Suicide Squad New 52 #7

This is another issue I reviewed back in the day under my original blog. If you're interested, you can check it out here. What, you haven't got time nor inclination? Well fear not, here's the into to it which I feel aptly sums up what I thought about the cover.

Suicide Squad Seven - The Alliterating Issue
Yes, it’s that time of the month again, so dig out your hot pants, get ready to storm Gotham PD and grab that skinned off Joker face because it’s the SUICIDE SQUAD #7 REVIEW!

Assuming I read like a normal person, let’s start with the cover. When I first saw this cover, I didn’t like it. Now I can see it full size it’s kind of growing on me, like Joker flesh on Deadshot’s face.(Tee hee) The new Harley Quinn logo surprised me, as last time they just stole her old one. You know, the one from the ‘original’ DC universe pre-reboot, post-pre-infinite... ehh... you know what I mean. The one that doesn’t exist anymore, or kind of does in some ways, but only in ways DC can make money off it.. Ehhh, you know what I mean.

Yep - remember how they used the previous Harley Quinn logo on the issue just prior to this one? It's been replaced with a new logo for her, and also doubles as one of the nails in the original Harley Quinn's coffin. Quite useful. Apart from that, the cover also raises some questions about Harley Quinn's costume... well, I mean MORE questions. 

For one thing.. does she wear the cape or not? It seems like every other issue it vanishes. Secondly... before her arm thingies looked like gauntlets... but one this cover in particular they look more like gloves. Also her nails aren't red one hand black the other.

DC House of Horror 2017

DC released a comic just in time for Halloween - it contains several stories by several people, artists and apparently one creepy uncle (?!) but the one I'm going to look at is a story called 'Crazy for you'.
A Harley Quinn story written by Bryan Smith and Brian Keene (collect the whole set) while Kyle Baker does the art, colours and letters. The plot itself is by Keith Giffen.

First of all though.... what's with the cover here?

It's kinda cool but kinda abstract too. Like, Batvampire swooping down on Wereflash is understandable... if a little bit gross. Come on, Bats, don't get hair in your fangs! Meanwhile, Green Lantern has become Green Candle apparently because he seems to be melting all over the table. Is he drunk? Is he being crushed by the combined weight of the other heroes? Is he literally melting? He doesn't look very happy about his situation.

Frankenstein's Superman is lifting ... okay, I don't know what Wonder Woman is supposed to be. I would hazard a guess at a ghost but if she's a ghost, why the hell does Frankenstein's Superman need to lift her out of the way of the other melty-furry-blood crazed idiots?

Alright, so I honestly don't know what's going on on the cover here but I don't hate the cover itself.

If you're interested, here's a list of the included stories. I read some of them and called the ending for most straight away but obviously they're only short stories with little time for plot twists.

Suicide Squad New 52 #6

Now I'm going to review Suicide Squad New 52 issue 6 with my new levels of hindsight. I have actually reviewed this issue before on my original blog shortly after it first came out and it's interesting to see what differences I have picked up.

The love for this particular cover has not changed one iota. Yes, it's still the stupid Suicide Squad outfit but compared to the last five covers... hell, this thing could sit next to a metaphorical Mona Lisa it's that much better than what came before it.

Two things though - they have her with brown eyes instead of blue (unsure if this is due to the lighting or colour error or what.) They also use the classic Harley Quinn solo logo on this cover.

I agree with my original comic.. the time skips are annoying AF. I get it, not enough pages to go into the whole backstory or how much time has passed but damn. We open with the Squad having just let 'Harley Quinn' slip through their net.

Lime and Light (two nobodies I originally had to Google) have a reason to fly... apparently. Why are Deadshot and .... (well they *say* it's Savant but being a fan of Gail Simone's Birds of Prey I reject this characterless clone) Savant levitating? Don't tell me they're jumping down from somewhere.. they're freakin' hoverin'.

 More art errors... Lime and Light keep losing or discolouring their arm bands and man, enjoy that bottom panel because it's just about the last time their faces look normal.

Going back to the time skip.. seriously.

Did the Squad manage to get to Gotham first despite leaving well after Harley's head start? Maybe if they were air lifted but we don't know how they got there. So were they lying in wait in an alley they just knew she was going to use or did they get lucky? Did that useless bastard back at Belle Reve/Reeve remove her bomb but add a tracker instead? I mean, give us something!

Deadshot and Savant have a pissing match with their guns, one of the twins apparently has webbed hands and LOL the editor's note about Lime and Light coming fresh out of Green Arrow's second issue... his last name is McQuiver! How the hell did I not see that the first time I read this?!
Hahahahahahahahahahahahaha!!!

Harley Quinn and Batman #2

Well here we are again. I didn't think I'd be reviewing this next issue because I didn't really like the last one. I should have liked it, but the thin plot, shoddy art, weird characterisation and the fact that it was a hastily shoved together prequel to the movie that just came out, which was itself a cash grab based off Harley Quinn's surge in popularity. 

That and there doesn't seem to be any point to this comic apart from look at Harley Quinn doing things.. oh look here's Poison Ivy and they're doing things without the Joker! In their classic costumes! See how we're sort of but not really the Animated Series again? Don't you love that? 

Are you happy now fans!? Be happy! Buy our merchandise!! 

Anyway, I'm not keen on reviewing this comic because so far it's been a let down but that said I can't be bothered putting up with the Hardly Quinn solo either so here we are.

Harley wakes up with a headache and in classic creepy Timm style decided to loose the pants but keep the socks.

Boy has she got an arse you could lay a butler tray flat on or what? Yikes!






She's in Poison Ivy's Hothouse Hideout... hmm, I wonder how long that name took her to think up?

She complains about the food being too protein heavy when a mysterious voice educates her about her own best friend's eating habits.

First of all... rude! Secondly...

In BTAS: we see her in a similar situation and providing food for Harley after they escape to a hideout. It's salad and vege.

It's only for a few days, Harl. 

In another comic, we see Pam has been hard at work developing her research. When some jerk stole it, he used it to make a cheap soy based burger additive. Was this Pam's original intention? To replace meat?

New creative team for Harley Quinn!

Guess what?

I have just heard that Conner and Palmiotti are officially off the Harley Quinn reins!

Woohoo!!

It's no secret that I was never a fan of their work. Yes, I did start collecting the issues when they first came out because initially I was overjoyed that there was going to be a different Harley Quinn than the mess we got in Suicide Squad.



The novelty of 'collecting' the multiple covers for issues that never felt.. quite right soon dissipated and I told my local comic store to take my pull list for that series and shove it - right up DC's keister. They said it was a little hard for them to do that being so far away but they've done a good job of keeping my comic depository clear of shit comics so there's that.

This Harley came across as super arrogant and up herself TBH

It also felt like while several storylines were being juggled... nothing really happened?
There was a surprising focus on Harley's professional life but this was soon sidelined in favour of her zany tenants, multiple hangers-on, Bat-cameos and all of their wacky wacky antics.

As well as that... it wasn't making me laugh.

The classic Harley Quinn solo series did that. Sure, some bits were hit and miss but for the most part there was a lot of humour whether it was visual sight gags, ironic humour, actual puns - you name it!
The calling card of the Hardly Quinn solo was an assault of scatological humour, over use of exaggerated accents, fourth wall breaking and a large amount of T&A.

Sometimes a few all at once. 

Critics said that this was DC's female copy of Deadpool and it's hard to dispute that except that Deadpool for the most part is funny (and has a coherent, funny movie too).
Just goes to show that when you take the girl out of the jester costume.. she gets less funny but for some reason the crowds are eating this drivel up.

So why are Conner and Palmiotti scarpering?

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 Quinn: Our Worlds At War

October 2001
Harley Quinn's pal - Jimmy Olsen
"Our Fighting Forces"
Writer: Karl Kesel
Colours/Seperations: Ro Bleyaert
Art: Various
Aron Wiesenfeld pg1-8
Paul Grist pg9-17
Paul Chadwick pg18-25
Amanda Connor & Jimmy Palmiotti pg26-34
Steve Lieber pg35-38

Our Worlds at War was a cross over comic storyline that was mainly focussed on Superman and his ilk but also featured in the comics of Batman, Wonder Woman, The Flash, Green Lantern and several supporting characters like Harley Quinn. The plot revolved around heroes uniting to defeat Imperiex who was attacking the Earth. 

Honestly, I've only ever read the Harley Quinn issue and the Wonder Woman arc of this series but it's not hard to pick up what's going on in the one shots. Well, mostly. If you're keen to start reading the arc, here's some more information at Wikipedia about the issues and story line. 

Now, when I read the Harley Quinn issue I took little notice of the artists names because I figured I was reading a comic and not an autobiography but check it out... the people responsible for the horror that is Harley Quinn volume two and rebirth also featured in this comic. 

It's funny, because when I think of Amanda Connor and Harley Quinn her puddin' pop statue comes to mind, but not much else because I really thought she got the character with that statue.. but the comic she produces now shows otherwise. 

 Anyway, we open this comic with Jimmy Olsen in his space suit giving a bit of exposition. A bit? Okay, a lot. I can look past this though because given the story line is over several comics as I mentioned before and if you were like me and weren't keeping up.. yes, you need the exposition.

Good thing about Jimmy - he's the every man and he's at least funny to read. Nice bit of foreshadowing here - alone in an alien radio room wishing he'd run into some super heroes, or even a super villain.

He puts on a headset and gets a binary overload.
This is why we don't touch alien things, kiddies.