I couldn't stop laughing at Lake Bell's delivery of "My phoone-" in the prologue scene of Episode 2.
Did anyone manage to catch the TBS special on Sunday night btw?
I'd heard good things about the Harley Quinn animated series, so I sat down with the three episodes so far (despite me being not much of an animations fan), but I wasn't that impressed with it.
I think the main trouble lies with the relation between Poison Ivy and Harley Quinn. Both of the voice actors do decent jobs, but Ivy is set up as rather distant by the script. She's there for Harley, but Harley's never there for Ivy. It makes their relationship—either female friendship or romantic—feel hollow and lopsided. We also never really get to see Ivy be passionate about something. She's the eternal straight (wo)man to Harley, and it doesn't really suit her.
She has some great lines, and the tree hugger shirt is nice, but we don't get to see her with any motivations or passions. Her caring for Harley seems more of an intellectal thing and something she does because Harley managed to help her earlier, not because of something deep inside her.
«Speaking generally, it is because of the desire of the tragic poets for the marvellous that so varied and inconsistent an account of Medea has been given out» (Diodorus Siculus, The Library of History [4.56.1])
I think so far Ivy is the typical "gal pal" in the sitcom who reacts to the female lead's zaniness and and antics with dry, sarcastic, humor. But it's still early into the series so there's definitely potential that they'll develop her more.
I don't think her friendship with Harley is more intellectual since they establish pretty firmly in the first episode why she, on an emotional level, cares about Harley so much.
I have to ask due to reading a few comics and watching hush. Don't Ivy's poisons work both breathing in and skin absorption
Yeah, you're correct in the "gal pal" sitcom analysis; I had been thinking of that myself, nd how that part of the show doesn't gel well with the violence and action of the rest of it. Another issue is that the "reset" with each episode (a staple of both sitcoms and the old BTAS format) doesn't seem to work well here where the two are combined. For now, I think the review over at Forbes (Review: ‘Harley Quinn’ Is A Hot Mess) meshes best with my own impression of the show.
«Speaking generally, it is because of the desire of the tragic poets for the marvellous that so varied and inconsistent an account of Medea has been given out» (Diodorus Siculus, The Library of History [4.56.1])
I agree with that review that Ivy is head and shoulders the best written character on the show. She feels very real surprisingly.
And yes, Ivy's protective and loving instincts towards Harley come from an emotional place. There's a whole score just for the scenes where she's trying to get through to Harley in every way possible (love that musical theme btw. Does anyone know what it's called?).
And well, she's showing interest in Kite Man now, so there's that. It would be nice to see her branch out (no pun) and show some of the other things that drive her. Like, what are this Ivy's goals? She seems to value human life, especially children's lives, so she doesn't seem to be the more extreme plant apocalypse bringing caricature depicted in some comics and cartoons. So is she a more normal environmentalist? Has she been completely cured by Dr. Harleen Quinzel, in which case, why was she still locked up in Arkham when we met her? Unless that tied into the fear she touched upon this last episode with the Queen of Fables that female villains who posed genuine threats were punished much more harshly than their male counterparts. If that was the case, would have like a little more elaboration on that front.
Hopefully almost all of these questions are answered soon.
Last edited by Confuzzled; 12-18-2019 at 10:09 AM.
I've been reading posts... not recently but sporadically throughout the years, that Ivy fans, on Twitter or Tumblr... really dislike when one of Ivy's power is seduction. They like her completely plant-based maybe, but basically they get angry if she's depicted as sexual or seducing someone, such as those Clay Mann covers in the DC You Ivy mini (not the Heroes in Crisis one, that's a legit criticism)
Basically it's like they want to completely desexualize her because she's all about the plant.
I always think it's kinda dumb since seduction and sexiness is part of Ivy's thing. Out of the three Sirens, Ivy would be my choice of the one who should be sexual because more than Catwoman who only does it when playing around or Harley who only does it with Joker, Ivy uses seduction as part of her M.O.
Thoughts?
Also, they view Ivy's view of men as things to be used and discarded away, that she has no enjoyment or attraction to men at all. She only cares about plants or Harley. This part is not that off the mark since classic villain Ivy has mentioned that she doesn't care about humans, just plants.
I just get the feeling that these comments are coming from people who want Ivy to be more like them, instead of viewing her as a rounded character with long history.
I like her as being seductive. Its fits with the plant theme, since flowers are seductive traps for insects to help them reproduce. In some cases they even feed on animals.
What I love about Ivy is that she's a mix of so much cool traits: brilliant, crazy, faithful friend, extreme, dangerous, maternal and yes, seductive.
A picture would last longer darling...
DC editor Andy Khouri is teasing that Sejic's DC Black Label Ivy mini may actually become a reality after the success of Harleen:
https://twitter.com/andykhouri/statu...60899477934080
Frank the Plant is a Venus Flytrap on the show.
Though I agree that surprisingly, artists and cartoons under-utilize the floral motifs/visuals for Ivy that would look fascinating, instead opting for the vines and branches (I guess they are easier to draw and animate, and they would be more tactile and dynamic as weapons vs. Venus flytraps and giant flowers). It should be a good balance of both IMO.