Harley Quinn Month - Joker's Favor

Here we are!  It is 2014 and with a new year comes new goals for this site!  Not only do I plan to make more youtube videos on my channel, but I also am going to be more faithful to my writing schedule.  I know I have struggled to remain consistent in the past (due to work and life and such) but I feel that this is going to be the greatest year yet for all of my rambles, babbles, and content creation.  So what better way to start this year off than by keeping a promise I made in my Harley Quinn article I did a few months ago.  Ladies and gents, in honor of my favorite Gotham Siren, this is Harley Quinn Month!

Do us a favor?  More Harley, please!

Our first stop is going to begin at the beginning (that some mighty fine English, I say ya'll!) combined with the slickest history report you ever did saw (there goes that college edu-ma-cation of mine again).

Once upon a time there was a scene in Batman: The Animated Series in an episode titles "Joker's Favor" where the writers decided that the Joker was going to pop out of a cake and cause his usual havoc.  Along the way someone declared it might be too odd for the Joker to pop out of said cake (even though this is the JOKER we are talking about) and thought a female companion might be a better fit for the duty.  The female character was added, but inevitable the Joker was not to be upstaged and he was put back in his rightful place of popping from out the cake.  The lovely lady still stuck around for the entire duration of the episode and her place in the world of Gotham City was forever planted.  She put on her gleeful jester costume and snuggled close to her puddin', ready to take on the world! Yes, that is how our darling, Harley Quinn, was born.

It is fair to say that Paul Dini (writer, producer, and editor of Batman: The Animated Series) is the father of this beloved lady.  Although she was only planned to be a one time character, Harley left such an impression that she was permanently placed in the rogues gallery as not only the Joker's on and off girlfriend, but as her own leading lady.  Her voice was originally done by Arleen Sorkin and has since been voiced by Tara Strong in Batman: Arkham City.  Throughout all of her adaptations she has been able to hold her own amongst the many memorable characters in the Batman universe.  There were even several episodes of the cartoon in which she was the featured character.  Additionally, fans have developed such a strong love for her, that there are many creations to show off her back story and give her time in the spotlight.

Next week we will dive in the story that really brought Harley into the light, her back story as seen in the comic and television episode by the same name, "Mad Love".

First Impressions: Batman- Arkham City

To be completely honest I haven’t had much time to delve with extreme dedication into any games. There have been starts here and there, but one must understand that I am working under difficult conditions that being my availability to watch and my gamer’s time to play. Once finals are said and done we will be able to jump back into the portals (HINT HINT) of gaming- I promise!

For now I will do my best to feed you with my initial thoughts of Batman: Arkham City. It pains me to not fully dive down the rabbit hole of this game nonstop-especially after the gaming orgasm (Yes, that is the best way to phrase it!) that was Batman: Arkham Asylum- but I will take what I can get.

I’ve had high expectations for this game for a long time. Then again, I expect anything with the name Batman on it to be nothing less than a god sent, sans anything in the dreaded Schumacher stages :Cringes:. I guess you can say that after Nolan’s Batman franchise was born we Batman fans have been damn near spoiled. We expect everything to be perfect when it features the Dark Knight, and thank god for Arkham Asylum’s sake, this game delivers. But what about this sequel? We have seen more often than not where sequels take a big, dramatic, Disney villain -esque fall in the pits of shit land. It’s a magic place where Batman has nipples on his suit, Secret of Nim rat’s become mad scientists, and it’s okay to make the Rockbitter sing “Born to Be Wild” :stares fondly at gun:. So how does this game hold up?

To answer simply, it’s Batman.

Still confused? You shouldn’t be. It’s BATMAN!

We really need to consider making Batman a verb. It would really help prove my point. Here I’ll try my best

Batman /Batma’n/

Verb (pl. -men)

to both literally and figuratively kick ass to the point of mind-blowing awesome-ness.

It’s a work in progress, but at least I’m trying! Even though I have only begun the game, I promise you it’s a viewing experience like no other. THERE BE SPOILERS AHEAD KIDDIES! ABORT THE RIDE NOW!

We start off with Bruce Wayne (yeah that rich guy) making a speech about how Gotham’s alternative to Arkham Asylum, called Arkham City, is about as effective as injecting a patient with fruit punch Koolaid to treat severe blood loss. He means to fix this problem. Not long after saying this he is arrested and taken to the city (I’m sure this will in no way reflect poorly on the Gotham legal system!) where he meets the head doctor and controller of Arkham, Dr. Hugo Strange (With a name like that, we have to be in good hands!). Not to give too much away, Hugo is on to Bruce’s “little secret” and sends the believed to be bumbling billionaire (despite having the freakin body of a juggernaut!) into the city. Not too long after we spring into Batman mode and need to figure out what Strange’s evil plan is amongst putting up with the many characters (AKA: SCREAMING NUT BALLS) that inhabit the city.

As far as watch-ability (Yes, Teacher, I’m SURE that is a word!), this games most of the time plays more like a movie than a game. You can use your radio to tune in on badies private conversations, so even if you’re stuck waiting for your player to finish leveling up some equipment or mastering a new trick, you’ve got plot related dialogue to entertain you. There a old favorites from the original game :cough: Quinn :cough: as well as fresh looks on some old favorites that didn’t show their beautiful, though sometimes disfigured, faces in the first one. You will be entertained by the mystery of it all, as well as how a lot of little stories eventually connect. There new tricks to familiar side quests like the Riddler’s challenges, so you won’t feel like you’re just rinsing and repeating.

If you need to watch someone play a game non-stop for three to eight hours, this one is the ticket. You will be satisfied with the story and not feel like you’re just watching someone button mash bullets through eighty thousand monsters. So get going my peoples to the city! We freaks need to stick together!