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Harley Quinn (2013)
Harley Quinn, Volume 1: Hot in the City
Fresh from BATMAN: DEATH OF THE FAMILY and SUICIDE SQUAD, Harley Quinn returns to her first solo series in the New 52! The writing team of Jimmy Palmiotti (ALL STAR WESTERN) and Amanda Conner (BEFORE WATCHMEN: SILK SPECTRE) unleashed Harley on an unsuspecting DC Universe, as she encounters various heroes and villains ... and leaves no one unscathed in her wake! With art by Chad Hardin and a slew of comics' best artists including Darwyn Cooke, Sam Kieth, Tony S. Daniel, Paul Pope, Walter Simonson and Art Baltazar!
Collects: Harley Quinn #0-8.
Collects: Harley Quinn #0-8.
224 pages, Paperback
First published October 28, 2014
194 people are currently reading
5548 people want to read
About the author
Amanda Conner
799 books308 followersAmanda Conner started out in comics working small projects for Marvel and Archie while working as an illustrator for New York ad agencies Kornhauser and Calene and Kidvertisers. working a number of launches and campaigns such as Arm & Hammer, PlaySchool and Nickelodeon.
However, loving comic books and cartooning the most, Amanda found herself working for Marvel on their Barbie line (much of Amanda’s covers inspired designs for the line of Barbie toys), Disney line which included the Gargoyles books. At the same time she was illustrating “Soul Searchers & Co.” for Claypool Comics and worked on other Marvel projects, such as Excalibur for the X-Men line and “Suburban Jersey Ninja She-Devils”.
During an assignment for Crusade (‘Tomoe’) she and Jimmy Palmiotti became a real team as penciller/inker.
Amanda then moved on to do what is probably one of her best known works. She did several years as penciller on the hit series “Vampirella” for Harris Comics and drafted 24 issues. While illustrating “Vampirella”, Amanda worked with the top writers in the field, Grant Morrison, Mark Millar and Warren Ellis.
Continuing to expand her horizons, Amanda illustrated the best-selling crossover “Painkiller Jane vs. the Darkness”, and went on to work on “Painkiller Jane” #0 (the origin book). She also wrote and illustrated a story for “Kid Death and Fluffy”.
Since then, Amanda has worked on many of the top titles in comics such as “Lois Lane”, “Codename: Knockout”, and “Birds of Prey” for D.C. Comics Vertigo line, “X-Men Unlimited” for Marvel, co-created “Gatecrasher” for Blackbull Comics, and “The Pro”, an Eisner nominated creator owned book for Image Comics with Jimmy Palmiotti and Garth Ennis. Recently she worked on the highly publicized Before Watchmen: Silk Spectre series with Eisner winning creator Darwyn Cooke.
Amanda’s work can also be seen outside the comic book community in such places as ABC’S Nightline, the New York Times, Mad Magazine, the new sci-fi Stan lee “So You Want to be a Superhero” series and the upcoming Disney Underdog movie character designs for film and television, character designs for the Los Angeles Avengers stadium football team and is featured in a Biography magazine commercial on A&E. Amanda does spot illustrations in “Revolver” magazine each month and has had a huge success with the JSA Powergirl miniseries in previous years, each issue going into 3rd printings.
She continuously produces cover work for Marvel Comics, DC Comics and an assortment of independent titles.
With PaperFilms co-founder Jimmy Palmiotti, they are currently working on the highly received Harley Quinn series and other Harley Quinn related titles for DC Comics, in addition to several upcoming DC related projects. Garnering national attention and sales results, the team continues to receive accolades for their work on these titles. The new relaunch of Harley Quinn for DC in the Rebirth line garnered an estimated 250,000 copies ordered.
However, loving comic books and cartooning the most, Amanda found herself working for Marvel on their Barbie line (much of Amanda’s covers inspired designs for the line of Barbie toys), Disney line which included the Gargoyles books. At the same time she was illustrating “Soul Searchers & Co.” for Claypool Comics and worked on other Marvel projects, such as Excalibur for the X-Men line and “Suburban Jersey Ninja She-Devils”.
During an assignment for Crusade (‘Tomoe’) she and Jimmy Palmiotti became a real team as penciller/inker.
Amanda then moved on to do what is probably one of her best known works. She did several years as penciller on the hit series “Vampirella” for Harris Comics and drafted 24 issues. While illustrating “Vampirella”, Amanda worked with the top writers in the field, Grant Morrison, Mark Millar and Warren Ellis.
Continuing to expand her horizons, Amanda illustrated the best-selling crossover “Painkiller Jane vs. the Darkness”, and went on to work on “Painkiller Jane” #0 (the origin book). She also wrote and illustrated a story for “Kid Death and Fluffy”.
Since then, Amanda has worked on many of the top titles in comics such as “Lois Lane”, “Codename: Knockout”, and “Birds of Prey” for D.C. Comics Vertigo line, “X-Men Unlimited” for Marvel, co-created “Gatecrasher” for Blackbull Comics, and “The Pro”, an Eisner nominated creator owned book for Image Comics with Jimmy Palmiotti and Garth Ennis. Recently she worked on the highly publicized Before Watchmen: Silk Spectre series with Eisner winning creator Darwyn Cooke.
Amanda’s work can also be seen outside the comic book community in such places as ABC’S Nightline, the New York Times, Mad Magazine, the new sci-fi Stan lee “So You Want to be a Superhero” series and the upcoming Disney Underdog movie character designs for film and television, character designs for the Los Angeles Avengers stadium football team and is featured in a Biography magazine commercial on A&E. Amanda does spot illustrations in “Revolver” magazine each month and has had a huge success with the JSA Powergirl miniseries in previous years, each issue going into 3rd printings.
She continuously produces cover work for Marvel Comics, DC Comics and an assortment of independent titles.
With PaperFilms co-founder Jimmy Palmiotti, they are currently working on the highly received Harley Quinn series and other Harley Quinn related titles for DC Comics, in addition to several upcoming DC related projects. Garnering national attention and sales results, the team continues to receive accolades for their work on these titles. The new relaunch of Harley Quinn for DC in the Rebirth line garnered an estimated 250,000 copies ordered.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 796 reviews
June 3, 2022
(B+) 78% | Good
Notes: An oddity, the comedy's both dark and sprightly bright, some decent laughs: a great first half, the latter’s just alright.
Notes: An oddity, the comedy's both dark and sprightly bright, some decent laughs: a great first half, the latter’s just alright.
July 30, 2016
Time fer some whackin’ an’ some hackin’!
I got these in its single issues (including both edition of #0, regular and director’s cut) but I am choosing this edition to make a better overall review.
This TPB collects Harley Quinn (Vol.3) from #0 to #8 inclusive.
Creative Team:
Writers: Amanda Conner & Jimmy Palmiotti
Illustrators: Chad Hardin & Stephane Roux
NEW LIFE, SAME MADNESS
Awww... ...my cute little psycho.
Dr. Harleen Quinzel has been doing some jobs for the Suicide Squad, so she got that some people from above would clean her records and now she is ready for a new life.
While she is checking out her personal treasures in a storage locker in Louisiana, near of Belle Reve’s facilities, and after discover an explosive gift from her former lover (his name starts with “J”), she is contacted by a lawyer telling her that an anonymous client of that lawyers’ firm and that it’s supposed to be a former Arkham Asylum immate that was a patient of hers, passed away and left her a estate property in Coney Island, NY, as inheritance.
The property turns out to be big building of four stories with several different commerce establishments, like a freakshow, a burlesque and a wax museum, on the first floor; apartment rooms, on the second floor (where lives most of the people who work on the mentioned commerce establishments); a storage room with a lot of lumber, in the third floor; and for Harley’s own personal use, she has the fourth floor and also access to the roof.
But always there is a catch...
Harley, as the new owner, she is responsible for all back real estate taxes, insurance and maintenance. She collects rent from the commerce establishments and apartments, but even that it isn’t enough to keep up with the back debts and ongoing expenses for the building. (Yeah, it sucks to be finally a responsible adult)
So, Harley needs to look for a job!
Actually, two jobs, first, it’s good to have a doctorate in psychology (which she can put into practice again thanks for her secret service to the government) and second, it can helpful to have a natural talent for destruction.
So, Harley is able to find jobs to fit her two main work skills: first, as a therapist in a nursing home; and second, in a roller derby team.
Harleen Quinzel, Working Girl ... Whip it, baby!
Harley will call her good friend Dr. Pamela Isley (aka Poison Ivy) for some help in this and there, but also, Harley will meet new friends between the building’s tenants like Big Tony and Queenie.
But also she will meet other interesting and quite singular people in the story. Most of them will be able to survive the meetings.
And also she will get a lot of pets (most of them alive).
...you wanna meet my beaver?
However, it happens that a reward bounty is being offered on her head, and now she is having to kill off any dushbag that tries to make it talk with the fishes.
And you can bet that there will be a lot of killing and blood on the story, but don’t worry, all of them deserve it!
RIPPP
Actually, to be a “bad girl”, Harley seemed to kill only criminals on this book. Yeah, she is the protagonist of the comic book, but being the main character in a story doesn’t make you a “hero”, you can be quite well, a “villain” and still being the protagonist if the story is told from his/her angle.
Please disengage your tuchas from my schnoz...
This is a funny title, that anyway, I don’t think that anybody would pick a Harley Quinn comic book expecting to find any Shakespearean’s development. (Duh!)
Nevertheless, I think that some sub-arc that you will find in the middle of the main arc, involving some octogenarian former spies was kinda too odd, even for a Harley Quinn’s title and losing focus from the main angle that it’s showing Harley trying her best to have a “normal” life, working, hanging out with friends, etc...
But, in general, it was pretty funny, quite entertained and even better than I’d expected at first when I decided to buy the single comic book issues.
I got these in its single issues (including both edition of #0, regular and director’s cut) but I am choosing this edition to make a better overall review.
This TPB collects Harley Quinn (Vol.3) from #0 to #8 inclusive.
Creative Team:
Writers: Amanda Conner & Jimmy Palmiotti
Illustrators: Chad Hardin & Stephane Roux
NEW LIFE, SAME MADNESS
Awww... ...my cute little psycho.
Dr. Harleen Quinzel has been doing some jobs for the Suicide Squad, so she got that some people from above would clean her records and now she is ready for a new life.
While she is checking out her personal treasures in a storage locker in Louisiana, near of Belle Reve’s facilities, and after discover an explosive gift from her former lover (his name starts with “J”), she is contacted by a lawyer telling her that an anonymous client of that lawyers’ firm and that it’s supposed to be a former Arkham Asylum immate that was a patient of hers, passed away and left her a estate property in Coney Island, NY, as inheritance.
The property turns out to be big building of four stories with several different commerce establishments, like a freakshow, a burlesque and a wax museum, on the first floor; apartment rooms, on the second floor (where lives most of the people who work on the mentioned commerce establishments); a storage room with a lot of lumber, in the third floor; and for Harley’s own personal use, she has the fourth floor and also access to the roof.
But always there is a catch...
Harley, as the new owner, she is responsible for all back real estate taxes, insurance and maintenance. She collects rent from the commerce establishments and apartments, but even that it isn’t enough to keep up with the back debts and ongoing expenses for the building. (Yeah, it sucks to be finally a responsible adult)
So, Harley needs to look for a job!
Actually, two jobs, first, it’s good to have a doctorate in psychology (which she can put into practice again thanks for her secret service to the government) and second, it can helpful to have a natural talent for destruction.
So, Harley is able to find jobs to fit her two main work skills: first, as a therapist in a nursing home; and second, in a roller derby team.
Harleen Quinzel, Working Girl ... Whip it, baby!
Harley will call her good friend Dr. Pamela Isley (aka Poison Ivy) for some help in this and there, but also, Harley will meet new friends between the building’s tenants like Big Tony and Queenie.
But also she will meet other interesting and quite singular people in the story. Most of them will be able to survive the meetings.
And also she will get a lot of pets (most of them alive).
...you wanna meet my beaver?
However, it happens that a reward bounty is being offered on her head, and now she is having to kill off any dushbag that tries to make it talk with the fishes.
And you can bet that there will be a lot of killing and blood on the story, but don’t worry, all of them deserve it!
RIPPP
Actually, to be a “bad girl”, Harley seemed to kill only criminals on this book. Yeah, she is the protagonist of the comic book, but being the main character in a story doesn’t make you a “hero”, you can be quite well, a “villain” and still being the protagonist if the story is told from his/her angle.
Please disengage your tuchas from my schnoz...
This is a funny title, that anyway, I don’t think that anybody would pick a Harley Quinn comic book expecting to find any Shakespearean’s development. (Duh!)
Nevertheless, I think that some sub-arc that you will find in the middle of the main arc, involving some octogenarian former spies was kinda too odd, even for a Harley Quinn’s title and losing focus from the main angle that it’s showing Harley trying her best to have a “normal” life, working, hanging out with friends, etc...
But, in general, it was pretty funny, quite entertained and even better than I’d expected at first when I decided to buy the single comic book issues.
April 12, 2022
Read as a digital arc. Thank you NetGalley and the publishers!
So, I didn't like it.
The first issue was this somewhat interesting Dream Sequence, in which Harley has this 'conversation with the writers', and together they try out artists for her comic book.
I say somewhat interesting, because there was no real story here, but it was fun to see the different artists switch things up from page to page.
Here are a few examples:
Art Baltazar
Adam Hughes
Darwyn Cooke
So. There was that. And even though it didn't do anything plot-wise, I had fun Googling some of the artists that I didn't recognize.
In fact, that first little bit is the only reason I'm not give the entire volume 1 star, because after that it quickly went downhill.
Quick test.
Do you like slapstick?
Yes? Then you might enjoy this one.
Unfortunately, I have a low tolerance for sight gags.
So, after a while?
This:
Started to look like, well...
This:
And, hey, if you like that sort of thing?
Then, by all means, grab your poncho and pull up a seat.
Alrighty, the next question you need to ask yourself is this:
How badly do you want to see Harley and Ivy make out?
Again, personally, I liked that these two were friends (without benefits), but there's enough lesbian H&I fanfic out there to convince me that I may be in the minority with this one.
Whoa!
Down boys! And girls!
It's not like you're going to get to see a money shot. However, lots and lots of innuendoes later, it looks like these ladies have taken their relationship to the 'next level'.
Anyway.
Harley befriends a psychotic old man, gets a bunch of pets, sleepwalks, and accidentally swallows some of Ivy's date rape seeds.
Yum.
There are a few funny/memorable scenes, but not enough to make me want to recommend it to anyone.
I'm sure plenty of readers will love this, but it just wasn't my cuppa.
So, I didn't like it.
The first issue was this somewhat interesting Dream Sequence, in which Harley has this 'conversation with the writers', and together they try out artists for her comic book.
I say somewhat interesting, because there was no real story here, but it was fun to see the different artists switch things up from page to page.
Here are a few examples:
Art Baltazar
Adam Hughes
Darwyn Cooke
So. There was that. And even though it didn't do anything plot-wise, I had fun Googling some of the artists that I didn't recognize.
In fact, that first little bit is the only reason I'm not give the entire volume 1 star, because after that it quickly went downhill.
Quick test.
Do you like slapstick?
Yes? Then you might enjoy this one.
Unfortunately, I have a low tolerance for sight gags.
So, after a while?
This:
Started to look like, well...
This:
And, hey, if you like that sort of thing?
Then, by all means, grab your poncho and pull up a seat.
Alrighty, the next question you need to ask yourself is this:
How badly do you want to see Harley and Ivy make out?
Again, personally, I liked that these two were friends (without benefits), but there's enough lesbian H&I fanfic out there to convince me that I may be in the minority with this one.
Whoa!
Down boys! And girls!
It's not like you're going to get to see a money shot. However, lots and lots of innuendoes later, it looks like these ladies have taken their relationship to the 'next level'.
Anyway.
Harley befriends a psychotic old man, gets a bunch of pets, sleepwalks, and accidentally swallows some of Ivy's date rape seeds.
Yum.
There are a few funny/memorable scenes, but not enough to make me want to recommend it to anyone.
I'm sure plenty of readers will love this, but it just wasn't my cuppa.
May 18, 2018
Cramathon read #3: COMPLETE!
This was honestly so fucking great. I found myself laughing out loud SO MANY TIMES. I'm so glad that I finally decided to delve into the DC Universe and I will definitely be continuing on.
This was honestly so fucking great. I found myself laughing out loud SO MANY TIMES. I'm so glad that I finally decided to delve into the DC Universe and I will definitely be continuing on.
August 7, 2016
Fun rendition of Harley Quinn's adventures. What I love about her is that she has her own sense of right and wrong and a warped but unique moral compass. This was portrayed very well here. The art was beautiful with rich coloring and detailed paneling. The shadows and lights were seriously impressive. The different threads of the story line were interwoven collaboratively into a collective that made sense in its unique HQ way. The secondary characters and their interactions with HQ allowed for the artists to show depth to her personality. All in all a great read and a good reminder of why I love Harley Quinn so much.
April 21, 2017
Harley is my girl. I've loved her since she was created for Batman: The Animated Series and I'll read/play/watch anything she's in. I can understand why people might not like her, but for me she's a fascinating character. She also was a real doctor so we'll get moments like this:
She's smart but that's often buried under the insanity. And when she finds someone that threatens her, her friends, or animals they often meet a bloody end. This series is wonderfully gory and over the top and I enjoyed every page.
It's fun that this is set in NYC instead of Gotham because otherwise Batman would mess up her fun. I'm also glad that her character design on the cover doesn't carry over to the insides because there's just something about her face I don't like.
She's smart but that's often buried under the insanity. And when she finds someone that threatens her, her friends, or animals they often meet a bloody end. This series is wonderfully gory and over the top and I enjoyed every page.
It's fun that this is set in NYC instead of Gotham because otherwise Batman would mess up her fun. I'm also glad that her character design on the cover doesn't carry over to the insides because there's just something about her face I don't like.
May 25, 2016
I was really enjoying this until about 2/3 of the way in. Then I started feeling nauseous, like I'd eaten too much candy or something.
The beginning is great! The art is gorgeous! Harley is insane! I love gorgeous and insane. And I like Harley (when she's minus the Joker, as she is here).
Good, great. The beginning is really meta, with Harley fantasizing about getting her own comic and a dozen or so artists coming in and trying out their different styles and scenarios for her.
Good, great. Then Harley mysteriously inherits a property. And rescues a little dachshund that she sees being dragged around and ignored by his owner. Assassins are after her, and she murders them.
All of this is gory bloody brainless good fun. I never knew Harley was such an animal lover, but they really played it up in this collection. I think they did this more to give her an excuse to often pair off with her bff Poison Ivy.
Harley Quinn befriends Big Tony, a tenant of hers. She gets two jobs and busts her ass in order to pay rent. This is very... normal of her. It's strange. It's strange to see Harley holding down two jobs and working hard to keep a roof over her head.
Especially since she's OBVIOUSLY not adverse to murdering people or maiming them when they annoy her. There's no reason for this woman to work, is what I'm saying. She's no upstanding citizen, is what I'm saying. I'm not sure if this kind of "daily grind" thing is to try and make Harley more relatable... or what, but it's strange.
But not unlikable.
However, after a while the comic starts falling apart. Like when Harley
Then, just when you think things couldn't get any worse, there's this giant poop catapult... No, I said A GIANT POOP CATAPULT, yes, you heard me correctly. I just... I can't... I don't... NO.
There's some really cute and cool stuff here. Poison + Harley, Harley riding a horror house ride, Harley raiding a kill shelter, Harley as Han Solo (this was great!) etc. etc. But the comic soon devolved from "cute and funny, if crass and gory" to "we're trying too hard!" and "this is funny, right? FUNNY! Laugh, goshdarn you!" very quickly, ending in a kind of disgusting, unfunny, failure way.
...
Tl;dr - I really like Harley when she's on her own, and there's a lot of potential here. Cute, funny, but also scary as hell - Harley can really pack a punch when in the right hands. However, this did NOT go well. It's as if the writers were just trying desperately to come up with stuff and wrote down ANYTHING that came into their heads without thinking it through. It's okay for HARLEY to act like a 12-year-old, but the people behind the scenes are going to have to actually do adult work if they want this comic to succeed. For example, perhaps vetoing some ideas instead of giving the greenlight to EVERYTHING that pops into their minds.
P.S. Harley Quinn in roller derby makes complete and utter sense.
The beginning is great! The art is gorgeous! Harley is insane! I love gorgeous and insane. And I like Harley (when she's minus the Joker, as she is here).
Good, great. The beginning is really meta, with Harley fantasizing about getting her own comic and a dozen or so artists coming in and trying out their different styles and scenarios for her.
Good, great. Then Harley mysteriously inherits a property. And rescues a little dachshund that she sees being dragged around and ignored by his owner. Assassins are after her, and she murders them.
All of this is
Harley Quinn befriends Big Tony, a tenant of hers. She gets two jobs and busts her ass in order to pay rent. This is very... normal of her. It's strange. It's strange to see Harley holding down two jobs and working hard to keep a roof over her head.
Especially since she's OBVIOUSLY not adverse to murdering people or maiming them when they annoy her. There's no reason for this woman to work, is what I'm saying. She's no upstanding citizen, is what I'm saying. I'm not sure if this kind of "daily grind" thing is to try and make Harley more relatable... or what, but it's strange.
But not unlikable.
However, after a while the comic starts falling apart. Like when Harley
Then, just when you think things couldn't get any worse, there's this giant poop catapult... No, I said A GIANT POOP CATAPULT, yes, you heard me correctly. I just... I can't... I don't... NO.
There's some really cute and cool stuff here. Poison + Harley, Harley riding a horror house ride, Harley raiding a kill shelter, Harley as Han Solo (this was great!) etc. etc. But the comic soon devolved from "cute and funny, if crass and gory" to "we're trying too hard!" and "this is funny, right? FUNNY! Laugh, goshdarn you!" very quickly, ending in a kind of disgusting, unfunny, failure way.
...
Tl;dr - I really like Harley when she's on her own, and there's a lot of potential here. Cute, funny, but also scary as hell - Harley can really pack a punch when in the right hands. However, this did NOT go well. It's as if the writers were just trying desperately to come up with stuff and wrote down ANYTHING that came into their heads without thinking it through. It's okay for HARLEY to act like a 12-year-old, but the people behind the scenes are going to have to actually do adult work if they want this comic to succeed. For example, perhaps vetoing some ideas instead of giving the greenlight to EVERYTHING that pops into their minds.
P.S. Harley Quinn in roller derby makes complete and utter sense.
January 11, 2016
Crazier Than a Sack o’ Rabid Monkeys!
According to Wikipedia, the comic-book character Harley Quinn was first introduced to the DC Universe in 1992 via TV’s Batman: The Animated Series, and was only subsequently added to the comic-book canon. I have never watched much Batman on TV myself, and most of the Batman comics I’ve read are from the 1940’s, so I’m no Harley Quinn expert. When I picked up this first volume of the New 52 relaunch, I was hoping for nothing more and nothing less than an accessible, entertaining introduction to the character.
What I got is less than that, I’m afraid. Granted, the stories are accessible enough, feature a few vaguely entertaining scenes, and do not really have the ambition to deliver anything but perfectly harmless silly fun. And yet… I don’t know, I still have no idea who Harley Quinn is or what the point of any of this is supposed to be, really. I mean, all those flimsy little characters and over-the-top situations make so little sense that the whole thing ultimately feels rather random and shallow to me. The stories could easily be described as both feminist and sexist, empowering and exploitative, self-reflexive and clichéd… I guess they could also serve as examples of third-wave feminism or postmodernism, but I've always felt that stories designed to have it both ways in order to appeal to as wide an audience as possible are for the birds.
The Harley Quinn of Hot in the City comes across quite a bit like a postmodern, short-tempered, homicidal version of DC’s much more peace-loving proto-feminist of the Golden Age, Wonder Woman. During the WWII years, Wonder Woman was DC’s only remaining social crusader, heroically standing up for the rights of women, workers, children, the elderly, animals, even plants. Harley Quinn also has a little social crusader inside her, it seems. Sadly, she is ultimately cast as a super-villain of the nutty variety: “I swear that girl is crazier than a sack o’ rabid monkeys.” Tells you something about mass-media portrayals of activism these days, doesn't it?
According to Wikipedia, the comic-book character Harley Quinn was first introduced to the DC Universe in 1992 via TV’s Batman: The Animated Series, and was only subsequently added to the comic-book canon. I have never watched much Batman on TV myself, and most of the Batman comics I’ve read are from the 1940’s, so I’m no Harley Quinn expert. When I picked up this first volume of the New 52 relaunch, I was hoping for nothing more and nothing less than an accessible, entertaining introduction to the character.
What I got is less than that, I’m afraid. Granted, the stories are accessible enough, feature a few vaguely entertaining scenes, and do not really have the ambition to deliver anything but perfectly harmless silly fun. And yet… I don’t know, I still have no idea who Harley Quinn is or what the point of any of this is supposed to be, really. I mean, all those flimsy little characters and over-the-top situations make so little sense that the whole thing ultimately feels rather random and shallow to me. The stories could easily be described as both feminist and sexist, empowering and exploitative, self-reflexive and clichéd… I guess they could also serve as examples of third-wave feminism or postmodernism, but I've always felt that stories designed to have it both ways in order to appeal to as wide an audience as possible are for the birds.
The Harley Quinn of Hot in the City comes across quite a bit like a postmodern, short-tempered, homicidal version of DC’s much more peace-loving proto-feminist of the Golden Age, Wonder Woman. During the WWII years, Wonder Woman was DC’s only remaining social crusader, heroically standing up for the rights of women, workers, children, the elderly, animals, even plants. Harley Quinn also has a little social crusader inside her, it seems. Sadly, she is ultimately cast as a super-villain of the nutty variety: “I swear that girl is crazier than a sack o’ rabid monkeys.” Tells you something about mass-media portrayals of activism these days, doesn't it?
May 22, 2014
Looking at DC objectively right now, besides a great many other, bigger fixes, they need a few things: 1) with the Joker going AWOL at the end of Death of the Family, they need a prominent clown character as they’re kind of known for that, 2) they need a female character series to at least attempt to balance out the overwhelmingly male centric titles, and 3) they desperately need a fun character – too many New 52 titles are dark, grim, gritty and miserable. So it makes perfect sense to give Harley Quinn her own series as she ticks all of those boxes – and whaddayaknow? This is the first (non-Scott Snyder/Grant Morrison) New 52 title in a while that’s really enjoyable… or at least half of it is anyway.
Because while the series starts on a high with the #0 issue where multiple artists draw the comic and Harley has a brilliant back and forth convo with Jimmy Palmiotti and Amanda Conner, each issue gets progressively worse so that it became a real struggle to make it through the last chapter.
But let’s talk about the good first half because it really is good. Harley’s sat in her storage locker, reading comics and eating junk food before going into a sugar coma where she imagines herself as different things – a rock star, a ninja, a giant robot, etc. – with each page being drawn by an amazing artist. I won’t list all 17 but you’ve got legendary artists like Walt Simonson, Bruce Timm and Darwyn Cooke rubbing shoulders with Becky Cloonan, Tony Daniel and the main artist on this title, Chad Hardin, with the co-writer of the series, Amanda Conner, contributing pages too. Suffice it to say this is a great looking comic and, with Harley breaking the fourth wall a la Deadpool, really fun too.
(This is also the issue where some readers might remember there being controversy when DC asked people to send in drawings of Harley Quinn committing suicide. In the context of this issue, it’s actually a pun on her former team book, Suicide Squad, which is brilliant and suits the silly nature of this issue, as opposed to the idea that DC were making light of the act of suicide, which is how it looked because they didn’t explain it well enough. Oh DC, another ham-fisted PR move!)
From then we get the setup of the series: a former patient of Harley’s at Arkham Asylum has passed away and left her his four storey building in Coney Island. Harley, as new owner, is to be the landlord to a group of misfits who (of course) run a murderer’s museum on the ground floor of the building and a weird avant-garde/violent stage show. She also takes a job as a psychiatrist to help stay afloat and joins a roller derby team because, well, a gal’s gotta have a hobby and she’s pretty much the ultimate roller derby chick already! Oh and someone’s put a hit out on her so she’s got assassins on her tail too, and somewhere in there is a talking dead beaver only she can hear (surprising to find a dearth of “stuffed beaver” jokes made).
Phew, you can’t accuse ol’ Harley for not having enough going on in this book!
The first coupla issues are fun and over the top – Harley meets her new cast of supporting characters and her old buddy (and ambiguous “partner”?) Poison Ivy shows up to help her liberate an animal shelter, moving them into Harley’s new pad. There’s a lot going on here but they’re very enjoyable comics – well written, chaotically creative, delightful art, awesome!
Then the rot sets in.
The Valentine’s Day issue has Harley feeling lonely so she swallows a berry Ivy gave her to make her irresistible to the opposite sex. But it works too well and, wouldn’t you know it, she’s suddenly attracted a group of prisoners who’ll pursue her to death! It’s an ok issue and tonally it’s just right, but it felt too much like the Valentine’s Day issue of Dustin Nguyen’s Li’l Gotham, with Harley in place of Joker, which took away from my enjoyment of it because it no longer felt fresh and original (to be fair, Palmiotti told me on Twitter that he’d never read the Li’l Gotham issue so it was just a coincidence).
Then the next chapter is basically an issue-length joke centring around a senile granny that isn’t funny, and the book ends with a two-part caper as Harley teams up with one of her patients at the psychiatric hospital she works, Sy Borgman, who turns out to be a retired superspy with robotic parts: Syborg.
Harley ends up playing second fiddle to this Yiddish-spouting Inspector Gadget-type as the two kill multiple geriatric characters because… well, I won’t say why but the payoff is really disappointing. And the whole reason Harley’s helping him – to try to get the hit on her taken off – doesn’t go anywhere either. By the end when a group of old gangsters are shooting at this wheelchair-ridden oldie, I realised I didn’t care what was happening on the page – and why’s Harley all but disappeared in her own comic?! What happened to all those other plot threads – why not pursue those instead of doing this dull Cold War cartoonish storyline?
The first Harley Quinn volume is definitely worth a look, if only for being a much more fun DC title than we’ve had from them in a while, but also for the really excellent first half of the book. It loses steam and inspiration from then on in but it’s done enough to stand out from other DC New 52 titles so that, even if I’m not going to pick up the single issues from now on, I’ll probably be back for the second trade paperback to see what she’s been up to.
Giant mallet lovers will adore this.
Because while the series starts on a high with the #0 issue where multiple artists draw the comic and Harley has a brilliant back and forth convo with Jimmy Palmiotti and Amanda Conner, each issue gets progressively worse so that it became a real struggle to make it through the last chapter.
But let’s talk about the good first half because it really is good. Harley’s sat in her storage locker, reading comics and eating junk food before going into a sugar coma where she imagines herself as different things – a rock star, a ninja, a giant robot, etc. – with each page being drawn by an amazing artist. I won’t list all 17 but you’ve got legendary artists like Walt Simonson, Bruce Timm and Darwyn Cooke rubbing shoulders with Becky Cloonan, Tony Daniel and the main artist on this title, Chad Hardin, with the co-writer of the series, Amanda Conner, contributing pages too. Suffice it to say this is a great looking comic and, with Harley breaking the fourth wall a la Deadpool, really fun too.
(This is also the issue where some readers might remember there being controversy when DC asked people to send in drawings of Harley Quinn committing suicide. In the context of this issue, it’s actually a pun on her former team book, Suicide Squad, which is brilliant and suits the silly nature of this issue, as opposed to the idea that DC were making light of the act of suicide, which is how it looked because they didn’t explain it well enough. Oh DC, another ham-fisted PR move!)
From then we get the setup of the series: a former patient of Harley’s at Arkham Asylum has passed away and left her his four storey building in Coney Island. Harley, as new owner, is to be the landlord to a group of misfits who (of course) run a murderer’s museum on the ground floor of the building and a weird avant-garde/violent stage show. She also takes a job as a psychiatrist to help stay afloat and joins a roller derby team because, well, a gal’s gotta have a hobby and she’s pretty much the ultimate roller derby chick already! Oh and someone’s put a hit out on her so she’s got assassins on her tail too, and somewhere in there is a talking dead beaver only she can hear (surprising to find a dearth of “stuffed beaver” jokes made).
Phew, you can’t accuse ol’ Harley for not having enough going on in this book!
The first coupla issues are fun and over the top – Harley meets her new cast of supporting characters and her old buddy (and ambiguous “partner”?) Poison Ivy shows up to help her liberate an animal shelter, moving them into Harley’s new pad. There’s a lot going on here but they’re very enjoyable comics – well written, chaotically creative, delightful art, awesome!
Then the rot sets in.
The Valentine’s Day issue has Harley feeling lonely so she swallows a berry Ivy gave her to make her irresistible to the opposite sex. But it works too well and, wouldn’t you know it, she’s suddenly attracted a group of prisoners who’ll pursue her to death! It’s an ok issue and tonally it’s just right, but it felt too much like the Valentine’s Day issue of Dustin Nguyen’s Li’l Gotham, with Harley in place of Joker, which took away from my enjoyment of it because it no longer felt fresh and original (to be fair, Palmiotti told me on Twitter that he’d never read the Li’l Gotham issue so it was just a coincidence).
Then the next chapter is basically an issue-length joke centring around a senile granny that isn’t funny, and the book ends with a two-part caper as Harley teams up with one of her patients at the psychiatric hospital she works, Sy Borgman, who turns out to be a retired superspy with robotic parts: Syborg.
Harley ends up playing second fiddle to this Yiddish-spouting Inspector Gadget-type as the two kill multiple geriatric characters because… well, I won’t say why but the payoff is really disappointing. And the whole reason Harley’s helping him – to try to get the hit on her taken off – doesn’t go anywhere either. By the end when a group of old gangsters are shooting at this wheelchair-ridden oldie, I realised I didn’t care what was happening on the page – and why’s Harley all but disappeared in her own comic?! What happened to all those other plot threads – why not pursue those instead of doing this dull Cold War cartoonish storyline?
The first Harley Quinn volume is definitely worth a look, if only for being a much more fun DC title than we’ve had from them in a while, but also for the really excellent first half of the book. It loses steam and inspiration from then on in but it’s done enough to stand out from other DC New 52 titles so that, even if I’m not going to pick up the single issues from now on, I’ll probably be back for the second trade paperback to see what she’s been up to.
Giant mallet lovers will adore this.
March 18, 2019
"I got energy to burn . . . or mutilate . . . or whatever." -- Harley Quinn
Just ridiculous, trashy fun. It's Harley Quinn - would those familiar with her expect anything more?
The psychiatrist-turned-homicidal Gal Friday to the Joker splits from Gotham City after she inherits a multi-story building in the Coney Island section of Brooklyn. From there out the 'plot' is basically a clothesline to hang on the zany though occasionally darkly-humored vignettes. Quinn works as a therapist at a retirement facility, a jammer for a roller-derby team (watch out for her signature over-sized mallet!), and of course landlord. Additionally, she routinely dodges assassination attempts and also assists an elderly but spry former secret agent track down "a pack of miscreants [that are] still out there." Oh, and she also rescues hundreds animals from a closing pet adoption office to start her own unofficial humane society. Then there's the issue of dealing with all of said animals' waste . . .
Look, it's not great literature (or even necessarily a great graphic novel) -- but when the off-the-wall gross-out humor works it works, and some of the parodies (the Han Solo / Greedo cantina scene in Star Wars: A New Hope, the violent pawn shop scene in Pulp Fiction) were particularly inspired.
Just ridiculous, trashy fun. It's Harley Quinn - would those familiar with her expect anything more?
The psychiatrist-turned-homicidal Gal Friday to the Joker splits from Gotham City after she inherits a multi-story building in the Coney Island section of Brooklyn. From there out the 'plot' is basically a clothesline to hang on the zany though occasionally darkly-humored vignettes. Quinn works as a therapist at a retirement facility, a jammer for a roller-derby team (watch out for her signature over-sized mallet!), and of course landlord. Additionally, she routinely dodges assassination attempts and also assists an elderly but spry former secret agent track down "a pack of miscreants [that are] still out there." Oh, and she also rescues hundreds animals from a closing pet adoption office to start her own unofficial humane society. Then there's the issue of dealing with all of said animals' waste . . .
Look, it's not great literature (or even necessarily a great graphic novel) -- but when the off-the-wall gross-out humor works it works, and some of the parodies (the Han Solo / Greedo cantina scene in Star Wars: A New Hope, the violent pawn shop scene in Pulp Fiction) were particularly inspired.
September 7, 2015
Harley Quinn is the love of my life.
March 24, 2015
Ok guys, here is my rather late contribution to Sidekicks week.
As one may reasonably deduce from the rating, I disliked this book with every fiber of my being. It is a well known fact that in order to be a good comics fan, you must:
(a) enjoy gratuitous violence
(b) not expect anything bordering on a plot unless as a last resort
(c) be prepared for all sorts of wild weirdness in the art
Or that's what the Harley Quinn writers seem to think anyway. And to some extent, I am pretty much a person who reads comics for swashbuckling fun. Batman can keep his grim storylines and dark themes. I want some good ol' fashioned brawling, dammit! That said, I didn't sign up for this particular perfidy. JUST WHAT ON EARTH IS HAPPENING IN THIS BOOK?!
Let's attack all the things I didn't like one by one.
Firstly, as you guessed, the insane amount of killing that takes place. I get that it's supposed to be dark humor and that this is Harley's appeal and she's a maniac, blah blah blah, but seriously, is there any need for people to die in literally every page? Bystanders that clearly have nothing to do with Harley and the plot just die. How is that supposed to be entertaining? This is coming from a person who watched The Raid and enjoyed it, so imagine how bad things are. I can feel the writer's need to be shocking coming off in waves. So we get this:
Please. Cuddly animals drenched in blood? Should I feel something? No, the dogs eating a dude did not bother me. Yes, I was filing my nails at the time.
Then there is the plot. Or the utter lack of one. Your pick. When the story starts, we have Harley hallucinating about the writers in what is clearly an attempt to make it Deadpool-esque, but is just dead. It's incredibly boring. Then for the remainder of the book, Harley rescues animals, collects rent, roller-derbies, and generally hits on Poison Ivy. I think. There is a brief interval of some rehashed kill-the-KGB plot with an old man that leads to this horror scene...
*beep*
For censorship and mostly technical reasons, this image will not be put up directly in the review.
Link here: https://drive.google.com/open?id=0Bzi...
Note: this reviewer has nothing against geriatric romances, just the way this is depicted.
The graphics are nothing to write home about. It's cute. That's about it.
So do I recommend this? Not by any stretch of the imagination, especially after the ridiculous fashion in which it ends. In fact, what I would do...
*someone screams and blood spatters*
Get this review and more at:
As one may reasonably deduce from the rating, I disliked this book with every fiber of my being. It is a well known fact that in order to be a good comics fan, you must:
(a) enjoy gratuitous violence
(b) not expect anything bordering on a plot unless as a last resort
(c) be prepared for all sorts of wild weirdness in the art
Or that's what the Harley Quinn writers seem to think anyway. And to some extent, I am pretty much a person who reads comics for swashbuckling fun. Batman can keep his grim storylines and dark themes. I want some good ol' fashioned brawling, dammit! That said, I didn't sign up for this particular perfidy. JUST WHAT ON EARTH IS HAPPENING IN THIS BOOK?!
Let's attack all the things I didn't like one by one.
Firstly, as you guessed, the insane amount of killing that takes place. I get that it's supposed to be dark humor and that this is Harley's appeal and she's a maniac, blah blah blah, but seriously, is there any need for people to die in literally every page? Bystanders that clearly have nothing to do with Harley and the plot just die. How is that supposed to be entertaining? This is coming from a person who watched The Raid and enjoyed it, so imagine how bad things are. I can feel the writer's need to be shocking coming off in waves. So we get this:
Please. Cuddly animals drenched in blood? Should I feel something? No, the dogs eating a dude did not bother me. Yes, I was filing my nails at the time.
Then there is the plot. Or the utter lack of one. Your pick. When the story starts, we have Harley hallucinating about the writers in what is clearly an attempt to make it Deadpool-esque, but is just dead. It's incredibly boring. Then for the remainder of the book, Harley rescues animals, collects rent, roller-derbies, and generally hits on Poison Ivy. I think. There is a brief interval of some rehashed kill-the-KGB plot with an old man that leads to this horror scene...
*beep*
For censorship and mostly technical reasons, this image will not be put up directly in the review.
Link here: https://drive.google.com/open?id=0Bzi...
Note: this reviewer has nothing against geriatric romances, just the way this is depicted.
The graphics are nothing to write home about. It's cute. That's about it.
So do I recommend this? Not by any stretch of the imagination, especially after the ridiculous fashion in which it ends. In fact, what I would do...
*someone screams and blood spatters*
Get this review and more at:
January 28, 2015
It's no surprise this was far from sane or sedate. Harley Quinn can lay claim to neither. I really liked the artwork, the look of the character and the bright color throughout. Both were gorgeous. I really liked how they had every artist who ever drew Harley draw some panels near the beginning. I think the story stays true to Harley's antiheroic, if not villainous nature, without her coming out as overtly psychopathic. I freely admit I am squeamish about overtly psychopathic/sociopathic lead characters.
I'd have to give this 3.5/5.0 stars because there were some parts I didn't much care for, and some segments that were downright bizarre. This book is not for people who flinch at violence or have an issue with the liberal disposition of doggie doo (that part was gross). I think that Harley is humanized by her affection for animals and her tolerance/adoption of the misfits that rent the building she inherits. But readers who like women who are doing their thing and if you're curious about Harley Quinn as her own person outside of being Joker's main squeeze/acolyte (another thing I liked that the Joker was not around in this).
Would I read the next volume? Sure, if my library gets it. I'd love to get my hand on some Gotham City Sirens.
I'd have to give this 3.5/5.0 stars because there were some parts I didn't much care for, and some segments that were downright bizarre. This book is not for people who flinch at violence or have an issue with the liberal disposition of doggie doo (that part was gross). I think that Harley is humanized by her affection for animals and her tolerance/adoption of the misfits that rent the building she inherits. But readers who like women who are doing their thing and if you're curious about Harley Quinn as her own person outside of being Joker's main squeeze/acolyte (another thing I liked that the Joker was not around in this).
Would I read the next volume? Sure, if my library gets it. I'd love to get my hand on some Gotham City Sirens.
November 12, 2014
~TRIGGER WARNING: date rape, sexual assault, transphobia, rape, violence against women, queer baiting
I can't begin to describe my love for Harley Quinn. As one third of the Gotham City Sirens, she already has a long history of being an incredibly smart woman, who interned at Arkham Asylum, and began falling in love with the Joker. The Joker then Manipulates then Harleen Quinzel into setting him free.There are differing ways that she is introduced as a villain--my favourite being, funnily enough, the New 52 origin, where we are shown the Joker throwing Harleen into a vat of acid. The reason why I like the New 52 version is because it shows that Harley begins her new life as a battered woman. After this, ever encounter she has with the Joker from thereon, he hurts her, mentally and physically, and manipulates her. It creates the building blocks for what could be the beginning of a story that discusses the violence within relationships. After all, Gotham City Sirens deals with the her best friends, Selina and Ivy, helping Harleen through the break up, and who talk her out of getting back with him, reminding her that he has tried to kill her several times, often for no reason.
In the New 52 series, I volume 3 of Suicide Squad, we are shown a very grim scene where Joker is mentally playing with her feelings, knowing very well how much she dotes on him. Any romance that has ever been between Harley and Joker has now turned into an abusive relationship, and I'll never be able to stomach the people who ship the two of them. In fact, we re also shown that Harleen isn't the first 'Harley Quinn'. There are other girls that he has tortured and left to die. Harley is forced to break her wrists and bite her forearm to lubricate the shackles that he has imprisoning her. Thus begins the start of a discussion on how Harley is a victim of abuse, and could be the potential catalyst that DC can use to start being progressive, by showing a battered woman overcome her abuser, and still be a super funny, super cute--and a bit kooky--super villain.
Now, after two paragraphs of info dumping and digressing, let's talk about this new version of Harley Quinn.
I was so fucking excited to read this book. I read each issue religiously as it came out each month. But the more I read, the less I began to like this new Harley. Ignoring the ridiculous over-sexualisation of her costume, her entire character has been drastically changed. Everything written in the New 52, where she promises herself to get over Joker, when she finally realises that he's an abuser--all of this doesn't exist in Ammanda Connor's and Jimmy Palmiotti's world. None of her character progression exists any more in this comic. This is a brand new Harley Quinn, and this is a Harley that actually makes me feel sick because of the blatant triggering.
I'm going to focus on a single issue to show just how awful this series is. In #3, the Valentine issue, I came across something that triggered me into panic attacks and depression, that caused me to be mentally comatose for about a week.
The issue features Harley eating a berry from a plant that Ivy leaves her, and the berry makes her amazingly attractive to everyone. Sounds like some silly hijinks could happen, right?
Apparently not.
A bus carrying convicts crashes, and that’s where the shit has hit the fan.
They start falling in love with her. They tell her how they want to do sexual things with her. And hurt her at the same time. And this whole scene is supposed to be funny, because Harley is running around saying “oh crap oh crap”, and runs to a hardware store to fight them off with some crazy tools.
This last panel shows extreme violence towards women, and it's all very uncomfortable, and brings up bad thoughts.
I had to stop during the scene to start crying, because just the sexual violence was too much, and added to the the light comedic edge… well, it just felt like they were making a joke about it.
But I read on, because I was hoping that these criminals get their comeuppance. Thankfully, they do. Quite violently, which I approve of.
But then, a cop comes up to Harley and makes out with her. Just out of the blue. That’s sexual harassment, by the way. Harley didn’t consent to it. Just because the cop was a woman, I’ve seen people squee about the sapphic tones of the comic as a whole, but I think this makes for bad representation for lesbians.
And finally, just when I think that things couldn’t get any worse—by this point I’ve already thrown up on myself, I’m already shaking and having flashbacks, but I read on, hoping that there are consequences—and Harley gives her friend, Big Tony, the very same berry that caused her to almost be raped, that almost caused her to be tortured. She gives him the berry because he thinks that he has a chance with a girl that he likes. Which means, that she’ll be falling in “love” with him against her will. If they have sex, which I’m sure they will, it will be RAPE. She might as well have been administered the date rape drug and forced into it. And if you don’t even take that into consideration, her male friend is also in danger of being raped by randoms that he comes across.
And at the very end, Harley pats herself on the back for playing Cupid? What the fuck? No. After everything that she’d been through, and she’s fine with making her friend go through with it?
Right now, I feel like I’m dying. I feel like I’m being raped all over again. I can feel it. I can see it happening. My brain is making me see things that I can’t possibly be remembering, since I was heavily unconscious at the time.
Everything about this comic is awful and harmful, and so ridiculously callous and unfeeling in how they make their jokes.
If that one issue doesn't put you off the entire comic, then there are plenty of other issues that are just as tasteless and offensive towards women and transpeople, and there are instances of queer baiting--trying to put Harley and Ivy into sort of romantic positions, but told very loudly by Palmiotti that they're just friends.
I came into Harley Quinn because I was amazed that DC was going to have another female leading her own series, and written by a woman. She was essentially a girl written by a girl for girls, and that's so rare in DC. It felt so amazing hearing that DC was finally starting to acknowledge that they have a HUGE female fanbase, and this comic shows how little they care for this fanbase. Each joke is misogynistic. Harley joins a roller derby team--which, yes, is at its heart a violent game--but all the jokes are about how bitchy the other team is, so it's Harley's job to beat them up so violently while making jokes about it. Using violent techniques that are technically not allowed in derby.
Basically, enter at your own risk. Since it's aimed at women, and women are more sensitive to this sort of thing because violence and date rape is something we have to worry about, I just want everyone to be aware of what they're getting into, so that no one ends up violently triggered like I was
TL;DR: a comic aimed at women, written by a woman, but reads like a misogynist's journal. A mess of psycho cuteness that we're supposed to laugh at how 'kooky' she is. In the end, all she comes down to is a light version of Deadpool, if Deadpool was a woman.
I can't begin to describe my love for Harley Quinn. As one third of the Gotham City Sirens, she already has a long history of being an incredibly smart woman, who interned at Arkham Asylum, and began falling in love with the Joker. The Joker then Manipulates then Harleen Quinzel into setting him free.There are differing ways that she is introduced as a villain--my favourite being, funnily enough, the New 52 origin, where we are shown the Joker throwing Harleen into a vat of acid. The reason why I like the New 52 version is because it shows that Harley begins her new life as a battered woman. After this, ever encounter she has with the Joker from thereon, he hurts her, mentally and physically, and manipulates her. It creates the building blocks for what could be the beginning of a story that discusses the violence within relationships. After all, Gotham City Sirens deals with the her best friends, Selina and Ivy, helping Harleen through the break up, and who talk her out of getting back with him, reminding her that he has tried to kill her several times, often for no reason.
In the New 52 series, I volume 3 of Suicide Squad, we are shown a very grim scene where Joker is mentally playing with her feelings, knowing very well how much she dotes on him. Any romance that has ever been between Harley and Joker has now turned into an abusive relationship, and I'll never be able to stomach the people who ship the two of them. In fact, we re also shown that Harleen isn't the first 'Harley Quinn'. There are other girls that he has tortured and left to die. Harley is forced to break her wrists and bite her forearm to lubricate the shackles that he has imprisoning her. Thus begins the start of a discussion on how Harley is a victim of abuse, and could be the potential catalyst that DC can use to start being progressive, by showing a battered woman overcome her abuser, and still be a super funny, super cute--and a bit kooky--super villain.
Now, after two paragraphs of info dumping and digressing, let's talk about this new version of Harley Quinn.
I was so fucking excited to read this book. I read each issue religiously as it came out each month. But the more I read, the less I began to like this new Harley. Ignoring the ridiculous over-sexualisation of her costume, her entire character has been drastically changed. Everything written in the New 52, where she promises herself to get over Joker, when she finally realises that he's an abuser--all of this doesn't exist in Ammanda Connor's and Jimmy Palmiotti's world. None of her character progression exists any more in this comic. This is a brand new Harley Quinn, and this is a Harley that actually makes me feel sick because of the blatant triggering.
I'm going to focus on a single issue to show just how awful this series is. In #3, the Valentine issue, I came across something that triggered me into panic attacks and depression, that caused me to be mentally comatose for about a week.
The issue features Harley eating a berry from a plant that Ivy leaves her, and the berry makes her amazingly attractive to everyone. Sounds like some silly hijinks could happen, right?
Apparently not.
A bus carrying convicts crashes, and that’s where the shit has hit the fan.
They start falling in love with her. They tell her how they want to do sexual things with her. And hurt her at the same time. And this whole scene is supposed to be funny, because Harley is running around saying “oh crap oh crap”, and runs to a hardware store to fight them off with some crazy tools.
This last panel shows extreme violence towards women, and it's all very uncomfortable, and brings up bad thoughts.
I had to stop during the scene to start crying, because just the sexual violence was too much, and added to the the light comedic edge… well, it just felt like they were making a joke about it.
But I read on, because I was hoping that these criminals get their comeuppance. Thankfully, they do. Quite violently, which I approve of.
But then, a cop comes up to Harley and makes out with her. Just out of the blue. That’s sexual harassment, by the way. Harley didn’t consent to it. Just because the cop was a woman, I’ve seen people squee about the sapphic tones of the comic as a whole, but I think this makes for bad representation for lesbians.
And finally, just when I think that things couldn’t get any worse—by this point I’ve already thrown up on myself, I’m already shaking and having flashbacks, but I read on, hoping that there are consequences—and Harley gives her friend, Big Tony, the very same berry that caused her to almost be raped, that almost caused her to be tortured. She gives him the berry because he thinks that he has a chance with a girl that he likes. Which means, that she’ll be falling in “love” with him against her will. If they have sex, which I’m sure they will, it will be RAPE. She might as well have been administered the date rape drug and forced into it. And if you don’t even take that into consideration, her male friend is also in danger of being raped by randoms that he comes across.
And at the very end, Harley pats herself on the back for playing Cupid? What the fuck? No. After everything that she’d been through, and she’s fine with making her friend go through with it?
Right now, I feel like I’m dying. I feel like I’m being raped all over again. I can feel it. I can see it happening. My brain is making me see things that I can’t possibly be remembering, since I was heavily unconscious at the time.
Everything about this comic is awful and harmful, and so ridiculously callous and unfeeling in how they make their jokes.
If that one issue doesn't put you off the entire comic, then there are plenty of other issues that are just as tasteless and offensive towards women and transpeople, and there are instances of queer baiting--trying to put Harley and Ivy into sort of romantic positions, but told very loudly by Palmiotti that they're just friends.
I came into Harley Quinn because I was amazed that DC was going to have another female leading her own series, and written by a woman. She was essentially a girl written by a girl for girls, and that's so rare in DC. It felt so amazing hearing that DC was finally starting to acknowledge that they have a HUGE female fanbase, and this comic shows how little they care for this fanbase. Each joke is misogynistic. Harley joins a roller derby team--which, yes, is at its heart a violent game--but all the jokes are about how bitchy the other team is, so it's Harley's job to beat them up so violently while making jokes about it. Using violent techniques that are technically not allowed in derby.
Basically, enter at your own risk. Since it's aimed at women, and women are more sensitive to this sort of thing because violence and date rape is something we have to worry about, I just want everyone to be aware of what they're getting into, so that no one ends up violently triggered like I was
TL;DR: a comic aimed at women, written by a woman, but reads like a misogynist's journal. A mess of psycho cuteness that we're supposed to laugh at how 'kooky' she is. In the end, all she comes down to is a light version of Deadpool, if Deadpool was a woman.
August 28, 2020
Enh... just okay.
Personally, I like the more-slapstick, less potty- and dark-humor Harley of the pre-"New 52" era.
Personally, I like the more-slapstick, less potty- and dark-humor Harley of the pre-"New 52" era.
March 5, 2016
Beğendim beğenmesine ama nedense bir eksiklik hissettim. Kitap Coney Islandda bir evin Harley'e bir miras olarak kalmasıyla başlıyor. Bu evi elinde tutabilmek içinde gerekli miktarda parayı bulmak için iki işe giriyor işte insanlarla tanışıyor, kellesine ödül konuyor ve her gün başka bir kişi Harley'e suikast düzenliyor ve tabi ki Harley de her gün başkalarına suikast düzenliyor fjdksk Benim en sevdiğim yani Harley ve Ivy arasındaki ilişkiydi eğer DC seviyorsanız kesin okuyun zaten
April 18, 2015
They say a person should never buy a book because of it's cover but I went ahead and did it anyway probably because it featured a hot girl in a tight outfit with a big ass mallet wearing roller skates with crazy looking eyes. What's not to like? Well, I'm glad I don't listen to people because I loved this book from top to bottom. It's a brilliant joyride through the unhinged psycho-circus Harley Quinn calls a life brought to life by the inspired vision of Amanda Conner and Jimmy Palmiotti. I must admit that I had never heard of them but after this book they have moved to the top of my list. I can't remember the last time I read a book that was so much fun.
The books beginning is as unique and quirky as Harley is as she drawn by various artists while discussing the issue with the two writers but to me the opening page of the story proper tells me all I need to know. The image of Harley barreling down a New York street on her motorcycle with a stuffed beaver on her front mud-guard and a huge bag of personal items on the back guard as she heads to her new home in Coney Island let me know that I was in for a wild and crazy ride and that's exactly what I got. The writers never let me forget that this girl is a little off center and they never took their tongues out of their cheeks or took themselves too seriously. This is a comic book that puts the emphasis on the comic side and is laugh out loud funny and visually stunning. The facial expressions of the crazy Quinn and the cast of misfits and freaks she befriends is brilliantly executed. Harley goes through the whole spectrum of emotions and reactions as her wrapping becomes just a little bit more undone and the artists capture this perfectly in these well imagined tales loosely linked together by the overall story arc about bounty hunters chasing a price on the head of Americas favorite Psycho-queen. They all fail of course because you can't beat crazy.
Ms. Quinn gets up to plenty of other antics despite the annoyance of bounty hunters after her blood including wrongly kidnapping a suburban family, being chased by lovelorn criminals and - in a moment of pure inspiration- joining a roller derby team in the one job that she was born to have all while wearing a variety of outfits that could make a man forget himself including form fitting PJ's, a stunning one piece swimsuit, various crop top and shorts combos and - my favorite- a heartbreaker dress. She even paints over her bleached skin and wears a doctors uniform although she never looks comfortable wearing it - ( Yet another example of the brilliant expressive artwork the runs throughout this book.) - this books always delivers with sharp writing, mad cap humor, memorable visuals and a variety of characters that could only belong in Ms. Quinns world. A world full of the absurd, insane and comical and fed off the energy of fairground lights and Coney Island hotdogs. Bright, loud and unforgettable this is a world I loved visiting.
Kudos to the creative team for this little treasure. This book is a wonderful piece of savage comic energy told in the space of that is a little off-center and full-tilt crazy. Wonderful.
I eagerly await the next installment.
The books beginning is as unique and quirky as Harley is as she drawn by various artists while discussing the issue with the two writers but to me the opening page of the story proper tells me all I need to know. The image of Harley barreling down a New York street on her motorcycle with a stuffed beaver on her front mud-guard and a huge bag of personal items on the back guard as she heads to her new home in Coney Island let me know that I was in for a wild and crazy ride and that's exactly what I got. The writers never let me forget that this girl is a little off center and they never took their tongues out of their cheeks or took themselves too seriously. This is a comic book that puts the emphasis on the comic side and is laugh out loud funny and visually stunning. The facial expressions of the crazy Quinn and the cast of misfits and freaks she befriends is brilliantly executed. Harley goes through the whole spectrum of emotions and reactions as her wrapping becomes just a little bit more undone and the artists capture this perfectly in these well imagined tales loosely linked together by the overall story arc about bounty hunters chasing a price on the head of Americas favorite Psycho-queen. They all fail of course because you can't beat crazy.
Ms. Quinn gets up to plenty of other antics despite the annoyance of bounty hunters after her blood including wrongly kidnapping a suburban family, being chased by lovelorn criminals and - in a moment of pure inspiration- joining a roller derby team in the one job that she was born to have all while wearing a variety of outfits that could make a man forget himself including form fitting PJ's, a stunning one piece swimsuit, various crop top and shorts combos and - my favorite- a heartbreaker dress. She even paints over her bleached skin and wears a doctors uniform although she never looks comfortable wearing it - ( Yet another example of the brilliant expressive artwork the runs throughout this book.) - this books always delivers with sharp writing, mad cap humor, memorable visuals and a variety of characters that could only belong in Ms. Quinns world. A world full of the absurd, insane and comical and fed off the energy of fairground lights and Coney Island hotdogs. Bright, loud and unforgettable this is a world I loved visiting.
Kudos to the creative team for this little treasure. This book is a wonderful piece of savage comic energy told in the space of that is a little off-center and full-tilt crazy. Wonderful.
I eagerly await the next installment.
September 8, 2017
In the Suicide Squad DC sub-universe, Harley Quinn is my absolutely favorite character. This volume introduces her (again) and it is non-stop acid humor and action cover to cover. A must.
January 25, 2016
Encore une très belle découverte, avant de voir suicide squad je voulais découvrir Harley quinn en sachant que je savais déjà que j'allais l'adorer. Et encore une fois je ne suis pas déçue, elle est drôle et complètement marteau (oui oui le titre est bien choisi), on la suit dans ses péripéties de folle aux côtés de Poison Ivy. Une réussite pour ce premier tome.
Petit plus, un bonus hilarant sous forme de prologue, et un bonus de fin retraçant comment est née Harley quinn :)
Bref j'ai adoré.
Vivement le tome 2 !
Petit plus, un bonus hilarant sous forme de prologue, et un bonus de fin retraçant comment est née Harley quinn :)
Bref j'ai adoré.
Vivement le tome 2 !
September 8, 2015
I just KNEW I would fall in love with Harley Quinn !!!!
September 11, 2016
If you are a fan of humor/action comics like Deadpool and Lobo, then you'll probably really enjoy this series. I prefer the slightly more serious version of Harley Quinn in the Suicide Squad series.
The series has some good (and sexy) art, and the stories are silly but still entertaining. Poison Ivy shows up and we meet a pretty interesting new cast of characters. A good read overall, but don't expect any serious drama out of this one. If you are a fan of Harley Quinn, this will at least be worth your time I'm sure.
The series has some good (and sexy) art, and the stories are silly but still entertaining. Poison Ivy shows up and we meet a pretty interesting new cast of characters. A good read overall, but don't expect any serious drama out of this one. If you are a fan of Harley Quinn, this will at least be worth your time I'm sure.
November 8, 2014
3.5 Stars
Harley Quinn is one of those characters that pulls me in because of the psychology of the character. The whole fact that Harley Quinn is pretty smart (there was some fudging on her psychology doctor exams) and successful well before she ever falls into villainy was a huge draw. I loved that she fell prey to a psychological disorder of her own and allowed herself to fall for someone who was far from good for her, and then spent years going back and forth between loving and hating him. So I was really pleased to see that she was getting her own comic, anything that puts some distance between her and Joker is even better because I like who she is when she’s not near him. That being said these first few issues were a bit tedious.
I wasn’t really sure how they were going to portray Harley in this because she has multiple faces. You have the smart psychiatrist that she’s capable of being, the ditzy and super cute Harley from the Animated series, and then the complete and total wildcard Harley. This series is mostly the latter, with a few moments of the first two. It’s great to see her striking out on her own with Joker or Ivy and take on some people of her own, but most of this is just comic relief…which is somewhat expected because it’s Harley but it’s also kind of irritating when you want actual story. She does get a new outfit (or two), and takes up roller derby as a hobby…and for some reason has a stuffed beaver who is her voice of reason. In some ways she is now DC’s Deadpool character. SHe has quirky asides with herself, breaks the 4th wall, and doesn’t seem to have story of her own but instead has a story mixed with a lot of jokes and other characters’ stories.
I did love some of these issues though and I still enjoy Harley as a character, but I would love see some more depth put into this as opposed to just keeping her as a filler character.
Harley Quinn is one of those characters that pulls me in because of the psychology of the character. The whole fact that Harley Quinn is pretty smart (there was some fudging on her psychology doctor exams) and successful well before she ever falls into villainy was a huge draw. I loved that she fell prey to a psychological disorder of her own and allowed herself to fall for someone who was far from good for her, and then spent years going back and forth between loving and hating him. So I was really pleased to see that she was getting her own comic, anything that puts some distance between her and Joker is even better because I like who she is when she’s not near him. That being said these first few issues were a bit tedious.
I wasn’t really sure how they were going to portray Harley in this because she has multiple faces. You have the smart psychiatrist that she’s capable of being, the ditzy and super cute Harley from the Animated series, and then the complete and total wildcard Harley. This series is mostly the latter, with a few moments of the first two. It’s great to see her striking out on her own with Joker or Ivy and take on some people of her own, but most of this is just comic relief…which is somewhat expected because it’s Harley but it’s also kind of irritating when you want actual story. She does get a new outfit (or two), and takes up roller derby as a hobby…and for some reason has a stuffed beaver who is her voice of reason. In some ways she is now DC’s Deadpool character. SHe has quirky asides with herself, breaks the 4th wall, and doesn’t seem to have story of her own but instead has a story mixed with a lot of jokes and other characters’ stories.
I did love some of these issues though and I still enjoy Harley as a character, but I would love see some more depth put into this as opposed to just keeping her as a filler character.
April 2, 2020
3.5!
Struggled to get into it at the beginning with all the changes in artists, but loved the overall story!
Love Harley Quinn and Poison Ivy's friendship ❤️
Struggled to get into it at the beginning with all the changes in artists, but loved the overall story!
Love Harley Quinn and Poison Ivy's friendship ❤️
February 5, 2020
Okay, New52 Harley is definitely than Rebirth Harley.
What’s it about?
Harley Quinn has been dealing with some pretty rough shit. Things might get better now that she’s moving to New York where a big fancy apartment building she was given is. Unfortunately things could also potentially get worse as someone apparently put a high-money hit out on her but who?
Pros:
THAT FIRST ISSUE! Okay so the first issue in this collection imagines what this book would end up being like if a variety of different artists were in charge of the book, it is absolutely brilliant and really cool that they got all these artists involved in the issue.
(I don’t have a favorite page but am using this as an example because it gave me nostalgia!)
The artwork in the entire comic is pretty damn great.
There’s some cool action here. It is fun, a bit bloodier than most big 2 comics (though still not buckets of gore or anything) and very exciting throughout!
There’s a lot of cute animals throughout and I loved that, made this extra great for reading next to my puppy!
(Basically me when those damn ASPCA commercials are on)
Cons:
The story is too ridiculous. It’s like it just includes weird shit without any real explanation, just “isn’t this strange and wacky”. I enjoy books that are weird but for a reason other than just it being weird.
I didn’t care for the characters. First of all almost everyone except Harley is just bland, even this book’s rendition of Poison Ivy who I normally consider a great character. Harley herself is a terrible person, kinda stupid and not interesting here. She basically just does terrible things to people which bad people can be interesting characters, just not in this book I guess. I know it’s probably a bit shallow but the only good things about her in this book are she’s hot (one of DC’s hottest IMO) and loves dogs.
(You destroy that tiny town, you big psychotic cutie, you! (I know it’s actually a model town but still...))
The dialogue is pretty awful. The things everyone in this book says are just stupid and Harley constantly going “Holee (insert anything here)olee” gets old after... once.
This book is kinda predictable.
Mixed thoughts:
The humor. Sometimes it is fairly clever and I certainly got a few laughs from it (example: the entire first issue I talked about). Other times it’s stupid and immature (example: a 3 page long joke about throwing animal shit at various things).
Overall:
My thoughts on this book are rather conflicting. To me it succeeds at stuff that is meant to amuse readers such as action scenes and including several cute animals but it fails at things such as plot and characters.
So I guess in the end this book is honestly kinda stupid but enjoyable. Not particularly recommended but it is fun enough that I’m adding volume 2 to the ol’ reading list.
3/5
What’s it about?
Harley Quinn has been dealing with some pretty rough shit. Things might get better now that she’s moving to New York where a big fancy apartment building she was given is. Unfortunately things could also potentially get worse as someone apparently put a high-money hit out on her but who?
Pros:
THAT FIRST ISSUE! Okay so the first issue in this collection imagines what this book would end up being like if a variety of different artists were in charge of the book, it is absolutely brilliant and really cool that they got all these artists involved in the issue.
(I don’t have a favorite page but am using this as an example because it gave me nostalgia!)
The artwork in the entire comic is pretty damn great.
There’s some cool action here. It is fun, a bit bloodier than most big 2 comics (though still not buckets of gore or anything) and very exciting throughout!
There’s a lot of cute animals throughout and I loved that, made this extra great for reading next to my puppy!
(Basically me when those damn ASPCA commercials are on)
Cons:
The story is too ridiculous. It’s like it just includes weird shit without any real explanation, just “isn’t this strange and wacky”. I enjoy books that are weird but for a reason other than just it being weird.
I didn’t care for the characters. First of all almost everyone except Harley is just bland, even this book’s rendition of Poison Ivy who I normally consider a great character. Harley herself is a terrible person, kinda stupid and not interesting here. She basically just does terrible things to people which bad people can be interesting characters, just not in this book I guess. I know it’s probably a bit shallow but the only good things about her in this book are she’s hot (one of DC’s hottest IMO) and loves dogs.
(You destroy that tiny town, you big psychotic cutie, you! (I know it’s actually a model town but still...))
The dialogue is pretty awful. The things everyone in this book says are just stupid and Harley constantly going “Holee (insert anything here)olee” gets old after... once.
This book is kinda predictable.
Mixed thoughts:
The humor. Sometimes it is fairly clever and I certainly got a few laughs from it (example: the entire first issue I talked about). Other times it’s stupid and immature (example: a 3 page long joke about throwing animal shit at various things).
Overall:
My thoughts on this book are rather conflicting. To me it succeeds at stuff that is meant to amuse readers such as action scenes and including several cute animals but it fails at things such as plot and characters.
So I guess in the end this book is honestly kinda stupid but enjoyable. Not particularly recommended but it is fun enough that I’m adding volume 2 to the ol’ reading list.
3/5
March 6, 2016
Highlights:
Harley's love for animals and her constant rescuing of them. Both comedic and cute.
Harley - Harley's kind of stupid but in an endearing way. I think she is probably quite intelligent, she just doesn't feel the need to behave this way. It lead to some funny one-liners.
Poison Ivy! - I think I'll get some comics just of her because she was probably my favourite part of this. Plus I totally ship Ivy and Harley together, even if that so didn't happen in this.
The art - I mostly loved the variations of Harley's outfits. I thought it was funny that the author made a comment about Superman wearing the same clothes all the time.
There were a few weaknesses as well, but the main one was that I simply didn't enjoy the first issue (issue #0) in the volume. The different artists didn't really interest me, though I'm sure longtime comics fans would have gotten more out of that than I did.
Harley's love for animals and her constant rescuing of them. Both comedic and cute.
Harley - Harley's kind of stupid but in an endearing way. I think she is probably quite intelligent, she just doesn't feel the need to behave this way. It lead to some funny one-liners.
Poison Ivy! - I think I'll get some comics just of her because she was probably my favourite part of this. Plus I totally ship Ivy and Harley together, even if that so didn't happen in this.
The art - I mostly loved the variations of Harley's outfits. I thought it was funny that the author made a comment about Superman wearing the same clothes all the time.
There were a few weaknesses as well, but the main one was that I simply didn't enjoy the first issue (issue #0) in the volume. The different artists didn't really interest me, though I'm sure longtime comics fans would have gotten more out of that than I did.
August 4, 2016
The first comic book I have ever read and it was the best decision to start with my favorite girl, Miss Harley Quinn.
Totally loved this and was completely entertained.
Time to pick up Vol. 2 and look into other comic books and graphic novels I may like!
Totally loved this and was completely entertained.
Time to pick up Vol. 2 and look into other comic books and graphic novels I may like!
April 12, 2017
Beklediğimden çok daha iyiydi. Hiç sıkılmadım. Ben Harley Quinn'i sadece kötü olmak için kötü zannederdim. Ama öyle değil çatlak kadın, gözüpek, akıllı ve çok eğlenceli.
Bence bir şans verin. 👍🏻
Bence bir şans verin. 👍🏻
December 10, 2020
This was fun, but the stories don’t really add anything to Harley’s overall arc. The art is pretty, but the stories lack substance. A few laughs and some fun with Poison Ivy are really the only high points.
December 1, 2015
OK, this book was a TON of fun. I am not an avid comic book reader, and I have always been a Marvel girl, so this is actually my first foray into DC comics. I repeat-I have never read a DC comic before.
Try not to be too surprised
The story-A former client gives Harley an apartment building in Coney Island. She moves in with her taxidermy beaver, making friends with the misfits who live in the building, hanging out with Poison Ivy, and teaming up with a geriatric cyborg crimefighter. Oh, and she also has to figure out who put a hit on her, while balancing being a roller derby girl, and going back into psychiatry. And, no, I did not make any of that up.
It can daze a person.
And I LOVED it! Seriously, this book was so fun, manic, dark, funny, and a blast to read. I loved the concept of having Harley Quinn go through different artistic interpretations (and some sexist scenarios) before entering the true story, as her character has gone through a bunch of crap and gets walked on a lot. This story has her taking charge in a truly unique way. I recommend this book for new fans to DC, old fans of Harley Quinn, and anyone who loves a story with a kick-ass heroine, a little bit of manic, and a really, really fun story.
Try not to be too surprised
The story-A former client gives Harley an apartment building in Coney Island. She moves in with her taxidermy beaver, making friends with the misfits who live in the building, hanging out with Poison Ivy, and teaming up with a geriatric cyborg crimefighter. Oh, and she also has to figure out who put a hit on her, while balancing being a roller derby girl, and going back into psychiatry. And, no, I did not make any of that up.
It can daze a person.
And I LOVED it! Seriously, this book was so fun, manic, dark, funny, and a blast to read. I loved the concept of having Harley Quinn go through different artistic interpretations (and some sexist scenarios) before entering the true story, as her character has gone through a bunch of crap and gets walked on a lot. This story has her taking charge in a truly unique way. I recommend this book for new fans to DC, old fans of Harley Quinn, and anyone who loves a story with a kick-ass heroine, a little bit of manic, and a really, really fun story.
May 4, 2016
Objektivně subjektivně to je spíš takové 3,5*.
Přišlo mi, že se z ní snažili udělat DC Deadpoola, což není vysloveně dobrá věc. Ale takový Deadpool/Harley crossover to už by byla jiná! :D
A kdyby vynechali prvních x stránek, které pokaždé nakreslil někdo jiný, a až na 2/3 byly příšerné, tak by to mělo lepší spád.
P.S.: POtřebuju Jokera, kde je Joker?
Přišlo mi, že se z ní snažili udělat DC Deadpoola, což není vysloveně dobrá věc. Ale takový Deadpool/Harley crossover to už by byla jiná! :D
A kdyby vynechali prvních x stránek, které pokaždé nakreslil někdo jiný, a až na 2/3 byly příšerné, tak by to mělo lepší spád.
P.S.: POtřebuju Jokera, kde je Joker?
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