Batman: Harley and Ivy by Paul Dini, Judd Winick, Bruce Timm (Illustrator), Joe Chiodo (Illustrator)

Batman: Harley & Ivy by Paul Dini
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

I really enjoyed this. The artwork was divine, and it shows a playful but credible Harley that's missing from the newest solo run. This volume depicts the friendship between Ivy and Harley which is mostly on Harley's side. Ivy seems to be mostly exasperated with Harley. This also shows the toxic romantic relationship that Harley has with the Joker. I can be honest and say I despise the Joker. I'm okay with him being shown as a bad boyfriend in this, because he is a terrible boyfriend, and I do believe that he brings out the worst in Harley. I much prefer her as her own woman. It bears mentioning that her original creators were Paul Dini and Bruce Timm for the Batman Adventures show in the 90s, and they understand her best. I liked Ivy in this as well. She's depicted as the gorgeous and dangerous femme fatale she is. But also as a friend by necessity with Harley, barely tolerating her, but deep down I think she does like Harley. There is a cameo by the Bat and Co., which I'm a-ok with it. I am so thrilled that my library had this. I loved every minute of reading it! It makes me want to paint Harley and Ivy again!



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Harley Quinn Vol. 2: Power Outage by Amanda Conner, Jimmy Palmiotti, Chad Hardin (Illustrations)

Harley Quinn Vol. 2: Power Outage by Amanda Conner
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

I'm coming to the realization that I do like the Suicide Squad incarnation of Harley more than the one in her solo outing in this run. I think that this solo series is geared towards readers who want a more goofy version of Quinn. I can deal with the fact that she's not really a hero, more appropriately classed as a villain, but her mayhem in this series is played for laughs and that's hard to get behind for me.

Many times, the story was hard to follow and downright incomprehensible. I did like the team-up with an amnesiac Power Girl, for the most part, except for a few too many crass jokes. I think that the saving grace for this volume was the incredible artwork. I was inspired to do yet another drawing of Harley Quinn. What can I say, her aesthetic really appeals to me. I will probably keep reading these, even though they aren't my favorite. At least to fill the gap between Suicide Squad volumes.

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Irredeemable, Vol.8 by Mark Waid

Irredeemable, Vol. 8 by Mark Waid
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Oh man. Waid is without limits. I can't believe that some of the things are happening in this book. It's like a superhero fiction reader's worse nightmare. Some major comic book storylines have flirted with the idea of absolute power corrupting absolutely, but Plutonian is relentlessly evil and corrupt, both morally and mentally/morally. Unfortunately, there seems to be no contenders who can really take him on, because of their own issues or limitations. I had hoped that Plutonian would turn out to be his own worst enemy, but it seems as though he's found his feet after the last volumes. If something doesn't change, this may turn out to be one of the most tragic graphic novel series I've ever read. It's really hard to process this story, and it makes writing a review rather hard.

I'll take a bit of a break before I read Volume 9.

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Justice League, Volume 5: Forever Heroes by Geoff Johns

Justice League, Vol. 5: Forever Heroes by Geoff Johns

My rating: 4 of 5 stars


In my opinion, this is the best volume in this run of Justice League.  I feel after volume two, they just got better, but this is definitely the best so far.  The strength of it is telling the story of the dark versions of the Justice League.  They are absolutely bone-chilling.  I think that horror is not always supernatural aspects, but delving into the psychological heart of darkness.  In this care, seeing what an Evil Clark Kent/Superman, Batman, and others would be like. What if the Justice League was merely a syndicate of super-powered, super-evil villains who have plenty of agency to do whatever they want?  That is not a world we want to live in, trust me.  Unfortunately, the Crime Society have gotten a foot into our world.

I think that I really liked this volume because it's so high on character development. It shows how Earth 3's version of Batman, Owlman is really like the evil side of Batman. He has all Bruce Wayne's strengths, but also a twisted, sick lack of morality that allows him to make methodically evil choices.    You really don't want an Owlman when you can have a Batman.  Same to be said for Kal-Il/Clark Kent/Ultraman. That's a case of nurture versus nature. Both sets of parents were evil, if not twisted.  Kal-Il received all the teachings of his father as he traveled to Earth-2, and they were about the worst conditioning you could give a child, unless you want them to be absolutely twisted morally.  Teach a child to hate weakness and to believe that strength is everything, that strength allows someone to take whatever they want with impunity.  Earth 3's version of the Green Lantern is rather like the flip-side of the whole ideology of the Green Lantern Corps.  Instead of being powered by will, how about your fears and pain being used against you to power the ring? And let's not talk about Johnny Quick and Atomica, a pair of thrill killer/criminal lovers who happen to become super-powered when they are about to commit suicide after a botched escapade. One shortcoming is that we don't learn much about Superwoman, other than she's a piece of work.  I am intensely curious about her, and I hope that we get her backstory in the next volume. 

This whole adventure is narrated by The Grid, the computer virus/AI consciousness that takes over the super-powered machinery of Vic Stone, Cyborg and expels his human part.    I like the way that Vic deals with The Grid and the group of unlikely crime-fighters he recruits.

"Forever Heroes" left me wanting more of this series.  High on adventure, suspense, and character development, it was a page turner.







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Suicide Squad, Volume 5: Walled In by Matt Kindt (Goodreads Author), Patrick Zircher (Illustrations)

Suicide Squad, Vol. 5: Walled In by Matt Kindt

My rating: 4 of 5 stars


I was so thrilled that my library has this. I had to wait a while before it came in, but by and large, it was worth the wait. This story is so twisty. The established 'norm' of the Suicide Squad is totally disrupted, and Amanda Waller is forced to call in the Squad to protect her from enemies within the prison.  I think that if you didn't get the idea that these folks are not the good guys already, you will get a wakeup call in this volume.  Yeah, they are all killers and criminals, and it's not a case of them being a little bit morally compromised, but instead it's how far over the line they really are.

I think this volume was the most creepy to me.  Part of it is that sense of paranoia about not knowing who you can trust (yeah, if you're going to trust any of these people, including Waller), but also the fact that Waller is locked in the prison with lots of people who want her dead, and she's not in control of the situation anymore.  And one of the few people in her corner is an extremely intelligent psychotic who's semi-obsessed with her.

Waller isn't a nice woman. She's very manipulative and opportunistic, but I kind of felt afraid for her.  Yeah, I'm a soft touch.

I really hope this series continues! Can't wait to see what happens next.



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Salvation Run by Matthew Sturges (Goodreads Author), Bill Willingham (Goodreads Author), Sean Chen (Illustrator), Walden Wong (Illustrator)

Salvation Run by Matthew Sturges
My rating: 3.5 of 5 stars

Salvation Run is definitely a book from the villain viewpoint. It's interesting to see that vantage point, if well done. I think this was mostly well done, although I never felt much sympathy for the villains (except for when they threw the mortally wounded guy to the ravenous predators, which was just wrong!). I really, really despise the Joker, and this story gave me much reason to dislike him. He is completely malevolent and utterly psychopathic. I can't find a single redeeming trait in him. Lex Luthor has got to have the biggest ego in the multiverse. He is completely narcissistic and a huge megalomaniac. It sucks that his massive intellect feeds into his grandiose view of himself and his overweening self-confidence. I think I might have liked this more if their roles weren't the biggest. I could see some of the less objectionable villains as more antiheroes but not so much these two.

It was an interesting idea with good execution. I don't care as much for this as the Suicide Squad, although they are also quite villainous in some ways. Although Harley Quinn started out as an acolyte of the Joker, I quite like her. I'm glad she's moved on from the Joker. At any rate, this was kind of fun to see the various villains from the DC Comics universe. And there were some interesting surprises and quite a commentary on human nature and the way that people react to crises, in mostly the worst ways.

I've rate this at about 3.5/5.0 stars.

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