scans_daily | Detective Comics #23.2 :Harley Quinn

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Detective Comics #23.2 :Harley Quinn

Harley is free of the Suicide Squad and she's having fun in Gotham, but first she has to give out free video game systems to all the boys and girls! Then she dresses up like a cop and visits a police station with quite a bit of dynamite in her car.

Art by: Neil Googe

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I like old Harley better.

What was the actual POINT of killing all those kids with video games again? Oh...right, there wasn't one.

But TODAY of ALL DAYS they are having Harley killing hundreds of kids in explosions?

Even if they try to turn her into a more sympathetic anti-hero in the future. We're always going to think "remember that time when Harley killed hundreds of children?!?". It would've been a much better book without that ending.

If there is anything I've learned after the last few years of comics... It's that 'mass' groups won't care in the future.

They really won't. A few fans like you....and some others -will- remember this comic. Unless DC does yet another 'reboot' before she becomes an anti-hero. Even then, a handful will remember it. And will talk about it.

And a whole slew of vocal others won't care and will talk up her actions in that book rather than her past...and what was done. Sad is that I read a review before I saw the scans. I knew what was coming...but this is just..a poor ending on top of it.

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da_reap - 2013-09-13 20:08 (UTC) - Expand

Happy Birthday, Harley... it was bad enough that the episode that introduced you aired on a date that has become a moment of sadness in American History... you had an issue to yourself that had you reflect on a back story you never had when you were brought unto paper, wearing a outfit that meant to appeal to the lowest game/anime fan would find "perfect" on you rather than your classic look that would show off your figure rather than just show it, and then committing an act that is pretty much the equivalent of said event that tarnished your birthday to begin with....

"[O]ur intentions were always to make [the upcoming Harley Quinn series] a fun and silly book that broke the 4th wall, and head into issue 1 with a ongoing story/adventure that is a lot like the past Powergirl series we did."

hahahahahahahahahaha
ahahahahaha
ahahahahahahahahahahahaha

ahaha

ha

To be fair, this is a different creative team entirely. Kindt will be writing her in Suicide Squad, though, which this is sort-of a lead-up to.

This is not the book that quote is about.

Can't decide if I hate this, or it's simply "ok". I like the cartoony-art style, though.

Note to self: Never update PSP or 3DS firmware. Or you will die.

Now. I haven't bought -any- of these books..because I really haven't bought a book in a long time, and this month doesn't seem to be one I'm willing to shell out for either...

But from the scans and previews I have just ..one question.

Has -EVERY- Villain in DC been given some FORM of Abusive childhood? Ivy had one. Harley had one here. Joker had one according to the scans I saw. The Preview seemed to indicate Dru-Zod had somewhat of one. While it didn't show his childhood, it looked like Jor-El was abusive or abused by his wife. Or something.

I'm really wondering if every DC villain is getting an excuse for their bad behavior, and if choice and responsibility is just .. gone.

I really don't like the "Being a victim of abuse makes you evil" implications.

Surely someone would've been motivated to become a hero & protect other people from abuse.

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theflames - 2013-09-12 18:29 (UTC) - Expand

............................So tell me something..why the hell should I buy her upcoming ongoing series where here, I just witnessed her murdered a bunch of children? I miss the Harley who had this...sweetness, innocent, and almost adorable air to her, yet can be scary at the same time. Who as much as she wanted to please the Joker, she never seemed truly bad at her core, yet her love and obsession for him twisted her so much as if he's a literal drug. He's bad for her. She knows it. We know it. Everyone knows it, we root for her to finally escape him and break that cycle and feel so crushed when she falls right back into it, yet we still hope the cycle will be broken before it's too late. Here, this seems like... what would happen if she never broke the cycle in time, becoming a killer who has little to no redeeming qualities. So I ask again, why would I want to buy her ongoing series and why should I care for her or root for her by then?

... 'innocent'

she *feigned* innocence, let's remember that, she's always been a villain, and even in her more neutral moment, has definitely been a murderer. The bubbly cute, fun persona is what makes us love her and forget that she's consistently been a bad guy.

Catwoman, she is not.

Ok let me get this straight so Harley just did something so evil it makes Arcade's actions in Avengers Arena look like a parking violation and we're supposed to buy a light-hearted book starring her as an anti-hero next year?

What are they going to do? Pull a retcon like they just did with Lobo where the "real" Harley shows up and kills this one? Did no one think for like 5 seconds about this?

Indeed, Harley was originally used to be the wacky one, so they could have the Joker be more malevolent, but now she's carrying out mass murder deliberately targetting kids?

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lego_joker - 2013-09-13 00:42 (UTC) - Expand

This looks to be five scans from the most recent issue of a comic, and four is the maximum permitted from any one poster.

Please remove one of the scans to make it conform with s_d rules.

Let's not forget, we also get an extended sequence where we see where she gets each piece of her costume. Because the world was begging to learn where she found so many colorful pieces that go together in such a haphazard fashion, including a ruffled collar and a giant hammer.

What's next, the origin of the Joker's purple suit?

Actually, I always wondered where he gets them. Does he make them himself, did he force some poor guy to make them and then he just hided them across the town? Come on, am I really the only one who wants whole issue just with Joker looking for clothes?

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skemono - 2013-09-12 14:49 (UTC) - Expand

Now wait a minute. Why isn't she exploding those children while naked in a bathtub?

WE'VE BEEN GYPPED

"Gypped" is a word rooted in Anti-tziganism; implying that Romani people are an inherently thieving people. Don't use such racist words on

scans_daily.

Edited 2013-09-12 10:49 (UTC)

Re: Mod Note

silicondream - 2013-09-12 14:59 (UTC) - Expand

I know it's a comic book and the nasty as fuck parents were probably dictated to the writer by editorial (what HASN'T been dictated, at this point, is difficult to figure out), but would ANY parent really be as pathetic as to tell their own child that they're never going to make it out of the family home and leave them? Also, does, you know, social services not exist in the DCU or something? Or are they expressly told to stay away from certain kids by their suspiciously familiar bald boss, who wants them to become pathetic supervillains or miserable wretches?

This.

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theflames - 2013-09-12 18:33 (UTC) - Expand

Seriously, fuck DC. At this point I'm considering dropping every New 52 comic that I'm currently buying. I am so fed up with the New 52, and just want the old universe back.

On the one hand, I feel like I don't have the right to criticize any of the nu DC stuff since I haven't bought any of it. But things like this only confirm that I had the right idea saving my money for Steam purchases. I don't have to buy the right to judge, do I?

At this point (with Both Publishers) my response is as follows.

Spend the money you earn on things that make you happy.

Eff everything else.

Neither DC or Marvel has made me happy in a long time. Guess I'm getting that SR4 DLC

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janegray - 2013-09-12 13:59 (UTC) - Expand

Hrrm, that's weird, they actually took elements from the actually kind of interesting in-sight to Harley's family from Gotham Sirens and blew it up to ridiculous levels.

Though exaggerating things to the point of parody has been a thing with the DCU thus far, so.

Just what I was gonna say. If Harley is done properly, her upbringing merely made her *vulnerable* to Joker's influence when she got close to him; that combined with her own psychoses, poor impulse control, and dissociative tendencies (remember the "Harley-vision" bits from her first solo series?) are what made her so dangerous. Unlike Joker, she's not EVIL, she's genuinely mentally ill AND suffering from battered spouse syndrome (even after leaving Joker), and THAT's what makes her so tragic.

If it weren't for the fact that Harley, just a few issues back, declared that Joker wasn't "my Mistah Jay any more," I could see her doing this in an effort to win Joker back (I'm sure he'd see the humor in distributing free video game systems packed with explosives), but otherwise? No. No, she wouldn't; she's just not that thoroughly sociopathic. The only reason she'd go on a killing spree is if there was some bigger plan dependent on it. She's *indifferent* to other people's lives (because, again, as seen in the Harleyvision segments, she sees the world as a cartoon and, therefore, her victims will pop back up, good as new, in a few minutes), but she doesn't go out of her way to harm others.

Also, I don't know if it was the writer or the colorist's fault, but... GRAH, Harley has ALWAYS been a BOTTLE blonde! RRRRRGH ADAMANTIUM RAGE! *goes running around screaming that and punching things until James Rolfe punches him out in mid-word*

...um... sorry. Hit my berserk button there. I think that the DCnU is making it bigger every month.

And of course, with typical Nu52 sloppiness, they've forgotten that in her origin story in Suicide Squad #6 it was stated that she was attached to her father and had a deep-seated desire for revenge/control after he was killed by a drunk driver who got off scott-free.

The level of incompetence at this company in terms of organisation is really astounding. Even when they're desperate to force these characterisations down our throats, they can't actually keep them straight.

*Sigh*

You know, back in the Good Old Days, DC at least waited about four or five years before layering contradicting origin stories on top of one another.

The DCnU's barely been around for two. And I thought the point was supposed to be that there's TIGHTER continuity now...

As I said in another thread, once you've read a few of these "villain month" issues, they start to become indistinguishable from one another. It's like DC editorial is assembling these stories using a weird form of MadLibs: for every issue, you pick a random villain, dead relative and atrocity -

"Okay, let's see - '[Crazy Quilt] kills his [great-aunt] and then [blows up a bus full of orphans]' Brilliant. Pass that on to Gail Simone and then let's get to the pub".

There are a few that are actually interesting, in their own way. The Riddler one, out this week? I actually thought it was great. If they're intent on running with the Riddler as a supervillain rather than the neat detective angle they had pre-reboot, then I can only hope that most stories are as good as this week's, because it was a very smart show of Riddler applying his intelligence.

But then, the Riddler issue doesn't have any origin stuff in there. I suppose I should be thankful for Zero Year in that respect.

Edited 2013-09-12 13:15 (UTC)

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lego_joker - 2013-09-13 00:59 (UTC) - Expand

.... so due to a traumatic childhood brought by jerkwads parents, Harley makes a game system to blow up kids... on 9/11... stay classy DC...

DC is making it harder for me to rebuild any interest in them. Just as I start gaining some interest again they go and do something like this. But they do it in bulk.

It's going to be pretty weird when her solo series and Suicide Squad will have two very different Harleys.

... Well okay then.

Harley has always straddled the line between villain and victim. That's been a part of her character since the beginning. Yes, she is fun and bubbly, and perpetually used and abused. She has also been party to the Joker's worst excesses, and has only ever minded when they affect her or the few people she cares about. I can't say that this isn't a valid place for her to go, but it seems to miss the point of the character. It's going to be a lot harder to portray the victim aspect after this. I could maybe get behind that if it was deliberate, but I don't think that it is.

Just asking.. do they keep or mention ANYTHING about Harley's original origin story in this issue? Like how Joker pulled a fake sob story to close to Harley? Or how she and Ivy are friends? Or how she wore a jester's outfit? Or anything?!?

Sadly the answer is no.

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