..........what in the fucking fuck did i just read?.............
seriously, for the love of Jack Kirby what was that atrocity????????
I was expecting some female empowerment to happen in this book because its a good thing. But THIS? If i were a woman i would be furious! Every female character in this book is completely out of character! They act like theyre some kind of weakling creatures that cant stand for themselves! And dont even let me start on the men! If the writer hates men, you can TOTALLY see it in here! Every single men is written like the biggest, most disgusting sexist, rapist you have never seen! DARKSEID RAPES GRANNY GOODNESS! LMFAO! Thats ridiculous!!! Why on earth would DARKSEID care for sex, anyways???!!! Oh my GOD! And theres a fucking "miss universe" context! Seriously, what was this writer thinking when she wrote this book?? Does she hate women too? Because even Big fucking Barda is a "fragile girl" here! Oh my god.....
Adriana Melo's art is very good! The panels where Granny is fighting Darkseids mother are beautiful. Like an homage to King Kirby. Thats it. Thats the only good thing the book has. Everything else is a major failure.
I dont know how writing a despicable book is going to help her (Cecil Castellucci, the writer) feminist agenda. But.... who cares.
If the goal was to make the readers laugh and be bored at the same time, then mission accomplished! more

Darkseid gets #metoo'd

I have to admit, theres a slight excitement when first opening up this comic. With art so bright and reminiscent of Kirby's, you'd truly think you're in for a treat. Unfortunately, looks can be deceiving.

As soon as you start reading this issue, the problems become glaringly obvious. The characters are beyond one-note and dull (an alarming contrast to the bright colours of the issue), the political message is so obvious and spoon fed that its almost insulting, and it undoes decades of character progression we've seen since their creation.

If they wanted the series to have a feminist message, I don't think rape, coercion and childish name calling is the best way to portray that. The furies have always been ruthless, feared and respected in comics. Sometimes, the best way to get across a female empowerment message is to actually show women in power. Show women taking charge, showing their ferocity. You don't have to have them degraded to have some sort of character arc. Its a tired narrative and It feels like a huge step backwards.

Its especially a pity when you consider that the furies typically each have very specific and distinct personalities, yet this interpretation of them is so devoid of any personality it makes them seem like completely different characters.

I'd like to hold out hope for the rest of the series, but this issue is so bland, I doubt I'll have the interest to come back for more.

more

there is definitely an agenda going on here

If you thought only WB does not understand DC characters, as proven with multiple choices done in the DCEU (Riddler-Luthor, Harley and Joker both having tattooed faces, murdering Batman, TMNT Doomsday, etc.), read this comic and think again. Sigh, what a mess, where characters are merely one dimensional shells, and their stories are second to the pseudo-empowerment theme so unsubtle and ironically regressive, it could as well be a Marvel comic.

Look, I don't mind political comics - I'm a political junkie who follows the news and tries to learn something new every day. And also, I don't mind what many would label as feminist comics - I'm an egalitarian, so how could I?
But I do mind bad comics, and especially ones that are not just poorly written, but hurt the very causes they try to address and comment on. How can anyone read this and seriously contemplate on the problem of sexism and discrimination of women in today's society, while all the bad guys (yeah, guys, literally) we see here look and act like parodies? Even Ali G is less sexist and cartoonish than them!
In the end, instead of spreading the message of empowerment and serving as an inspirational tale, Female Furies is a boring, one dimensional cliche, regressive joke, where complex problems are portrayed as easy black and white ones, and nuance necessary to understand real life struggles is non existent.

Want to write a rape story? Fine, do it, but make sure it's neither a parody like here, nor an empty shocker like in the atrocious Batman Damned #2. Alan Moore accomplished that in Watchmen, and granted, he hardly used it to empower Silk Spectre, but at least it had its place in the big story, and has shown gigantic complexity of the issue, or at least a part of it. Female Furies doesn't - it's as subtle as Man-Eaters, as boring and soap-opearish as Supergirl: Being Super, and does nothing to be a genuine, informed and relevant commentary on something. Anything. Go figure.

Definitely don't recommend this comic - it does nothing to properly address the problem of sexism and rape, and if anything, it makes only disservice to it. Don't waste your money. Especially if you actually care about aforementioned issues - they deserve to be commented on, but not in such one dimensional, shallow way. more

Awful issue. There is no way Harley could outsmart& beat the Trinity like that. I am sick of this ridiculous writing& forcing Harley on every story. Her classic outfit doesn’t make anything better, because it’s the same awfully written Harley, since New52 started. As for the plot there was no real plot.

both the art and story took a serious dive this issue.

from a base of 6, this gets a rating of: 3.
-2 because: yep.. Harley can do all that.. right. this is stupid.
-1 because: seems to be the book Tom King was born for- completely ridiculous

SPOILERS

If you think the first issue was vague or lacking on a clear narrative, wait till you read issue #2. This issue has very little progression from the first. The events of the massacre are still unclear, the killer's identity is still a mystery and no one seems any the wiser as to what sanctuary actually is. Obviously, we're still extremely early in the arc, however we remain as confused as the characters and we're yet to get to the bare facts.

In this issue, we learn about the death of Poison Ivy who is killed off panel by the mysterious killer. Not a fitting send off to a character whose been in comics for 52 years. Her presence in the story is seriously overshadowed by Harley. Her confessional is interrupted before she can speak her mind, her death is passingly commented on by Booster Gold and Harley seems relatively unaffected by her passing. It's a cruel death considering Tom King tweeted his admiration for Ivy fans days before the issue was released.

The portrayal of mental health issues is damaging at best. The big twist in issue #2 is that someone has access to the confession tapes of our heroes and is using them to smear their names in the press. If anything, that encourages a stigma when talking about mental health issues, and gives the impression that its something that is to be hidden and ashamed of. I really hope future issues can clear this up, highlighting the importance in sharing and seeking help.

The story also feels almost emotionless. There are plenty of dramatic (albeit unnecessary) deaths, but very little genuine reaction from the friends or family of the dead. For example, Harley simply monologues about her poor life choices while throwing a rose into Gotham river in the memory of Poison Ivy. Seems like an under reaction to the death of someone she loved and cared for. more

A bit of a mess. And none of the deaths will stick.

This is gross. Let's just get it out of the way. The dialogue is still as bad as ever. It's like the writer has a dart board with, maybe, 3 different dialogue trees. There's the "character A says X, character B says !X" one, there's the "character makes innocuous statements, but break down, letting the audience know that this is *deep*" and there's the "character goes off on an unrelated tangent because they're incredibly single-minded, apparently". And these have to be broken up with way too many ellipses, by the way. As for the plot and characters, there's a lot of annoying things to talk about. First, I'm glad Harley and Ivy's relationship is basically a mother finding their toddler cute, that's all I can get out of "boop". Ivy is killed off panel, so that probably means she's the villain. I'm pretty sure the Justice League knows Batman has kryptonite in his utility belt (and yeah, it's not a bat belt). I'm pretty sure Batman has used said kryptonite on Superman in the past. But let's just act like that's not something they know. Harley Quinn takes out Batman, Superman and Wonder Woman, because she's apparently as good as Batman. So good that Wonder Woman just stood there in awe after Harley flashed the kryptonite and let Batman go to make her escape. Harley's the next Deathstroke. I can't trust anything that snake in the grass, Skeets, does since he's apparently on Bane's elite Suicide Squad (watch them call it that). Harley was acting too competent, I guess, so Booster is now the WaCkY crazy one who can't shut up or take any social cues, or you know, words, into consideration. Which is not at all different than how he was before King turned him crazy, but whatever. Lois is a single track mind, and that only track is being an asshole, since someone's clearly trying to talk to her. But maybe it's the other person's fault for not realizing that Lois doesn't care. But then how would we know that Lois is a hectic and busy woman?? And what would we do without that dramatic "Wait, what"?? And finally, why is Superman so worried about the heroes being shown to be human? I know it'd violate their privacies, but he seems way more concerned with maintaining this air of perfection. But why? I'm pretty sure most people realize by now that the heroes are not perfect. In fact, they probably realized this the first time the heroes did anything and there was property damage and injuries left over. And if not, there's been so many stories about the public finding out that a hero is "just like you and me". I don't know, seems like a Superman only problem. Or it would be if Superman was never shown to be fallible, but that happens in every other story he's in. Anyway, I think this sucks, if you couldn't tell. more

Harley wants the Trinity’s attention but instead of staying at Sanctuary she runs and then lures them to her in some convoluted mess that ends with her beating the three of them. King, once again, makes Batman incompetent. Booster is now just a nutjob with no real explanation other than the other convoluted story that King wrote. The art was fine but the writing is bordering on pathetic and there is no way this guy should be paid to be a professional comic writer. more

The issue is less dreadful and boring than the series' debut, but it's still hardly a decent, enjoyable comic to read. The worst part about it is the fact it's just... boring and tenseless for the very most part, and Tom King's signature minimalistic, repetitious style of writing doesn't help. It worked in his first few Batman story arcs, but I wouldn't expect to witness it in a huge event involving so many characters and having such a huge impact on the entire DC universe.

There's few genuine improvements compared to #1, and I'm glad to see them. Harley's classic costume is back, she doesn't have her usual ultra annoying and overused gimmicky accent Palmiotti, Conner, Tieri, Sebala and Humphries all love so much in her solo comics, and her romantic fan service fan fiction relationship with Ivy is finally dead and gone. Yeah, if Ivy is indeed dead, it's a huge loss, since she's one of Batman's most interesting and developed villains and I love her very much, but in the bigger scale, the more garbage created by Palmiotti/Conner is removed, the better. If you remove a tumor, you gotta remove some healthy tissue around it as well to ensure no damage cells remain.

Bad thing, Harl is able to effortlessly beat the trinity, which to say at least, will spark some controversy. I can understand Deathstroke being able to outsmart Supes and being an equal to Batman, and I can fully understand Harley beating them all in real life when it comes to merch sales, but in an actual fight, with 3 versus 1... come on, King, don't be silly.

Overall, Tom King is still underdelivering - the comic is a slow, boring read, and I can't recommend it. It's still just a boring tale of events following more interesting massacre and deaths of fan favourite characters. Meh. more

This book has nothing to do with mental health. The plot is zero and makes no sense. If Harley's plot was to get caught then why visit Penguin and not just stay in Sanctuary?
As for Poison Ivy's death. If you think that one less queer woman in comics is a good thing, then I understand why you'll like this. As a queer woman I can't support this.
Actual dialogue from the book:
Superman: Batman, I don't trust you, you have a case with cryptonite in your belt
Batman: No I don't
Superman: Oh, ok, I guess I won't check, I trust you.

(after one of the biggest massacres in the DCU, instead of mourning their friends)
Superman: Damn Batman, Harley is so good, she owned you
Batman: She's not that good
Wonder Woman: Boys will be boys, lol more

I appreciate Tom just lazily saying outright Harley is as good as Batman in only 2 issues of this, rather than limply trying to convince us as he did with Catwoman over 50 monotonous issues of Batman.

Friggen awful event so far.

I think this arc was one issue too long. The fakeout Rogue death was kinda pointless as there was no way any of the readers would think she was actually dead. I think if issues 4 and 5 had been condensed into a single issue it would have flowed better.

Not as good as last issue's John Carpenter-esque horror, but still entertaining. The dual artists works pretty well here. Good stinger to end on.

I went in wanting to like this one. I kept looking for moments, but there were few I liked. Overall it was an uninteresting story, with muddled dialog, and was completely void of any emotional content or connection to any character. The art was good, but too detailed in places (especially the smaller panels) which distracted me from what was happening.

it seems Harley Quinn is now the most powerful character in the entire DCU.
this time she completely outfoxes the entire DC trinity.

characters act like complete idiots. dull robotic dialog. poor attempts at humor.
(why is everyone including Batman all of the sudden calling Batman’s utility belt his “Bat-Belt”?)
Batman carries Kryptonite in his *UTILITY BELT* he always has. everyone knows this.
so why does everyone act shocked at this reveal?

Tom King loves showing characters having emotional breakdowns.
another beloved character added to the list of the dead just for the sake of it.
trashy hack writing.

added points only for the art. more

I tried to deduce whodunit based on the first two issues but failed come up with any conjecture that could be considered particularly promising and logical--wild and educated guesses are virtually nondifferentiable when it comes to this book, for the world depicted here is itself unreasonable. Under Tom King's pen, Harley beats the Trinity because she apparently can break Batman's neck before Superman, who is standing merely two steps away, can stop her. Who knows what ludicrous plots are waiting for us down the road and what nonsensical explanation we'll see when the mystery unravels?

Really, one might as well guess it's Steve Rogers who killed them all. more

Tom King continues to prove that he should not be allowed to write comics for DC.

Fuck Tom King. Fuck Dan Didio.

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Meh, synergy heavy story. GREAT art, though.