great.

I like that they even have a personalised plate, and that they stopped for a bit of random graffiti. 

If you've ever watched the animated series, you'll know that Harley is a good, if somewhat erratic and dangerous driver. 

Here she shows that with gusto, driving into head on traffic while Ivy chastises her for it. 

Two things stick out here - Harley's defence that Metropolis has changed since she was here last (what, like amending basic road rules?) and the two country bumpkin tourists in the bottom panels. 

Superhero sight seeing. They're distressed because they came all this way and didn't even see Superman or the Daily Planet, and now they're lost. They do, however get their map stolen by a certain criminal duo which makes Elmer and Arleen's (oh, I see what you did there) day complete.

Retro Review: Harley Quinn #13 Night and Day

Dec 2001

Story: Karl Kesel

Pencils: Pete Woods

Inks: Mark Lipka

Finally getting back into my retro reviews! Shaking off all the crappy new Quinn vibes!

Now this comic I will introduce a little bit because it's a slight departure from our usual fare.
This issue actually tied into an event named Joker's Last Laugh - in which Joker is tricked into believing he's dying and as such, devises a scheme to take the world down with him.

Being the Joker, this mostly involves gassing people or somehow making them Jokerised, but not enough so that they die laughing straight away. He basically organises an army.

Our comic opens up with a husband and wife astronaut team (Rick and Lana Jensen) where we learn their back story. Human during the day but during the evening they become mutated due to the radiation they were exposed to this one time.

She becomes a green alien called Lady Luna with flight powers, the ability to decrease gravity and travel through solid objects.

He becomes this grey, hulking rock monster called Moonrock.. and he is kind of the opposite to her where he can increase gravity, withstand a lot of things and is stronger.

They were kind of trapped in a force field at STAR Labs until a green haired red lipped loony walks in and Jokerises them.





Don't you just hate it when that happens?

Well, to be fair they were planning on double crossing the Joker instead of doing the favour he so kindly asked of them.

Harley Quinn and Batman #1

2017

The Last Laugh pt 1

Writer: Ty Templeton

Artist: Rock Burchett

Colours: Kieren Smith

Here we have a Harley Quinn and Batman comic, set before the Batman and Harley Quinn animated movie yet released after it. Why? I don't know. 

The movie was basically a cash grab so this comic based off the movie is going to be basically a cash grab off of a cash grab. 

A few things I noticed... it's in the animated style but it just seemed off. The art and the colouring just looked a bit rough draft.. like the kind of art you see in cheap kids books. Harley's collar seems to be painted onto her shoulders instead of being a movable piece of her costume. 

The story just throws you in, it opens on the Joker's headquarters being blown up and Harley Quinn laughing. Joker himself looks a lot like his Batman: The Animated Series self but with his Batman: the New Animated Series demon face. Everyone else looks like their original BTAS selves.

Yeah, Batman and Nightwing are there, along with some clown henches. Joker doesn't know how they found him but is determined to give them a whoppin' because his poisoned hot sauce spilled. 

Harley seems happy to help - giving him new weapon after weapon. 

Most of these backfire on Joker though, in particular - one blows up in his face leaving him looking like he's dabbling in blackface.

I don't believe that's the intention - they're going for the old blasted off face scorch marks but either the artist couldn't pull it off or it just does not work with B:TNAS demon face. I do like the jab about buying from ACME. Oh, ACME. When will you learn?

It gets a bit weird when the next piece of equipment to use against Batman is a Joker themed giant robot. It's even weirder hearing that he seemed to have brought it legitimately. 

For some reason, Batman and Nightwing focus entirely on Joker and his henchmen and don't even attempt to take out Harley Quinn. Yes, the Joker is the bigger threat right now but let's face it, the clown henches aren't that tough.

Harley Quinn's just getting a pass because her name's in the title.

Batman and Harley Quinn 2017 - A Review

Well, I've watched it. It can't be un-watched. Is that good or bad?

What I will say about the film Batman and Harley Quinn is - it's not that bad. 

Honestly, I was extremely worried when I read the reviews yesterday but even though it's a movie that you don't *need* to see and you could easily forget it, it's not as soul cripplingly terrible as say...

Oh, I don't know.. Suicide Squad? 

I will never stop bashing that useless brain fart of a movie! Never!! Never!!!!

Yeah, that's exactly Harley Quinn's character. Margot definitely killed it at Harley Quinn. 

WELL SHE KILLED SOMETHING OF HARLEY QUINN ANYWAY~!!~

*ahem* *wipes off rage spittle and readjusts tie* 

Batman and Harley Quinn first reactions

My friends, I come to you solemnly, dipped in regret, eating tacos and reading headlines.
What headlines? You don't come here for the news, you come here for the sass and you know it!
Well, I remembered that the Batman and Harley Quinn movie was due to be out - or was out... I may have lost several weeks recently but that's a story for another time when I get nachos and vodka.

No, what I saw today in my search for a fond trip down memory lane was a bunch of ominous news headlines.

Which frankly sucks because even though I knew it was just going to be a slapped together cartoon cashing in on Harley's popularity boom...
Even though it was blatantly a re-do of the classic BTAS episode 'Harlequinade'...
Even though I'd been warned it wasn't classified as BTAS universe continuity..
Heck, I was wary as funk about Bruce Timm's involvement..

That dude just seems to write the characters like it's his own dream diary.

But I was still looking forward to it because it was classic animated Harley Quinn in her classic suit, she wasn't spray painted white and pretending to play vigilante cop buddy slash over powered super bad ass slash someone pretending to play roller derby, she looked like she had moved on from the Joker and was bitter about it and her life now, reduced to playing 'herself' at a dodgy superheroine hooters to pay her bills...

I was genuinely keen to see this version of Harley Quinn.

Retro Review: Harley Quinn #12! Quintessence Pt 4

A Date Which Will Live In Infamy!

Nov 2001

Last issue, Harley had escaped the Bat-gang, Nixon was creating trouble, Batman shed his disguise and the Quinntets had captured Jack and Di Happi... while Chispazo has been taken to a secret room in Harley's hideout.

This issue literally opens with the Happi's perspective... tied together, upside down in an elevator shaft with Mr. Chitters - the vengeful monkey with the razor sharp cymbals for company.

Harley and the Quinntets have more important things to do than hang around and watch where the lift stops at. At least, they think they do, because Harley hasn't told them her exact plans for the evening yet.

Kenny is on Nixon's side.. his loyalty being extremely tested between blood and boss.

Nixon springs his coup just as Bo and Surley bust in - expecting only four or five henchmen buuuuuut.....

Nixon has been a busy little recruiter.. but luckily,  this slight distraction starts a massive free for all battle royale.

Batgirl Adventures #1

Today we're looking back at Batgirl Adventures #1!

This one debuted way back when in Feb 1998 and is credited to Paul Dini and Rick Burchett with colours by Rick Taylor.

Right away the cover grabs your attention, it's the classic Batman Animated series red sky and stylised city scape.
Batgirl is her usual exuberant self, leaping into action with the shadowy figures of Harley Quinn and Poison Ivy looking on.

The only thing that detracts from this awesome cover is Batgirl's ridiculously small feet. I mean, really, what is this foot binding Barbie crap?

Oh right, it's just some Bruce Timm artwork. Say no more.












We open on civilian Barbara Gordon walking along after buying her Christmas goodies and nearly getting mowed down by a literal clown car. If America is anything like Australia, then yes the pedestrian has right of way,  but in the clown car's defence Barbara wasn't even looking at the road and did not check both ways. Barbara encourages inappropriate vigilantism and road rage by going to beat up the clown car driver, and is for some reason, surprised to see a a cannon emerge from the car.

Babs, you live in Gotham, why does literally ANYTHING surprise you anymore? I mean, a clown car in Gotham never just means the circus is in town (although to be fair the circus never seems to leave town either) it means that it's either the Joker or some other super villain up to no good. 

That, or the registration standards for vehicles in this town is beyond a joke.