Let's see. Everything is a set up of the new status quo. Scarecrow is calling the shots with the guy who will make tomorrow. Harley tries to do good, but because she's nuts, she's hitting cops who surprise her with baseball bats.

The Gotham police are actually doing their job, so they don't appreciate Bats contaminating crime scenes, and Barb is setting up mini-Batsignals across Gotham. Why not just text. Seriously. If Bats is on the outs, why be so public with contact protocols?

Blind, new-old Friend of Bruce is doing - stuff? I don't know. The overall effect of the issue is just treading water. The new status quo could have been set up in three pages, and we could have had a kick-ass action scene. I can't say I'm a fan of what Tynion is doing, but why does it have to be done in such a slow, non-exciting way? What does it cost for an issue? $4? That's a lot of money for nothing happening.

And while the art has its charms, I really don't like the designs of the new characters. But that's me. I also don't get what they are setting up Harley to be. She is now guilty of assault with a deadly weapon on a cop. Her actions were seen by other cops. There's no way she is an anti-hero who is left alone, unless you want to show that "sane" Harley is as dangerous as "insane" Harley. But no matter how you slice it, it's back behind bars for her. That's the only way this works unless you want to have bad story-telling with plot requiring characters to act the way they do to drive plot and there won't be any logical story-telling consequences as a result.

Tynion wouldn't do that, he's known for his tight character work and iron-clad plotting.

Or I could be wrong. more

Plot: 3/10
Characters: 3/10
Interior Art: 4/10
Cover Art: 2/10

Unbiased score: 3.5/10 only comoletionists of the Joker War arc have any reason to buy this issue.

Dan Jurgens is the quintessential 1990s writer/artist at DC with access to Barbara Gordon in an arc that celebrates the greatness of the grim and gritty 1990s with an all new villain! And if you like Harley Quinn--Wait till you get a load of PUNCHLINNNNEEE!

The Cover Art is of similar quality to interior art in B and C list Bat titles that are not written by Jurgens. This may signal wiser readers to keep away.

Plot and Characterization go with the repeated mention of 90s grim and gritty dark age tropes. You are actually spoiled by this.

18 months from now no one will remember this arc, just like how almost no one remembers any detailed storylines from Tynions 2 years on Detective Comics.

Personal Score: 0/10 F*** 90s comic tropes to death with a splintered wooden spoon in the urethra.

An aside:

I was alive for the grim and gritty 1990s in comic books. I was fortunate enough to pick up a Batman comicbook one time in 1993 that was bad enough that I could decide at 8 to not touch a DC comic again until I was 26. There are certain things that offend my taste that seem unique to that era. The gimmick plot lines, the characterization mutilation to make a forgettable plot point work, the idiotic scaling of new characters that have nothing to add value to the core story beyond someone getting a royalty check the more they are required to be used. The blaring hype around characters that do not stand out from any other ersatz extreme revisionist bathroom pitch that will revolutionize something (PUNCHLINE). Writers whose greatest achievement is knowing a great writer that can prevent strong criticism of their overrated work (Jurgens then and Tynion now)
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