DC Universe: Harley Quinn #64

 

The first thing that drew my attention on this cover was the tiny top banner with classic Harley shoving current Harley. It's cute, and in character. I don't know how I didn't look at the main picture first because YE GADS what on Earth is that? Did the nineties comic scene throw up again? I mean, it's not that baaaad... I guess but it also... doesn't make sense? 

Why is her arm a box? Is her hair made out of pom-poms? I was confused about her foot being a demented roller blade but then I realised that's meant to be her arm, not the box... her foot is that faux Japanese mask and cybergoth fluffies. So... what IS the box doing there? Is it part of her outfit, or is it the background? What's the other thing floating around her? Where are her eyeballs? Is this the revenge of Suicide Squad New52? Her pigtails trailing so long and being around all these mechanical parts makes me hella anxious too. 

Moving on with the comic itself - Harley is still reading her own comic book to escape the realities of her mom's hospital trip and-OH okay, inside is another picture from the cover and as it turns out, the star and box (diamond?) are SHOULDER PADS. 

.....Eh, still more in true to her origins than what she has been seen wearing, even if she's got a reject Dazzler from the future/Jem and the Holo-hell no's/Ziggy Star-Don't feel to her.  

Still weird though. 

Side note, I don't know a thing about Year of the Villain so if everyone's gonna be in these extreme cosplayer gladiator outfits I - well, actually I'm in two minds about reading it. 

Harley Quinn: Black White Red #1 - Red

2020
Story/Art: Sejic
Lettering: Gabriela Downie

“Harleen: Red” Resolutely defiant in the face of all of Arkham’s attempts to psychoanalyse her, Harley Quinn is suddenly compelled to reveal some of her most vulnerable thoughts - and hints of her future -- when confronted with the simplest of prompts: “What does the colour red mean to you?” Another stunningly beautiful story from the world of Stjepan Šejić’s bestselling HARLEEN!

Not gonna lie - hairline trigger activated when I saw the title! I was like.. are they making a comic series about the gosh darned collectables of Harley Quinn, which are in turn based OFF of comics and such already established? And whose name is based on the fact that she should be black, white and red but normally isn't anymore? Sorry, the mind games involved in that is just... psychotic. 

Turns out it's an extension of the Harleen story that Sejic did, and I'm guessing it's just going to be three issues? Well, it should be or else they should probably rename the series Harley's reading rainbow or something. 

Harley Quinn And The Birds Of Prey

You can probably guess that I've put off reviewing this one for as long as I can.

April 2020

The creative team that transformed Harley Quinn forever returns to shake up her world once more-and this time, the gloves are off! Harley Quinn has avoided Gotham City ever since she broke up with The Joker and found a home, and a kind of family, in Coney Island. But when she gets an offer she can’t refuse, she has no choice but to slip back into the city as quietly as she can, hoping to be gone before anyone-especially her ex-learns she’s been there. But for Harley, “as quietly as she can” is plenty loud…and before she can say “Holee bounty hunters, Batman,” The Joker’s sicced every super-villain in the city on her pretty ombré head-and the only team tough enough (or crazy enough) to come to her defense is the Birds of Prey! The foul-mouthed, no-holds-barred sequel to one of DC’s raciest runs is here! Get on board early, before we come to our senses!

So, the team that messed up Harley Quinn for iterations to come decided to break their 'Harley Quinn retirement' now that there's more media focus on her than usual, they can smell the dinero from a mile away.. and in doing so are going to schlock out their usual off brand catch phrases, show how absolutely annoying their Harley is, and forget that she's been seen in and out of Gotham several times during their run.

Going from that blurb, this is meant to be a direct sequel to the recent movie I guess?

The cover already made me lose what little hope I had. Here are five women of diverse nationalities who all have the exact same face and body type.  The characters in the movie (if you can call it that) were already so distanced from their comic counterparts, but here while they look a bit more like the characters they're meant to be - we still get to tell them apart by their accessories. 

LOL Montoya has doughnuts, she must be a cop! Ha, Cassandra is such a little cat burglar, look at her hoodie with cat ears and how she's stolen Huntress' arrows! 

Also.. are the Birds in Coney Island because otherwise what's with this backdrop of Harley's hotel full of her extended roster of bit-parters if she's supposed to be in Gotham? 

The only thing I LIKE about this cover is the can that says "Oh, happy spray!" but come on, that's not exactly original either, is it?

Birds of Prey: Sirens of Justice #1

Not content with her own comic empire, a successful Gotham City Sirens run and a miserable attempt to encroach on the Birds of Prey universe via cinematic vomit, DC has decided to combine all three of these elements to make this Birds of Prey: Sirens of Justice - The inclusion of one Harley Quinn.

Sigh.

At least going from the cover art and the involvement of one Gail Simone, this should be better than that hideous movie-comic tie-in we had before.

Fight or Flight
May 2020
Writer: Simone
Cover: Lupacchino and McCaig
Interiors art: Miranda

As much as this cover is actually visually appealing - I'm a bit concerned that Harley is basically wearing as knock off version of Canary's outfit. Remember that old design guideline where it was basically law for any TV show/movie/comic etc that had more than one female, that they all had to wear a different style top etc? Anime fans would be familiar with uniformed school girls having extremely varied socks - same kinda thing.

They even go as far as to include fishnets on Harley's get up though - like.. a blonde wearing fingerless gloves, jacket, booty shorts with the same belt, fishnets and then the matching mid-calf black boots? COME ON. That job's been taken already!

I really wish they had taken a page from some of the other outfits Harley has worn, like Arkham City, Assault on Arkham, Gotham City Garage, Joker TPB, Injustice and even the rare Suicide Squad where she has pants and a functional looking outfit..


The interior art is  very much a step below the cover. I'm not really a fan of Miranda's art. At least here there is a bit more to differentiate Harley and Canary, although I stand by my previous comments about Harley needing a better outfit because she looks ridiculously out of place compared to the people she's with, to the extend someone could have poorly photo-shopped her in.
The background work is very nice though, so points for that.

Happy about Simone being back in the saddle - her dialogue between the Birds seems natural and fits their respective personalities, plus her Harley sounds less like an inbred hick and more like someone who genuinely has a bit of an accent/dialect.

My first issue with this first issue though is that it opens on "Later. Ten blocks away and thirty stories up..." which could work for the intrigue aspect but it just happens way too often in comics. Like, flitting between then and now is fine, but didn't we used to just have the comic open and THEN have the later/earlier sequence pop up? This reeks of Conner/Palmiotti. Ugh.

Next issue is immediate.
Harley Quinn is making all the decisions for a team she's not even in and everyone else just goes with it, while making vague comments about her mental capacity.

Gotham City Sirens #10 - Taking Sides

This is one of my favourite Gotham City Sirens covers ever. Even though it's got a rather dark palette, it still manages to be kind of pastel. At first glance you could mistake the poses for generic, over posed comic book fare, or something right out of a James Bond poster but the poses are so in character, it's great. Ivy frolicking around her garden, tending to one of her many plants. Harley looks like she's stretching before jumping into some crazy gymnastics move, and Catwoman is stood there like why am I with these people again?

I also quite like the crossword puzzle aesthetic, tying it into the inclusion of the Riddler.

When we last left off with the Gotham City Sirens, Edward Nigma had been helping them solve a murder they were seemingly being framed for, and had now found himself into some hot water as a result.

Luckily, our antagonist Dr. Aesop likes to monologue - maybe not surprising for someone who stole their name from the famous fables author - and between Riddler's deductions and Dr. Aesop's explanations the whole story comes out. Our Sirens are listening in from the skylight and it's revealed they were using Nigma the whole time.


Harley at least has the decency to feel bad about it, Ivy couldn't give a plant fertiliser and Selina is somewhere in between - doesn't really care but also doesn't want Eddie to get hurt because of it.

DCeased #2

2/6
"The Monster Inside of Us All"
Writer: Tom Taylor
Pencils: Trevor Hairsine
Inks: Stefano Gaudiano
Colours: Rain Beredo

The ominous narration continues in this one, but doesn't do a thing to warn poor Aquaman not to open the door on the stricken cargo ship. In his defense, they do seem to be fast zombies. Gosh, I hate fast zombies. It's like... the slow ones are bad enough but at least you don't have to run like, allll the time. What is this, the Apocalypse Olympics? Damn.

Now Metropolis is on fire, and the Supersons and Superman are just chilling at their crib. They decide to head to the Daily Planet. Meanwhile, over in Gotham, Poison Ivy and Harley Quinn are also just chilling but in some dingy alley way. So, clearly journalism pays better than crime. Thanks for the morality lesson DC!

Here, Ivy is abusing the power of the green and hyping Harley up for something, but Harley is trying her best to weasel out of it. They don't exactly say what this task is so maybe the next page is... oh.

Look at that sweeeeet..... gaming set up. 

Oh, is this supposed to be the hideout he used in Death of the Family? Or is it a parody of Batman's computer set up? I don't mind that actually - either one. I DO mind the over the top self aware and stereotypical 'battered/downtrodden woman in a relationship' discussion here. Since when are they officially back together enough to split? And since when has Joker cared what anyone was thinking unless it benefited him? They seem to be making it into a relationship thing..

"Got a new vibe, who dis?"

Harley Quinn & Poison Ivy #1

Here it is.

Honestly I wasn't sure what to expect from this comic because the previous taglines were all "Harley and Ivy explore their relationship post Sanctuary" - which can mean a lot of things but my first thought was "pleasedon'tbelikethepalmiottoconnerharleyivyrelationshippleasepleaseplease" because there is no faster buzzkill than my two of my favourite fictional criminals sitting around calling each other pet names, talking about feelings and scheduling spa dates.

Also, the first promo didn't grab my eye.. I wasn't keen on Ivy's 'green variant of female titan' look, and the angle for Harley wasn't especially flattering, and I wasn't excited about the predictable antagonist... although I did like the direct approach of it by having them dance around a map literally between their destinations. The cover they used appeals to me so much more.. although I question why it matters to watch the road when everything's on fire but that's just me.

As you may have guessed, there are quite a few variants so we'll go through them at the end so as not to take up the entire review.


So, what's it all about, really?

Harley Quinn and Poison Ivy are taking their show on the road in this new miniseries! They’ll have to evade villains and heroes alike while they explore their relationship and unpack their time and experiences at Sanctuary. Set after the events of HEROES IN CRISIS and smack in the middle of “Year of the Villain,” it’s a journey across the DC Universe that will change their friendship forever... if they live that long!

"Pushing Daisies"

Sept 2019

Writer: Jody Houser

Pencils: Adriana Melo

Inks: Mark Morales
Colours: Hi-Fi

Cover: Mikel Janin

Okay... so it's a mini-series capitalising off the name of a prior popular series smack bang in the middle of two events? Wow, I'm cynical. Let's check it out. 

Studio Fow - Harley Quinn porn parody

For those not familiar - Studio Fow is a animated porn company set up around 2014. Most if not all, of their content is based off gaming characters, and their aim is to be as non-vanilla as possible.

Pretty sure they take the actual characters from games and just re-rig their models. I don't know about the scenery/backgrounds - but probably.

SCARLET NIGHTS
RELEASE DATE: JUNE 28TH, 2016


It’s complete anarchy in Gotham as StudioFOW launches its depraved new series! Without the Dark Knight around there’s a distinct lack of fear around the city, but as the Clown Princess of Crime is about to discover, there are far more terrifying things lurking in Gotham’s seedy underbelly. Lesson one of this new Gotham is don’t piss off the wrong guys…


I gotta say, I approve of the title. You know, it could have been really tacky, like 'One Knight in Harley' or something lame like that.

Harley Quinn: Premium Format Figure - Sideshow Collectibles

Sideshow Collectibles has been hard at work making some nice things that I can't afford right now, (and also spelling collectables in a way that offends both my British sensibilities and my spellchecker, but that's another matter entirely) so I thought I'd spend a little time talking about one of their new statues.

One thing I really appreciate with Sideshow is that they seem to understand the appeal of the classic Harley Quinn along with her various reiterations. They're also good at interpreting Classic Harley Quinn for people who want something 'new' without going as far as say, the Suicide Squad movie version of her outfit which is basically two-toned apples and oranges and a far cry from what she started out in.

That and their items are really high quality - hence the 'premium format figure' name being trademarked by Sideshow. They go above and beyond to make sure what they sell is great and packed with fun props/features and detailed bases. So, let's get into it.

Starting with the interchangeable faces - here we have two options. One has a skinny domino mask which showcases her eye make-up, which is sort of thickly winged out and has more traditional clown 'tears' make-up. Her eyes are ringed by light red colouring - which I think is meant to be a nod to her current style - one eye blue one eye pink/red - as opposed to the usual clown face paint.

This head has white greasepaint with a very very underhanded and pleasing blush effect. Her lips are a dark red with a bit of a black tinge - which combined with her displeased expression makes Harley look like a much more dramatic character. I like her loose pigtails - the colour is nice, I'd almost forgotten what she looked like without the dip dye! - and the highlights weaved through the natural looking strands looks realistic.

On the other hand - the other Harley head has a much wider domino mask - almost as wide as her cheerful yet vaguely garish grin. Her lipstick is just dark red, and looks a lot like Joker's smile, with the edges of her lips exaggerated and almost brought out into a Chelsea Smile. Her face has the same greasepaint and blush tones as the other head, but is encased in her classic jester hat. Her eyes have more of a smoky look to them - light greys gradually getting darker. Her eyeliner is still winged out and heavy towards the end. 

DC Animated - Hush Trailer

So the trailer for the animated adaption of DC's Hush dropped the other day and wow was I... disappointed.

Which sucks! I really enjoyed the Hush comics and when I saw a trailer for the adaption - which I didn't even know they were doing - I clicked straight away. But oh boy was my enthusiasm dampened. It was like that classic Libra advert where the woman uses a pad to absorb the murder victim's blood so there was no trace of any wrong doing by the time the cops got there. It was like my niece's food at snack time. All gone!

Before, we could proudly say "Well the DC live action movies suck hairy donkey balls but at least they're killing it in the animated movie department!"
Only now it's like the animated department is going the way the Disney live actions are, like basically remakes just to keep the trademarks but with little, insidious changes made. Also Will Smith is getting his filthy little fingers into all of these pies. ANYWAY - we know why The Killing Joke and Batman and Harley Quinn etc were weird or bad movies... what's happening with Hush?


Okay - so for those who don't know, I don't want to spoil anything so go and read it! But in bare bones, Batman finds several of his enemies from varying ranks seemingly teaming up against him, but in odd ways and being led by someone he can't pin down. He starts to get suspicious and paranoid, so he searches to find out what's happening while his relationships - old and new - come back to him. Also there's a lot of cameos.

The comics were great, the art was nice and it was really cinematic in the way it was laid out and the way they did flashbacks etc. It kept you guessing, and made you look for little connections. It was like Lost but with comic characters and a better ending.

So... the trailer opens with the Batman/Catwoman rooftop chase/flirt which was fine... only the way they cut the dialogue kinda weird so it's like Catwoman's all sultry "We've being doing this dance for a while..." cuts to "LIKE THE VIEW, YA CORNDOG? IT'S ALL YOU GON' GEEEET" before she yeets herself off a building.

Gotham City Sirens #9 - Pieces of the Puzzle

I love the detective noir style cover already but it just gets better when you turn the page and the scene continues - as if you're Nygma opening the office door and entering the room/ scene. 

Correctly deducing that the Sirens aren't here for tea and niceties,  he gets down to the thick of it. The Sirens have found a corpse,  or rather they have each witnessed the victim in varying stages of life and death.

Harley volunteers to give her recollection first so we get treated to an amazing run down of her day,  which begins with cartoons, exercise and keyboard battles then ends with a dead body smashing through their skylight and ruining Harley's swim.

Ivy had just got back from a job interview when she sees the body enter the pool. Selina on the other hand had been for a medical check-up post Hush then a quick spar with Wildcat. When she hands home via rooftop she sees the body fall from the sky - muttering "doctor..." - so she dives after her and ends up heading into the pool as well.

Nygma is equal parts exasperated with the Sirens and intrigued by the mystery so he resolves to check it out. At first glance it appears like the Sirens have attached the victim and left their trademarks on her body.  There is a vine around the neck but it's not one of Ivy's usual hybrids but a common plant.  The clown make up smeared on her face is cheap pharmacy brand stuff and not Harley's theatrical quality style. Claw marks that couldn't have come from Selina's gloves but rather a real animal.

Batman and Harley Quinn issues 1- 4

Alright, remember that Batman and Harley Quinn animated movie that came out? Then the prequel comics that came out? Then these ones that came out at pretty much the same time? Yeah.. it's a bit confusing. Even I get the whole Batman and Harley Quinn or Harley Quinn and Batman titles mixed up a lot. 

Geez, even DC is getting confused because they're selling the 5 issue prequel and the 7 issue sequel as 'Batman and Harley Quinn' and advertising it solely AS said sequel in a collected graphic novel. 

Let's have a look. 

So already we can see that the art style is basically the same - as in Batman the Animated Series but just bad enough so we don't get sued by WB. 

This issue opens with the suspicious note of '6 days since Harley lit the match' and the title of this issue is 'Busted' which ties into the Solit for the series which was :

Batman's been back in Gotham for almost a week, and that means someone is about to get "Busted"!
Wow! Is it Harley!? Nope. she ain't even in this issue. That's why I'm doing two posts on this run so I can breeze through the majority of it. The chump getting busted is Blockbuster. So.. is that a pun or what? Not sure.

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..

Countdown 39-30

Back into a long shitepost about Countdown again! 

Here's Una and Karate Kid flying around Metropolis and dreaming about some sweet B&E. 

Wait, what? They're going to break into Oracle's Metropolis hideout? Goooood Luuuucccck...

Speaking of hideouts, Pied Piper and Trickster and finding a change in their circumstances. Penguin treats them to some fancy wine and some nice chow. Trickster accepts it gladly but Piper has some reservations. Trickster mocks Piper for his negative view on things but sure enough, Penguin has the Suicide Squad ready and waiting  to take out the rogue Rogues. 

Meanwhile, Donna Troy and Jason Todd and flying through the sub-quantum something or other when Jason makes the mistake of asking how much weirder stuff can get. 

Yeah, that's like an unwritten rule in comics, or even life. Just... don't. 

Now we've mentioned weird, we have to mention Jimmy Olsen. Oops, I mean Mr. Action. He thwarts a mugger and gets a smooch, then some aspirations into a team dynamic one week into his solo crime fighting career.

Maybe instead of dreaming big, Mr. Action could have stretched his way into Gotham to help Penguin save his expensive wine cellar because things are NOT going well over there.

Trickster hilariously yells about being rat catchers while running through the Iceberg Lounge - referring to the Pied Piper and his rat affinity, while also working double to embarrass Penguin.

The Suicide Squad get shown up, and hard, despite Deadshot's best attempts. Through a combination of boomerangs and forgetting about the electro chain tying them together, Trickster and Piper barely scrape their way out of there. 

Talking about scrapes - man, how good am I tying these things together? - we meet up with Harley and Holly back over at the Athenian shelter, scraping away at the patriarchy and dodging rioting mobs. Last time, Holly saw Harley rejecting a single mother's application for refuge and she is now digging for answers about this. 

Yeah, Athena will see you now.. ABOUT THAT BURN!

Seriously, Holly. I love this scene. She's hauling herself up from the bottom of society and has been doing it rough - I don't blame her for asking for good reasons why they're putting someone vulnerable right back down the ladder. However, she's really judgey and stuck up when she goes about it, especially to someone who is clearly working on their own past and faults. I like how Harley doesn't go off on a tangent about it (something I clearly have trouble with!) but instead delivers a snappy retort and leaves with a cheeky grin on her face.

Holly goes in more politely with 'Athena' and ultimately ends up back where she was - no real answers - but now with a ticket to a self esteem workshop.

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. 

Harley Quinn in DC Universe animated series - Kaley Cuoco

We now have the trailer for the Harley Quinn Animated Series... and it looks a lot better than what I was imagining.

Ugh.

What are they doing though? Purely hiring from The Big Bang Theory roster? That said, I liked Melissa Rauch's turn and I think Kaley Cuoco does a decent job too. It's perky, without being annoyingly squeaky. I definitely think we've had enough Tara Strong jobs.. besides, she's normally got a million other roles going on.

I am SUPER GLAD they did not actually get Maggot Robbutt for this. That would have been cringe city, especially now her shit version of Harley is confirmed to be stinking up at least two more DC films. DC is struggling enough with the film industry, Maggot!

Anyway, it'll be interesting to see what they're gonna do with the cartoon..
Harley taps the camera and addresses us through a fourth wall so not sure if she's gonna be doing that the whole time or if that's just for the trailer. Well, she addresses New York anyway. What else is there in the world? Nothing, apparently. Nothing. Depressing... but at least I'll have a bit more free time because we don't have the comic cons that matter.. *sheds single tear*

Harley is wearing her classic headpiece along with her Arkham Asylum oranges but she does have her white paint job, sadly. Bunking with Poison Ivy - who is thankfully more sarcastic and bull-shit calling here - tells Harley that the general populace will hate it because they hate everything. Ivy is also reading Mad Love, in their joint cell.

Behind her is a poster of an ab baring man with Joker's mugshot plastered over his head. 

They take pot shots at the gritty DCEU and Deadpool's animated series... Batman swings by to admonish them for having fun and Harley comments that she likes the new logo..



The only thing that didn't grab me was the swearing and advertising gratuitous violence.

Don't get me wrong, I love watching and doing both of those things, but when it's something you're advertising to get people interested... it's just a turn off. Like Maggot spitting out 'pussy' in the suicide Squad movie... she sounded so juvenile and like she was trying too hard. Is this series going to be the same thing?