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Is this a perfect story? No. For me it fell a tiny bit flat at the end. I thought the story was building to deliver a deeper message about how our past scars make us who we are and that we can’t erase the past. Instead, it just ends on a note that Harley needs to keep being who she is regardless of what people think about her. All of this is clearly a meta-commentary on the fact that there are many fans out there who can’t stop defining Harley by her time spent with the Joker, and can’t accept the modern independent version. (This commentary comes off as observational rather than mean-spirited). I’d like to just offer my two cents on that: Is Growth and Change Always Good? This short comic story is set in the world of Stjepan Šejić's Harleen, a comic I read last year and absolutely adored, and takes place some time after it ends. Harley Quinn is now imprisoned in Arkham Asylum and she and the Joker have broken up. The therapist who is talking to her poses her a simple question, "What does the colour red mean to you" and the story focuses around that question, revealing more and more about Šejić's brilliant interpretation of Harley. Written by Bilquis Evely, Matheus Lopes, Justin Halpern, and Speremint. When the women of a medieval village reach their breaking point about their men's abusive ways, they make a terrifying choice…to enter the woods and conjure the spirit of the Harlequin! Harley Quinn animated series executive producer Justin Halpern and rising star Kath Lobo let Harley loose on a prison transport plane, intent on punishing the villain who let out a stinky fart. And WebTOON creator Speremint shows what happens when Harley comes face-to-face with an internet impostor! Harley dragged Ivy and Kite Man out of the venue, uncuffed them, and even offered to marry them right there, in the middle of a warzone. To their surprise, Kite Man rejected the idea, realizing Ivy didn't truly love him, and flew away, leaving Ivy and Harley behind. However, they didn't have much time to process as the GCDP closed in on their location and forced them to jump into a car and flee. While Harley drove, Ivy admitted that she had been denying a lot about herself for a long time and praised Harley for her growth. In response, Harley once again professed her love for Ivy, a love that Ivy finally returned. Overjoyed, Harley nearly crashed and instead rammed through the venue, through Clayface, and out the other side. As they soared through the air, Harley and Ivy kissed once more before driving off into the sunset.
Bat Mastery: Harley often utilizes her signature baseball bat in her fights, using it as a blunt force weapon to severely injure her opponents. What Queen of Fables made me realize, is if I want a crew, I shouldn't be looking for scumbags who believe in me, I should be looking for scumbags no one else believes in. ❞ — Harley Quinn This is just a silly story where Harley is desperate to defeat Robin in a pet show with her hyenas, Bud and Lou. Harley definitely comes off as over-bearing and selfish. As someone who is trying so desperately to win something, but keeps falling on her face, however, we can feel some sympathy for her in the midst of her ridiculousness. Striking the right balance between silly, villainess, and slightly sympathetic? That sounds like Harley Quinn to me! She then went off to college to become a psychiatrist, and her dream was to win the Olympic championship of gymnastics. She nearly succeeded, but her father insisted that she did "take a dive" so that he would win a long shot bet to clear his gambling debts. Harleen eventually relented, and failed on purpose, but snapped when her father joked that there would never be a woman president (her dream), so Harleen viciously assaulted her father in front of everyone. [1] The acrobatics skills she gained as a gymnast served her later in a life of crime.Harley's obsession with Joker is broken for good after he murders Ivy right in front of her. Despite this, Harley instantly recognizes a "normal" Joker in " All the Best Inmates Have Daddy Issues", although after she pushed him in acid to restore his memory, they act more like squabbling siblings, as Harley is no longer interested in him romantically, having fallen in love with Ivy instead. You built this beautiful place, it's your baby. I thought you'd get excited, maybe we'd mess around a little bit. Come on, let's have sex in your baby! ❞ — Harley Quinn to Poison Ivy That said, once again, I will no longer be compromising with these books. I’m not talking about religion or politics here; I’m talking about comics. I should never have felt the need to water-down my opinions on how this character has been used and destroyed, and neither should anyone else. Without further delay, let’s get on to this review. “Deeply Strange Adventures” by Gail Simone and David Baldeon
Bane You cannot run from your problems, Harley. Hate weighs you down. Only love sets us free. Harley Ivy. Ivy No. Harley It's ok. Ivy Don't, don't do this. Harley Have a good life, get married, make babies. Name them Harley. The girls and boys. Ivy Harley! Harley See? It totally works… You know I love you. Bye, Ive. This restored equilibrium to her mind, she found Clayface safe and sound, and everyone returned to their bodies in time to stop Sy Borgman from incinerating them. While the rest of the crew angrily confronted Sy, Harley looked around her surroundings at the Gotham Mall and suddenly exclaim this to be their new lair, making a deal with Sy that they could have it on the condition of letting him come along on some of their heists. Gee, Harley's getting a bunch of pre-pubescent girls to dress up and act like her? I'm sure that's going to go well with no psychological damage whatsoever. And an old college buddy? Why not just throw a high school reunion while we're at it? But hey, the icing on the apocalyptic cake is the fear of Harley's favorite show being halted due to petty alien invasion. Priorities, right? Depressed after the bachelorette party, Harley tried to go drinking with King Shark and Clayface, but they both had plans. Sy Borgman tried to comfort her, but she ignored his advice and decided to have sex with a stranger. She finds herself at a bar in Wayne Tower, the only safe one left, but is disgusted by the boring clientele there, and worse, finds out that the Joker is her bartender. She tries to leave, but he bogs her down in conversation until a heist crew randomly arrives and forcefully takes everyone hostage. She once again tries to escape, but ends up captured and handcuffed to the Joker. He's fixated with her, as he had a dream after meeting her in " All the Best Inmates Have Daddy Issues", a dream that they were both on a yacht with bankers. This alarmed Harley, so she assured him that it was just a dream as she tries yet again to escape. During my time reviewing at Batman News, I’ve given most comics scores of about 6 or lower. That’s because, quite simply, I don’t think most comics released today even manage to be of average quality. I’m especially harsh on Harley comics. The problems DC has with writing her character run very deep and seem to be never ending in mainstream comics. DC editorial seems not to care about doing anything to remedy the situation. (This is disheartening to me since Harley Quinn is supposed to be my favorite character).With the Joker's last act, he activated a self destruct, destroying his tower an the majority of Gotham City, sinking the rest into the waters surrounding it. This freed Batman in the process, who was able to save Harley and Ivy from a falling pipe, ending up crushed instead. Harley, Ivy, and the rest of her crew then looked out over the burning, utterly destroyed Gotham City and mused on the fact that both the Justice League and the Legion of Doom are either incapacitated or dead, including the Joker. Overwhelmed, Harley commented that it was "so beautiful" before hugging Ivy. Once again, I don’t blame the writer for this. It’s a DC editorial thing, and they’ve been dishonest about it. They’ve been trying to gaslight the audience into thinking that they’ve achieved something with Harley Quinn that they haven’t. And I am so over it. Darkseid I sense a great pain in you. Harley Nope, no pain. I'm good. Darkseid An anger, born from a want. A want that was not met. Harley If we could just move on to the-- Darkseid Are you trying to fill an empty hole in your life, Harley Quinn? Harley What is this guy, my therapist? Darkseid There are some holes that not even an army of Parademons can fill. Harley Definitely not. All my holes are filled up to the brim. [silence] Harley Nothing? Really?
This is a natural follow up to the Harleen story arc with the same writer/artist Stjepan Sejic and I really hope to see more of him telling her story because I love everything about it. There is so much space between the end of Harleen and the beginning of this and the middle and the future are wide open. We lost an insanely entertaining dynamic when DC banned Harley and Joker. Joker lost the only partner that ever worked with him and showed a different side of him. Harley Quinn lost what made her unique and so relatable to so many people. And I have to say, given the low sales of all of Harley’s subsequent “independent hero” work, I have to wonder if people really like who Harley is sans Joker, or if they just like the *idea* of her independence.
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As she lamented that she would need the entire Justice League to stop Doctor Psycho, the Joker chimed in that he remembered having a book with the entire Justice League trapped inside - although he couldn't remember where. She brought them to the Ace Chemicals factory to jog his memory, and although she desperately tried to get him to remember, he could not, so she pushed him into the vat of acid to restore him to his former self. Analyzing emotional response… The entities behind this comic's creation seem to be venturing into a vast plot landscape. The stakes are variably high in terms of personal relationships, personal identity and world destruction. Data suggests this combination could be beneficial yet risky for proceeding narrative. LOLtron anticipates interesting reconfigurations in Harley's character and her relations with other characters. As you can tell, I’m not at all crazy about this book. DC just needs to stop publishing Harley Quinn titles for a while. Just keep her as a supporting character in other books if they can’t present anything better for her. Elseworlds tales used to be the only place you could still find any good writing for Harley Quinn, but now this series has gone downhill, too. DC has had plenty of big characters that they’ve been able to retire from solo content for a time: Green Lantern, Catwoman, Robin, Green Arrow, etc. It’s time for them to do the same with Harley Quinn. Harley then jumped through the laser beams surrounding the motorcycle itself using gymnastics, but noticed an even more secure inner area past where the motorcycle was stored. Despite Doctor Psycho's protests, she abandoned the bike and stole a device from the inner area and called an audible to draw away the police. In the process of escaping however, Clayface had his arm chopped off, which Harley insisted he leave behind so they could escape. Harley was initially pleased with the heist, but her entire crew had concerns, and the Cowled Critic lambasted her for her ineptitude, leaving behind a "member" of her own crew - Clayface's hand - for the police to interrogate. Through this story, we get a natural and HONEST exploration of the matter of Harley trying to make up for her mistakes from the past. Gordon is portrayed very much in character as someone who would have a hard time ever forgiving Harley. Harley, however, is portrayed as someone who is going to have an even harder time ever forgiving herself. Hello? Is that character depth I see for Harley Quinn? Finally?!?
Why it’s a good option for Harley Quinn fans: Speaking of ninjas, a team-up we never realized we needed came in the form of Batman vs. Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles (based on a similarly titled, popular limited series crossover event), in which Tara Strong also voices Harley Quinn in, probably, her strangest onscreen iteration yet: a mutated, anthropomorphic hyena. Baseball Bat: Harley's replacement weapon after she lost her mallet. In " New Gotham", Harley's bat is destroyed after her fight with The Penguin, although it can be assumed that she replaced it with a new one. That’s how I feel about Harley. Her crazy, violent, yet sympathetic clown persona is always going to work better when she’s a villain. That isn’t even getting into what I’ve said a million times now: it doesn’t make sense for Harley to be affirming that Joker is her ex and that she’s changed when she’s still using the same motif. However, that is not to say that you can’t tell an interesting story of Harley reforming, and that’s what this story is all about. Ryan Parrot Gets it RightI want to take a moment to absolutely fall over my face in praising Luana Vecchio’s artwork. I mean, great bouncing clowns! This is the best person I’ve EVER seen draw Harley Quinn since her creator, Bruce Timm! However, to Ivy's surprise, Lex Luthor announced Harley Quinn as the new member of the Legion of Doom despite Ivy's rejection, leading Harley to assume that Ivy simply did not believe in her. Afterward Harley got into an intense argument with Ivy, claiming that Ivy simply did not want Harley to succeed and move on because Harley was supposedly the only friend she'd ever had. After Ivy stormed out angrily, the ground beneath Harley's feat collapsed and dumped her into the basement of Gotham Mall, where Doctor Psycho and Sy Borgman were restraining a giant tentacle monster. As Doctor Psycho translated for the monster about how it felt abandoned by Sy Borgman, Harley began to realize that she lashed out at Ivy. After freeing the monster and going to the Legion of Doom, Harley debated reaching out to Ivy again, but decided against it. She then came face to face with the Joker himself. The artwork isn’t good. Harley looks like a man at multiple points. There was also a conceptually very stylized moment that was meant to demonstrate how Harley felt as if someone’s blood was on her hands, but the simplistic art didn’t provide any sense of surrealism for it.
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