Cool Comics I Read - 11/28/2022 Edition
Rondo of Blog - Published: November 28, 2022
Today on DC Universe Infinite I read DC Comics Presents #41, Catwoman (Vol. 2) #54, and Harley Quinn (Vol. 1) #11!
DC Comics Presents #41 (written by Martin Pasko) is part of an old comic series that’s essentially just “Superman teams up with XYZ!” (and other letters of the alphabet, but I’d be here all day listing them all), and in this issue he teams up with… The Joker?!
The cover is absolutely irresistible, with Joker gleefully plummeting to his doom as Superman is faced with the dilemma of saving The Joker or saving Perry White (Superman’s Friend Jimmy Olsen’s Boss). I skimmed through some of it, but highlights include how very very Queer Joker is in all of it. :)
Catwoman (Vol. 2) #54 is what I believe to be the first issue in that volume that was written by one Devin Grayson. I haven’t read a whole lot of her work, buuut I’ve heard nothing but good things about her from my beloved Cluster. If this issue is anything to go by, that reputation of hers is well-earned!
It’s got this adorable story of Selina stealing a gem and then becoming very bored of it, only to quickly turn her ire from the gem to the ungrateful museum that didn’t do enough to protect it! So, she puts it back… and steals it again… then puts it back… steals it again… and so on, leading to massive ramping up of the security and (as we later learn) the insurance policy for it.
Nothing really happens in the comic besides Selina bamboozling greedy museum dudes, but Devin makes it such a delight. I’m definitely considering reading further issues she wrote for this volume of Catwoman! (By the way, if you like Catwoman, I recommend the current run that Tini Howard’s doing!)
Speaking of series I’m considering reading more of… that brings us to Harley Quinn (Vol. 1) #11, written by Karl Kesel! I cannot say enough good about this issue, every page I read of it was almost constant bliss. I’m not familiar with the name Karl Kesel, but for some reason I wasn’t expecting much based on it! Oh how wrong I was!
What drew me to it was the hijinks-laden cover, featuring Harley Quinn on a motorbike with Robin (Tim Drake) and Batgirl (Cassandra Wayne), riding off a rooftop with Nightwing just barely holding on! What followed truly did not disappoint.
Despite a kind of trite beginning featuring a retread of the scene from The Killing Joke where Barbara is shot by The Joker, the comic basically immediately recovers with some of the most charming banter I’ve ever read between Babs and Dick. Dick in particular is in monumentally good form, I was reeling from the charm he had on the entire time.
Harley is an absolute chaos gremlin the entire issue, and it suits her! Speaking of things that suit her, that brings us to Barbara’s old Batgirl costume! Harley’s wearing it, this issue! “No one else was,” she memorably states in the comic.
Tim and Cassie are also here, with Tim being pretty cute and Cassie being a darling I loved to see on every page she graced with her presence. There’s this really fun visual note where Cassie’s making a heart with her hands while watching Dick & Babs argue.
I’m very curious to read more - especially considering this comic predates the Arkham series and the New 52 so Harley’s in her original get-up! I never get tired of seeing it, and hey! If this issue’s anything to go off of, apparently I’ve been missing on a lot of fun Harley comics! I’m definitely considering reading more of it, but that’ll have to wait another day.
It’s 11:38 PM (CST) as I write this, and I’m all comic’d out for the day. Finding these hidden gems on DC Universe Infinite was a treat, and really served to justify my membership yet again. Looking forward to when I get back to y’all, whenever I feel like sharing about what I’ve read!