This volume also has Harley playing the environmentalist, although it’s not necessarily about her love of the green lady Poison Ivy. Even when Harley seems to be playing the ditz, she pays attention to the world around her and she realizes that there’s more involved in the loss of a tree than a little greenery. We lost an insanely entertaining dynamic when DC banned Harley and Joker. Joker lost the only partner that ever worked with him and showed a different side of him. Harley Quinn lost what made her unique and so relatable to so many people. And I have to say, given the low sales of all of Harley’s subsequent “independent hero” work, I have to wonder if people really like who Harley is sans Joker, or if they just like the *idea* of her independence. To my surprise, this is ANOTHER good Harley story! I was a little bit concerned when I saw the very exaggerated facial expressions on Harley, that she would be written very obnoxiously in the story. I was wrong, though. Like Kelly Thompson, Brett and Stein nail Harley’s voice and personality!

It doesn’t matter if Harley isn’t with the Joker anymore; she’s still no paragon of growth and empowerment. The character continues to be a walking oxymoron as people try to portray her as a “bad girl” character and a feminist icon at the same time. As such, it doesn’t work. Noticeably, Harley’s storylines that have explored her independence in the past, like her first solo series, didn’t try to pass her off as a feminist character either. I guess we’re still trapped in the day and age where every female character needs to spread a good message to its audience. (We poor, foolish little women might not know how to be strong otherwise, don’t you know?) I want to take a moment to absolutely fall over my face in praising Luana Vecchio’s artwork. I mean, great bouncing clowns! This is the best person I’ve EVER seen draw Harley Quinn since her creator, Bruce Timm!

Step 2: Accentuate your brows.

Dini: My story is a caper and those are down to being planned in intricate detail. It’s Harley and a group of female criminals pulling a heist. It was all a matter of fitting the puzzle pieces together, with Harley as the screwball leader of the gang. The plan shouldn’t have worked, because she’s just too wild, but it does. Or…it works well enough. Vuoi per il formato ridotto, vuoi perché Harley Quinn non ha quell'appeal, quel design e quelle storie sanguinose che può avere un Wolverine o un Carnage, ma qua siamo di fronte a un fumetto leggermente insufficiente nel complesso.

First thing’s first: Put your hair up in pigtails. (Curl them first, if you want them to be extra bouncy.) Then you can either opt for hair color chalk or hair color spray. Warning: All will be messy, but if you spritz hairspray on top, your color should be set for a few hours. Also, it might be a good idea to wear rubber or plastic disposable gloves when applying it.I was very pleasantly surprised by this collection. The first sign of Red Tool was not impressive, but he managed to grow on me, especially when he (or Amanda Conner through him) perfectly encapsulated what it is that makes Harley such a fascinating character; all of her inconsistencies and hypocritical stances nailed down into one long but accurate description. The story isn't bad either, with lots of over-the-top violence, Harley's trademark humor, and unexpected twists and turns. The main Red Tool story is nice, but only makes up 3 of the collected issues. There's a one-off with Harley getting into it with off-brand transformers that was basically an excuse for over-the-top action and a lot of scatological humor (some of which actually managed to be funny, even). The final issue is the best, though, as Harley gets a chance to close out her New 52 era with a bit of meta recognition and a couple of nice moments with Ivy. During my time reviewing at Batman News, I’ve given most comics scores of about 6 or lower. That’s because, quite simply, I don’t think most comics released today even manage to be of average quality. I’m especially harsh on Harley comics. The problems DC has with writing her character run very deep and seem to be never ending in mainstream comics. DC editorial seems not to care about doing anything to remedy the situation. (This is disheartening to me since Harley Quinn is supposed to be my favorite character). Mandel: They asked me to do a holiday story and I thought I would do a Hanukkah story, because those are few and far between. I figured, who better to explain Hanukkah than Harley? In talking to Paul, he reminded me that she’s half-Jewish and once I had that, I was off to the races. As we all know, nothing says the holidays like a good Hanukkah story in June. Harley Quinn is a character that I learned about in recent years, always full of surprises and with an unpredictable character.