I do like how it takes like two pages for Joker and Harley to get into space.

The other Saturday was Batman Day, and even though I'm pretty lapsed, I still sat down with a pile of Bat-stuff: the TMNT crossover was great, the Doom That Came to Gotham is pretty good, Under the Red Hood is one of DC Animated's best and is better than its source material, and I watched the classic "Mad Love" again. But there's a line in Under the Red Hood where Batman admits every day he thinks about killing the Joker, and the Joker immediately responds, "Aw, so you do think about me." And it doesn't entirely feel like just another smartass crack; it does feel like there's something behind that? Of course if he starts seeing other people and forgot their anniversary, well, then I suppose all bets are off. From 2008, Justice League Unlimited #41, "The Anniversary Party" Written by Grace Randolph, art by Dario Brizuela. (There are probably other uses of that title, but it was also a 2001 movie.)

With Batman off in space with the Justice League on their anniversary--presumably when he fell into the vats at Ace Chemicals, which is marked as the 13th of some month--a miffed Joker hijacks a space shuttle. Meanwhile, on the Watchtower satellite, the heroes left on duty were settling in for a movie night when the shuttle crashes in, as the Joker intends to spruce the place up before Batman's return. While the Joker is able to block Zatanna's spells with trick gum, Zat still slugs him one; and Harley Quinn is left trying to outgun the Crimson Avenger, who she doesn't even recognize as a second-stringer. The pair run around causing trouble, with Joker wearing a Bat-cowl for a bit ("This thing is ridiculously hot and heavy! No wonder he's in a bad mood all the time!") before Elongated Man suggests, maybe they had been underestimating Joker and Harley because they didn't have powers or serious weapons. Zatanna later gets the duo with "Stekop ytmpe!" (which, honestly, should be game over for them) and Hawkgirl launches them into the anniversary pie (cake?) they had been preparing, which was full of mousetraps. Knowing he was stuck, the Joker also suddenly realizes, he had been in Batman's room, and all he did was try on his cape? Upon the return of the rest of the team, Joker and Harley are gifted to Batman, wrapped up in an Elongated Man bow.

Harley is furiously jealous, when the Joker describes being chased by "a crazy dame in fishnets," but continuity-wise I thought she had left the Joker before Justice League had started. Based on Hawkgirl's outfit, this story was post-Starcrossed and well into the Unlimited run. Harley had been prone to backslide, though; at least in that continuity: in current DC books, I don't think she's looked back in some time. But, I don't know if the Joker is still written as...stuck? Smitten? Sweet on? Batman, or if that's fallen by the wayside.

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If I scheduled these right, earlier in the week we mentioned an old issue of Batman Adventures, so now seems like the time to see another one! From 2003, Batman Adventures #3, "My Boyfriend's Back" Written by Ty Templeton, pencils by Rick Burchett, inks by Terry Beatty; and "Breathing Room" Written by Dan Slott, pencils by Ty Templeton, inks by Terry Beatty.

The Joker is not himself today, and driving multiple motorcycles into a vat of tapioca isn't even why: after extensive bouts of multiple therapies at Arkham, he wasn't really sane, but he also wasn't his usual homicidal self, either. He was more lovey-dovey as well, which Harley does not seem to appreciate, which might also be because he wasn't even as funny: the motorcycles were part of a "Harley Pudding," which doesn't even get a pity chuckle out of her. Especially when she finds out the Joker didn't even steal the bikes; he traded the helicopter for them! Which puts Batman on the case, as he roughs up the seller that put it on "eBuy." Harley can't bring herself to try and kill the Joker herself, but figures if someone else did, maybe he'd snap out of it; so she busts one of R'as al Ghul's "shadow assassins" from stir, to let him take a shot at it. Meanwhile, Gordon and Montoya were on their trail: Batman was currently wanted, and Montoya wonders if Gordon would be ready to arrest him. Gordon says sure, if he sees him.

As usual, Batman arrives in time to save the Joker; taking the assassin down with a taser rather than play with him. Harley then makes another play, kissing Batman to make the Joker jealous, which works like a charm. With his taser broken, Batman is slapped around, landing near the Joker's crossbow: he takes the shot, but seemingly misses...cracking the tapioca case, and washing Joker and Harley with a wave of pudding! Swamped, Harley is thrilled to have her Joker back, even if now he was far more interested in killing Batman than her. They're both grabbed by the cops, while Gordon claims not to see Batman leaving, taking the assassin with him: I think he was an issue or two away from another showdown with R'as.

In the next story, with Arkham currently "structurally unstable," both Joker and Harley are taken to Gotham Penitentiary, despite her claim of "special needs." In the yard, Harley sees her pal Ivy, and tries to recall if she was still mad at her, for not mentioning she was turning into a plant-monster: she's not, but Ivy attacks her as a "stinking bag of meat!" Poisonous, Ivy is thrown into solitary in an isolation ward, but then she starts to crash out. Harley fights past the guards in biohazard suits to free Ivy, which saves her: now more plant-like, Ivy was breathing in carbon dioxide, and producing oxygen. She and Harley are made roommates, to Ivy's chagrin and Harley's delight.

I feel like Harley never knows when she's better off... Read more!

80-Page Thursdays: DC's Spring Breakout! #1

The day I picked this up was a busy one! I had to replace the battery in my car, which took a bit of doing: walk to the O'Reilly's, walk back with the battery, bike back to the hardware store for a ratchet set...I was lucky enough to get done before it started raining, and the rest of the day kind of looked like how everyone thinks it does here all the time: namely, Seattle gray and rainy. But I had to rush, to make it to a sale the next town over! Anyway, I'm nattering on, since this won't fit in the scanner, and it's also appropriate for here that the cover says "Eight Sensational Stories to Spring you Forward" and we look at it the week we fall back! From 2024, DC's Spring Breakout! #1, with stories by Joey Esposito, Thomas Krajewski, Mike W. Barr, and more; and art by Nico Bascuñán, Scott Kolins, Marco Santucci, and more.

Oddly, only maybe two stories seem really spring break-related: the Teen Titans "Relay for your Life," where Robin tries, and mostly fails, at turning a beach day into team-building exercises; and the Metal Men in "The Day the Robot Danced." Has Scott Kolins done other Metal Men stories? Good fit there. Doc Magnus's latest robot has disappeared, Gold has called in sick but really just wanted a day off, and the Doc might've been distracted when sending Iron and Lead to enter a surf contest. A helpful surfer helps Tin get the hang of it, and he also figures out the new robot's problem: namely, it was built to be too serious, which means Doc Magnus took a perfectly good robot and gave it anxiety.

In "Field Trip" Harley Quinn swings back by Belle Reve prison, to bust King Shark out for some birthday fun: I want to say Harley's currently written as well-intentioned but seemingly with the superpower to make bad decisions. The trip involves an alien monster, space, and Metropolis, because that's how she rolls. "Cold Feet" is a character piece with Batman and Mr. Freeze: Bruce Wayne is a wallflower at his own party, until Mr. Freeze shows up. Stalling, Batman explains, without any direct references to himself, that he didn't like to dance, as he had lost his partner, namely, his mom. But he still ended up at balls or cotillions or whatever, and at one a striking ballerina asks him to dance, which both brings him out of himself a little, but also teaches him how to lead...like, to lead Freeze directly into a trap. But, shades of the Gotham TV show here: the ballerina had been Nora, who had been Freeze's fiance at the time--and was at the party! He met young Bruce! That almost feels like Freeze should be putting two-and-two together in the paddy wagon.

Mike W. Barr's "Soul Survivor" maybe doesn't have anything to do with spring break, but didn't Barr create Katana? Yeah, he can do whatever. Superman and Jimmy are catching "Opening Day" for the Metropolis Meteors, and "Shape-Shift in the Park" has an unusual face-off--multiple face-offs!--with Clayface crashing a Shakespeare in the Park thing, and the Martian Manhunter being forced to play opposite him. The Lex Luthor story might be the oddest, as Lex finds himself buried alive, but getting himself out is how he proves to himself that he was better than those who were just "given" powers. But was he President again? Or maybe this was set when he was...? A choice, that also doesn't really sing 'spring break,' but this wasn't bad. I did get another 80-pager, but am mildly disappointed since I had been looking for DC's I Know What You Did Last Crisis, although that one maybe doesn't have the jokes the cover makes you think it might. Read more!

80-Page Thursdays: DC Cybernetic Summer #1!

Every so often it gets really hot up here, like to the point that it's probably hazardous to go biking out in it right when I get off work. Or, it's a good excuse to be lazy and read an 80-pager! From 2020, DC Cybernetic Summer #1, with stories by Corinna Bechko, Andrew Constant, Stephanie Phillips, Heath Corson, and more; art by Paul Pelletier, Nik Virella, Scott Koblish, Nicola Scott, and more. Cover by Dan Mora, although how Batman can look so sour while driving the freakin' Metal Men is a mystery. (This one wouldn't fit in the scanner, so the pics are extra janky today; but maybe that'll encourage you to find a copy!)

The opener with Batman, "The Limits of Control," doesn't hit the right notes for summer fun, as Bats points out, "There's no summer in space." He gets out the probably then-current Bat-armor out, to stop Brother Eye from reforming. "Fandom" is closer, as Wonder Woman teams up with Platinum, to stop the other Metal Men, who have been conglomerated into an anime-derived kaiju.

Next, in "Summer Camp" Red Tornado's vacation with his family is interrupted by JL calls and a lost alien; then the real fun: "The Boys of Summer" with Blue Beetle and Booster Gold! When the beach is too crowded, Booster suggests they travel back in time to a less-crowded day...which gets more crowded, since they have so much fun, in the future they keep going back to that day, despite poor Skeets repeated warnings and a visit from King Shark.

"Cybernetic Summer" is a Flash-race, with Barry vs. the Earth-44 Mercury Flash; but then we get the Legion of Super-Heroes, Superboy, and Robot R217, in "Summer Lovin'." Trying to capture an alien, Superboy tags in R217 to cover for him as Clark Kent, and the robot finds himself smitten with a local girl. (Her initials weren't LL; it'd never work out!)

"Out There" pits Midnighter and Apollo against Monsieur Mallah and the Brain; then Harley Quinn and her elderly cyborg pal Sy Borgman try to beat the heat at a water park in "Splish Splash Special."

"Summer Bummer" is a fun one: Robotman's pal Mike doesn't want him to spend the summer moping about, but human stuff isn't as much fun for him. Nor are robot activities super-fun for Mike, but maybe there's something they would both enjoy...? Finally, "Catfish Crisis" is a bit of silliness with Cyborg and Superman against...the Cyborg Superman; until from the multiverse a version of the three of them in one shows up...or does he? Read more!

"The End" Week begins, with Harley Quinn #75!

How many years have I been doing this? It's once again the last week of the year, "The End" week, where we look at last issues of various comics. And we start with one that's probably pretty indiciative of modern comics: it's a DC last issue that's also part of a crossover, 'cause that's how DC rolls. It's got 35 variant covers--well, I guess 1 regular and 34 variants. Whatever. She had two series before this and has relaunched since this one, too! From 2020, Harley Quinn #75, "Happy Birthday, Harley Quinn!" Written by Sam Humphries, art by Sami Basri; Nicola Scott; Emanuela Lupacchino; Ramon Villalobos; Ngozi Ukazu; Joe Quinones; and more.

Harley wakes up, hungover and tied to a chair; which probably isn't that unusual for her; except this time it's for her birthday roast, hosted by her best friend, Bernie the Stuffed Beaver! Cue a bunch of embarrassing (and non-continuity) stories about Harley, like her with a Super Friends-styled Justice League, with an ever-expanding social circle/supporting cast from earlier issues, or with the Suicide Squad. They're all pretty funny, if not especially flattering for her; but then we get a story from Harley's late mom, about the loss of her childhood cat, Pinky. Harley then has one more story, in an animated series style, where she's learned to embrace bad feelings, and then let them go.

The story ends with Harley enjoying a birthday cupcake with a friend, but because comics, there's another story: namely, Harl getting her throat cut by her replacement, Punchline, in the Joker War crossover. (These two pages are consecutive: feels like they should've been broken up by an ad, editorial/letters page, a pin-up, something!) Thrown away to die, Harley hallucinates guardian angel/inner demon "Quinnie," who gives her a few flashbacks while encouraging her to lay down and die. But she's not ready to go out just yet...

Of course, Harley would get another #1: I think moreso than some other heroes, she's had long runs from writers, and rather than hand off they usually go with relaunches. Or, it may have just been linewide relaunch time. I lose track. A fun issue on its own, though. Read more!

Not everything that happens three times is terrible, but...

Everything is circling the drain as I write this, sure; but you would be appalled at the litany of profanity I let out the other day, when I found I had three of this issue, and by rule if I buy the same damn comic three times, I have to blog it. From 2019, Heroes in Crisis #6, "Who is Saved?" Written by Tom King, art by Clay Mann and Mitch Gerads. 

 

I didn't read this when it first came out, since opinion seemed pretty divided; and because DC burned me once with Identity Crisis. Short form: Superman, Batman, and Wonder Woman have set up Sanctuary, a facility for heroes (and possibly villains) to recover from post-traumatic stress and other psychological problems. I'm not sure it's seen before this series, but doesn't matter, as it's wrecked here, and several heroes are murdered. The victims range from C-listers like Blue Jay or Commander Steel, up to Arsenal and Wally West. Booster Gold and Harley Quinn are the only survivors, or one might be the murderer; and someone has leaked the story to the press. 

 

This issue follows Wally, Harley, and old Teen Titans member/unfrozen cave guy Gnarrk through their therapeutic journeys. That's not really Gnarrk's origin, at least pre-Crisis (on Infinite Earths!) but close enough; and in fact Gnarrk mentions being frozen as he reminisces about life back in the Stone Age, but with a surprising amount of philosophy. (Seriously, Gnarrk's journey is interesting! "In old day, death always there. So Gnarrk worry about death. New day, life always there. So now, Gnarrk worry about life.") Harley wasn't supposed to be there, but had snuck in to be with Poison Ivy; and was maybe making some progress in dealing with Joker-related trauma. And Wally West...after various continuity resets, he was back, but without his wife and kids. All the other heroes, Barry, his friends in the Titans, were overjoyed to see him again; but nobody seemed to notice how much he missed them. (Or at least that's how it seems to Wally in those scenes. Wally's continuity was just a disaster; there were a couple of them for a while, too.)

This issue, by itself? Maybe not bad. But, spoilery discussion after the break.

  OK, you probably already know, and an earlier issue had Booster point out a clue: the murderer was Wally West. He didn't believe the other heroes there were 'real,' or really had problems; it had to just be him, right? He cracks the security on Sanctuary's systems and watches everyone's files, and all of that on top of his existing trauma breaks him. He accidentally kills everyone (except Booster and Harley) at super-speed, then when he realizes what he had done, he stages the crime scene, uses virtual reality to convince Booster and Harley that the other had been the murderer, leaks the documents and leaves the clues and makes arrangements for his past self to kill his future self? Not unlike Identity Crisis, Occam's razor goes right out the window here. 

All of this was seen by a lotta fans as character assassination of Wally; and yeah, probably: King does a good job setting up Wally's distress, not as good a job on the murders/coverup. And because comics, all of it would be walked back, pretty much exactly like Hal Jordan's breakdown was blamed on Parallax: Wally's breakdown would be the fault of Savitar.

While Poison Ivy would be regrown from a rose she gave Harley, all the other heroes killed would be saved later, in Flash #796. (Good, because if my boy Nemesis stayed dead, I would be pissed.) Wally would get his wife and kids back somewhere, too. Which undermines what King had maybe been trying to say about trauma: sometimes, things don't come back. But maybe a superhero comic isn't the best place to say that...or maybe not in that way? Like, superheroes would absolutely have trauma; but how they would have to deal with it would be almost completely unrelated to how regular people have to. Maybe. 

I didn't love the rest of the series, but there are moments? King writes Booster as just dumber than a box of rocks, but he and Beetle are great together. I feel like Harley was there because she was popular, but if you make too much headway towards wellness with her, she's not as Harley as people like, so she gets stuck. Thematically, both Wally and Booster seem like they're trying to keep up a brave face, even in therapy; because they can't seem to articulate "things are messed up and I'm not okay with it" and they think that's what heroes are supposed to do. The confessional style panels are interesting, but some of them just become jokes, like the various Robins wondering where they fit in, or they might be more about what King thinks of the character and other writers or continuity might disagree. It also feels telling that Wonder Woman, Black Canary, and Catwoman are all seen as largely blowing off that style of help. Tom King frustrates me: some moments shine, but the overall experience doesn't. I liked his Omega Men series, but am hesitant to re-read it, since I think it's "here's a bunch of terrible things happening, when they're over no one is helped or better for the experience, now live with it." Admittedly, that feels like the mindset of the moment, but still. 

BTW, I accidentally bought this three times--getting both covers, which doesn't happen every time--but still paid less than cover price.

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Hey, you know what we could use around here? More comics! After an oil change the other day, I stopped by the local Comic Book Shop's third location, and picked up over a hundred from the dollar bin. There were only a few miniseries complete in there, but solid veins of All-Star Western, Justice League Odyssey, and Slaine the Berzerker. Then, a number of random issues, like this one! From 2015, Batman '66 #25, featuring "Night of the Harlequin" Written by Jeff Parker, art by Lukas Ketner, and "Bad Men" Written by Gabe Soria, art by Ty Templeton.

This was the second appearance of 66's version of Harley Quinn: Dr. Harley Quinn had sacrificed herself to save Gotham from "the Joker Wave," and had become the criminally insane Harlequin, busting out of Arkham and intent on making the Joker proud. After sabotaging the Batmobile to eject the Dynamic Duo, and stealing the Bat-Phone, she starts her crimewave in earnest. It's a lot of work! So much so, she figures, what would the Joker do? Hire some goons! At a warehouse hideout, she gets a solid turnout--too many goons, in fact. One goon...chewing a match...suggests, maybe they could fight it out, last five standing get the job! Harlequin loves the idea, except two goons fight too hard, knocking out all the other applicants. Well, maybe two good goons will do; unless they were actually Batman and Robin! I feel like Harlequin was probably based on an actress that theoretically could've been on the show in 1966 or so; but I can't nail it down.

"Bad Men" features Barbara Gordon, but not Batgirl: she couldn't get away to change! On a temp job at an advertising agency, she's on the spot when Joker, Penguin, Riddler, and the Eartha Kitt Catwoman arrive; less to take hostages (although they do!) and more to "rebrand." If ad men can rehabilitate the reps of oil and tobacco companies, surely they can do something for them. "Gotham City should love to hate us as much as we love stealing from it!" as the Penguin puts it. Barbara has to jump up and volunteer to "help," and gets an idea after they scuffle over their agency's name: they were no match for office politics! This is of course a Mad Men riff; a show I have never watched. (When I was like 3 years old, I promised my grandma I'd never go into advertising! I wish I remembered when ad she got mad at...) Read more!

Technically, this is the one title the cast really should rotate regularly.

I haven't read a regular issue of this in years, and this might be a tough one to hop back in on: from 2020, Suicide Squad #8, written by Tom Taylor, art by Daniel Sampere.

The book's title is a bit of a misnomer this time around, as this run largely followed "the Revolutionaries," a band of freedom fighters almost certainly considered terrorists by America. They had allowed themselved to be captured and brought into Task Force X so they could escape later, and had taken Deadshot, Harley Quinn, and Zebra-Man with them. Today, their leader Thylacine outlines the case for their next mission: they need to kill Ted Kord. Wait a minute, Ted Kord? Blue Beetle Ted Kord!? They have a pretty convincing case against him, and a very cold-looking Ted does appear to be up to something at the end of the issue. (I'm virtually positive there's a fakeout here somewhere; and Ted would briefly reference this series in the first issue of Blue & Gold.)

The bulk of this issue is the origin of youngsters the Aerie and Wink, who I think were promiently featured in one of those Dceased books. It sort of works back to the old metagene concept from way back in Invasion! as "the Post-Human Project" is experimenting on kids, shooting them up with whatever, and trying to force 'origins' on them. In the Aerie's case, they were thrown off a cliff, and managed to save themself by growing wings. Which didn't free them from their chains, but in captivity they would meet another prisoner, Wink; who had developed teleportation and not told their captors about it. They were also friends with two siblings, the T.N.Teens, until Amanda Waller shows up and takes one, having bought their prison sentence. (Waller has always been an unapologetic character, but in recent years seems to have crossed some lines.)The Aerie tries to save the kid, and gets stomped by KGBeast and Killer Croc. (That scene may or may not have been some time ago: Croc is occasionally given a lot of character development, which is consistently rolled back to him being a cannibal thug.)

Wink had been too scared to try to help, but nursing the Aerie back to health she finds she can't live with the idea of watching them die. The Aerie refuses to leave without the remaining T.N.Teen, Javier; and they do manage to get away. After the story, Deadshot realizes, Ted Kord may have the other T.N.Teen and be turning her into a bomb...

I'm not sure how it went over, but the Revolutionaries arc has a couple interesting points going for it: after years of over-farming Firestorm villains (I will never tire of that joke!) the Squad may not have had as many C or D-grade villains to choose from. And, they were bad guys now forced into bad jobs: almost nothing they did for the U.S. government was going to be for humanitarian reasons. Well, that was probably true back in the day, but far more explicit now...I don't think this run was very long, though, possibly because DC may have wanted to reset to a roster more resembling the upcoming movie. Which may have involved benching Deadshot for Bloodsport: the next issue was teased as "The Death of Deadshot," for what that's worth.  

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80-Page Thursdays: New Year's Evil #1!

Halfway through the year, and we're just now using the 80-pager tag because while DC still puts out a few, I don't usually buy them immediately: if I time it out, I can get them a bit cheaper from EntertainMart. I don't think this one saw the first six months of 2020 coming, though: from 12/04/19, New Year's Evil #1.

For a change, I don't think these stories were all complete downers, and some weren't even evil evil. The opener, well, probably: "The Amateur" Story and art by Gabriel Hardman, story by Corinna Bechko. A gas attack on New Year's seems like a typical Joker crime--except he's torturing a society party when he sees it on the news! It doesn't take Joker long to find the "amateur" misappropriating his name, but the amateur defends his work as more efficient and less hackneyed than the Joker's. While the amateur may be almost as nihilistic as himself, it leaves the Joker in a pickle: killing the amateur does nothing, but would taking the credit for his work be unsatisfying? What to do, what to do...ah, you can probably guess.

"Slaybells Ring" (Written by Kenny Porter, art by Ramon Villalobos) features the Toyman, again complaining that kids today spend too much time on their phones and not enough on action figures. A helpful child explains, he just doesn't like Toyman's figures, and assists Superman in taking him down.

In "Bright and Terrible" (Written by Phillip Kennedy Johnson, art by Sumit Kumar) Sinestro, with Lex Luthor on the holographic phone, visits a planet he once defended when he was Green Lantern, and finds the locals have made a little religion based on him. But their leader may have drawn the wrong conclusions. I think this was set during recent Legion of Doom stories; and does a good job of explaining Sinestro's motivations.

Next, "Auld Lang Ivy," written by Jim Krieg, art by Aneke: Poison Ivy tries to connect with humanity, starting with her contemporaries at a super-villain bar, using her powers to give them a little nudge towards their New Year's resolutions. This does of course lead to murder, but hey, she's trying.

Dan Watters writes and Alessandro Vitti draws "Winter's Root," which has Wonder Woman but is an Ares story: he's trying to start a war because he needs to spill blood. His blood, to sustain a lover he turned into a tree centuries ago and felt kinda bad about. Diana should appreciate seeing even Ares has a heart in there, but wonders if he's helping, sorry or not.

Black Adam stars in "A Coal in My Stocking," where to make a little orphan girl feel better and to bring Christmas to his homeland of Kahndaq, he beats the stuffing out of a mystical Santa figure. Kind of...all over the place there, man. (Story by Ram V, art by Anthony Spay, inks by Jon Sibal.)

Remember when Calendar Man was one of the New 52's Channel 52 presenters, along with Ambush Bug? Yeah, he's a murderous loon again. In "New Year, New You" a new therapist at Arkham thinks Julian Day is a cliched loser, but takes the bait at rehabilitating him, Firefly, Amygdala, and Killer Croc. Which Julian completely turns back on itself, but can he break his own cycle? (Story by Christos Gage, art by Karl Mostert.)

The Chronos story is a good one, as the villain tries again and again to change his own history by turning his dad around. There may only be one way to do that, though. ("Father Christmas" Written by Dave Wielgosz, art by Cian Tormey.)

Kurt Busiek returns to the Prankster: I'm not sure he had been used in the New 52 continuity, but he sets him back up as the guy villains go to for a distraction. (Go read Superman #660 if you can!) The New Year's party may have gone a bit awry, though...(Art by Dale Eaglesham.)

Finally, a Harley Quinn story, "Little Christmas Tree," in which she attempts to cheer up Renee Montoya for the holidays. (Script by Vita Ayala, art by Elena Casagrande.)

We had to go with the digital camera for pictures instead of scans this time; so they're probably...not especially more crooked than usual, actually. Still, I don't think there were any outright stinkers in this one, so not bad! Better than the 2020 we got, anyway.
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If I crash-landed crotch first, I think I'd hold a grudge.

Also, I couldn't say why he's got a face like a terrier, but whatever. From 2016, Harley Quinn and the Suicide Squad April Fools' Special #1, "Evil Anonymous" Written by Rob Williams, pencils by Jim Lee and Sean "Cheeks" Galloway; inks by Scott Williams, Sandra Hope, Richard Friend, and Sean "Cheeks" Galloway.

I got this (cheap, of course!) with a big order of comics from Midtown Comics, and I got the more-cartoony Galloway cover. I thought it would be a larf, wacky Harley hijinks, and there are some; but overall it's a bit darker. A bored and depressed Harley wants a change of direction, and gets one delivered to her door in a sequence resembling scenes from the Exorcist. It's a card and a file for "Evil Anonymous," like Alcoholics Anonymous for baddies. Harl wonders if that's why she became, as she puts it, "colorful," to walk like them, talk like them, in order to help them. Hmm, now who's a super-villain that could use her help? Man-Bat is the unlucky first recipient of Harley's "treatment," picked because he didn't look like a happy camper. Jumping on his back as he flies through Gotham, seemingly minding his own business, Harley crashes Man-Bat in an alley: she takes a pretty good bump on the head, but Man-Bat takes a worse one, reverting back to Kirk Langstrom and looking kind of dead. But, he's not a bat anymore, so yay, he's cured!

Probably concussed, as denoted by the art changing from Jim Lee to Sean Galloway, Harl is on the run from the cops and gets a lift from a mysterious--and noticeably large--benefactor. She wakes up, dressed as a psychiatrist, with an office to match. The next patient for Evil Anonymous arrives, Killer Moth, and Harley decides she can combine her two lives, cure super-villains, get a Nobel Peace Prize, then take over as president of the world. Well, it's no more grandiose than any of Lex Luthor's plans, I guess. She doesn't really question where her patients are coming from, until Poison Ivy suggests she not only "needs the bad," someone set this up with her in mind. In turn, Harley sets Killer Moth up with the next of "the Evil Anonymous Twelve Steps," namely helping someone else. Unfortunately for him, the Scarecrow "isn't quite ready to embrace change," but Harl is able to pick up a tank full of fear gas, which she uses on her patients, since she had learned all their secrets, like where their loot was. Kind of a dick move, and one that gets squashed immediately, by the larger-than-life arrival of the Justice League!

Although furious at the "bullies," Harley doesn't stand a chance, and is quickly straitjacketed up by Green Lantern. She does still give Batman a solid headbutt, though. As she loses consciousness, she tries to ask her subconscious inner voice, hey, who did set all this up, anyway? Amanda Waller, of course; who has Harl strapped into a pretty elaborate looking brainwashing set-up. Worse, apparently separate from that, a Joker hallucination advises Harley that she's going to want to get onboard with whatever Waller has planned, it might be a hoot. Was it all a dream? Does it matter? An off-panel member of the Squad (probably Captain Boomerang) chastises Waller for this particularly egregious violation of personal liberties, but Waller needed Harley motivated for what was coming...
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Part of the crossover only in name, and not even that!

We've seen two issues of the "Batman Dies!" event so far: Batman #586 and Nightwing #52, and the latter actually featured Catwoman's imaginary version of Batman's death--and wedding! So in her own book, we get...Harley Quinn's vision of Batman's death? No, her creative vision? From 2001, Catwoman #89, "Always Leave 'Em Laughing" Written by Bronwyn Carlton, pencils by Staz Johnson and Craig Rousseau, inks by Wayne Faucher.

An early issue of Superboy is probably a better known example of this: an in-story version of DC's animated universe/Batman: the Animated Series. (Ooh, Mike Parobeck art on that Superboy! I know I've got a copy somewhere...) Dr. Quinzel is having trouble getting past the pitch stage, though: her vision of Catwoman and her best bud Harley Quinn (and their pal, Poison Ivy) is undercut by notes and revisions, until "Catwoman" is a "16-year old science prodigy," and Harley and Ivy are even more drastically changed. Pissed that it was no longer her story, Harley murders the network exec types with Joker gas. Which is more-or-less done for a lame punchline, but does kind of undermine Harl as a sympathetic character, doesn't it?

The "Batman Dies!" on the cover is crossed out and corrected to "Batman doesn't die!" Not that there was any continuity or crossover on that event, though. Four issues of that event left, and I don't think I have any of them off the top of my head. Again, this was largely to have a laugh before the "Officer Down" crossover; though offhand the Birds of Prey issue looks funnier than this.
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