Surely, She Jests.

Harley Quinn (aka Harlequin, aka Dr. Harleen Quinzel) is one of my favorite DC characters because she's so colorful and off-the-wall.  She's a former psychiatrist who turns to crime and falls in love with the Joker.  What a concept!  A love interest for Joker?  Who'd have ever thought anyone could fall in love with a pasty whackjob like him?  It was a bizarre love story 50 years in the making. 

I wasn't reading comics when Harley was given her first solo monthly series from 2001-2003, but I was fortunate to have been around when Gotham City Sirens was published from 2009-2011, a series starring Harley, Poison Ivy, and Catwoman.  It was a decent series and it humanized Harley, showing us her friendship/kinship with other women, especially her closeness to Pamela (Poison Ivy).  It also portrayed her as in between a hero and a villain, much like Catwoman. 

Unfortunately, there seems to have been a lot of inconsistency in developing Harley's character/personality over the years.  With DC Comics' New 52 reboot, Harley has another new, more violent personality; she's a member of the Suicide Squad; and she's wearing a much different costume.  She's also a lot more methodical and serious, which is kind of disappointing because her goofiness, innocence, and naivety were her biggest appealing qualities and what set her apart from other villainesses.  And, although I like the idea of her new costume, I think it could be a lot less skimpy/slutty.  Her former costume was head-to-toe covering, which seemed a little silly (like her), but the slutty look is a bit too extreme, too.  She's not Harley anymore, and she doesn't have that personality that would make me think she'd fall in love with the Joker.  

Now, in late 2013, Harley is being given a chance at a second solo monthly series.   DC Comics recently released Harley Quinn #0.  What should have been an origin story was kind of a throwaway issue.  It featured Harley breaking the fourth wall (like John Byrne successfully did with She-Hulk back in the 1980s) and going from scene to scene, but there didn't feel like there was any flow or story whatsoever.  It was basically a showcase for different artists.  A multitude of artists contributed to the issue, with the supposed hunt for a permanent artist for the series. Why Amanda Conner (one of the co-writers) doesn't illustrate it, I have no idea.  She did an AMAZING job with Before Watchmen's Silk Spectre, and it's evident from her cover art that she could produce a beautiful Harley Quinn comic. 

Anyway, I look forward to reading Harley's misadventures in her own comic outside of Suicide Squad, but I hope the zero issue wasn't any indication of how future issues will be.  Harley and her readers deserve better. 

A Villain's Beauty is Only Skin Deep

Another DC Comics' villains month has come and gone.  After DC Comics' Faces of Evil concept disappointed me in 2009, I had low expectations for the latest villains month event/gimmick in September 2013.  Then came all the hype and positive reviews for the 3-D lenticular covers, the news of their limited availability, and the mad dash to collect them all, even if it meant spending ten to one-hundred times their "value" on eBay (see The Joker's Daughter #1).  

Fortunately, all of mine came pre-ordered, so I wasn't involved with all of the hair-pulling and name-calling. My monthly shipment comics arrived at the end of September, and I was mesmerized by the covers.  They really were pretty awesome.  I've almost finished reading all of them and all I have to say is that their beauty is only skin deep.  Some are origin stories.  Some are present-day stories.  Pretty much all of them, though, have been average storytelling.  There was no consistency or cohesiveness to them.  It would have been better if they were either (a) all origin stories set in the past or (b) all set in the present-day New 52 world.  The only good thing about them is that there has been some decent artwork from artists I've never heard of before. 

Two of the most interesting villains issues I've read so far have been Poison Ivy #1 and Killer Croc #1.  Both are set in present day with flashbacks to when they were young.  Both present terrible events in their childhoods that give us insight into why they've become the villains they are today.  I felt sympathetic toward them; the events humanized them.  Additionally, the Poison Ivy comic did something very creative with its flashbacks.  It presented the art with an old-timey look in pastel colors.  This is the kind of comic I'd love to see blossom into a regular series, as it really gives us an in-depth look into the life of Pamela Isley.  

Conversely, my most anticipated read, The Joker's Daughter #1, was a complete letdown, thanks mostly in part to writer Ann Nocenti's inability to actually, um, write. Nocenti's already killed Green Arrow, Katana, and Catwoman for me.  So, let's give her another title and see what else she can fuck up.  Does she have some sort of blackmail against DC Comics' Powers-That-Be that keeps landing her regular gigs?  What should have been an introduction to a new, reinvented, creepy character just turned out to be a big, convoluted mess.  Don't just take my word for it, though.  

Maybe one year DC will actually get a Villains Month right.   What a wonderful month it would be to have dazzling covers mixed with well-written stories and terrific artwork.  But, seriously, why limit it to a month?   Shouldn't we always get these things for our hard-earned dollars?  With the abundance of untapped talent that's out there, why waste time on spotty storytelling and crappy art? 

Birds of Prey: the team that never was?

Third time's the charm?  After reading DC Comics' newest Birds of Prey #1 (volume three), I'm not so sure.  Was there never a Birds of Prey team before in the new DC Universe?  Apparently not.  And this time, they're made up of a bunch of bad-ass chicks.  Think Secret Six with only women.

In this first issue, we meet Black Canary and a new character by the name of Starling.  They're both on the run from the law.  Black Canary killed someone?  Hmmm...a mystery to be discovered.  And the tattooed Starling sounds like she's just a crazy bitch.  

Black Canary is trying to form a new team called the Birds of Prey.  She enlists Starling and pays a visit to Barbara Gordon, the old/new Batgirl.  At least they still have some sort of a past in the new DCU.  Dinah tries to enlist Babs, but Babs shoots her down, suggesting Katana (from the previous Outsiders) instead.  Black Canary isn't too keen on that suggestion (another mystery), but she must eventually invite her since Katana appears on the cover (although never in the issue itself).  Poison Ivy also appears on the cover, but never in the book (she doesn't even get a mention like Katana does).   I guess after the cancellation of her Gotham City Sirens, Harley Quinn going to the new Suicide Squad, and Catwoman getting her own series, DC wanted to give Poison Ivy some prevalence in a new series, too. 

I'm not totally sold on this newest incarnation of Birds of Prey, but I'll stick around a few issues to see if I like it any better.  I may just end up flying the coop.