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Monday 1 August 2011

Batman: Arkham City #3


Choosing Sides

Awesome, visually appealing cover. The tear stained mascara seems to be a hot thing for Harley Quinn now but hey, at least she makes it work. The black dye of one of her pigtails looks chlorine pool green, but I can over look that.

So the comic opens on a security van zooming through the streets of Arkham City before the grand opening. Or is that closing? Anyway, random thug provides some commentary from the street corners and I think to myself, damn it, Batman, get a job!

Well, apparently he's looking for one and both the Joker and Penguin are offering! The Joker-coaster from the game trailer is explained here as a sort of informal interview. Where Joker gets the time and tools required to make all these themed death traps is beyond me. Moving on. Bat-thug makes an excellent leap of faith and find out that the second interview is a little more personal.

Woo-hoo! Harley debut! I am digging her outfit as much as Joker's priceless face on this panel. Is the Joker is some sort of customised wheelchair throne? It certainly looks like it, and he's all shaky when he gets up to question his guest. Harley has gone all technological, consulting her 'here's all the information you need without any fuss' phone console.

She reads off Bat-thug's crimes and times and with a particular Harley twist, ignores the GTA, assault charges and armed robbery, focusing on the real crime in her eyes: stalking/a romance gone wrong.
Joker admits him into the gang and Harley tells him where to go. To, uh, the bunks. Maybe I was wrong. Could this be a generic thug after all? Nah. Thinks too much, and busts out way too fast in unorthodox means.


Over to Penguin's pen. Maybe it's the page restrictions, but Penguin just takes Bat-thug based on muscle appeal. Coming up, a Penguin brand calender filled with muscle men? Hmmmm. Penguin has the nerve to call Harley Quinn 'the Joker's slut.' Well, ouch. I wasn't aware that being a fairly steady girlfriend ACTUALLY MADE YOU A SLUT! Holy crap! To think, I was labelling all those bird themed hench gals in fishnets that keep swanning around (heh heh) Penguin as sluts. From now on, I will walk the path of righteousness. *Snort*

Penguin's got some sort of... trap door of death featuring some kind of... thing of death and horror. Hey, I'm being less vague than the comic, you know. It seemed like the hench dude was aware of the 'man downstairs' but if he was, why the heck hotcakes would he stand over the trap door that he must also surely be aware of??? Oh, where are the quality hench guys?!

Hi-ho, hi-ho, it's off to raid an armoured truck carrying weapons we go...

It looks like Bat-thug is going to betray the Penguin's men but uh-oh, here come the Joker's gang! The guns get blown up with a grenade. Reminds me of that old saying... 'live by the gun.. die by another kind of weapon.' Something along those lines. Penguin is soooooo mad, youse guys. Luckily, he's still crushing over those muscles so he only reduces Bat-thug's share in any future loot and goes to lock him up.


Bat-thug busts out and unleashes all hell on his captors. Then he leaps away, in full Batman costume. ....I'm still unclear on where he had all that stashed, but I highly recommend that poor Alfred wash it as soon as humanely possible. He's being watched of course, not just by millions of comic book readers but by Dr. Strange.

Is he crushing on Batman too? He has a lot of his faces on his screens. Why don't you take a picture, it lasts longer! Anyway - the fourth installment of this five part series will be out soon and hopefully Harley Quinn and Joker will have some bigger roles to play.

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