Punchline: The Gotham Game Series Coming This Fall

[the illustrious mr. kenway]

The Royal Flush being Punchline's henchpeople is a cool idea. Matt Reeves and Todd Phillips should steal that for their films.

I have a bad feeling about Bluebird's involvement in this miniseries. Like she'll get captured by Punchline and turned into a henchwoman.

Ironically Tynion's creations would suit the Legacies more than Bruce. So putting Harper as the hero antagonist to Punchline works. She also might die as a way to up Punchline's profile because it's her book and DC doesn't know what to do with all the legacies.

But Harper being brainwashed into doing something terrible is a better option.

[Westbats]

Valid or not, it's probably not the time and probably wouldn't make her come off as likeable to fans.

Agreed, I'd like Harper's exclusion to be addressed sooner rather than later, but doing it now wouldn't add any new dimensions to the story, especially in the later half of a miniseries.

The Royal Flush being Punchline's henchpeople is a cool idea. Matt Reeves and Todd Phillips should steal that for their films.



Ironically Tynion's creations would suit the Legacy's more than Bruce. So putting Harper as the hero antagonist to Punchline works. She also might die as a way to up Punchline's profile because it's her book and DC doesn't know what to do with all the legacies.

But Harper being brainwashed into doing something terrible is a better option.

Something that confuses me is that Punchline is being treated as the leader of the Royal Flush Gang, where as I was under the impression that she was only the head of the Spades part of the group.

I would be extremely disappointed in editorial if they constructed Harper's demise solely to elevate Punchline. Harper needs work, yes, but as I've said in the past, DC needs to learn to be patient with new characters so they can stand on their own legs and develop proper long-form stories.

If the plot does go in the brain-washing direction, I feel like Punchline would tonally become something similar to Mad Hatter.

As for the preview, still not a fan of how Bluebird's hair is interpreted.

[Stars & Stripes]

Agreed, I'd like Harper's exclusion to be addressed sooner rather than later, but doing it now wouldn't add any new dimensions to the story, especially in the later half of a miniseries.



Something that confuses me is that Punchline is being treated as the leader of the Royal Flush Gang, where as I was under the impression that she was only the head of the Spades part of the group.

I would be extremely disappointed in editorial if they constructed Harper's demise solely to elevate Punchline. Harper needs work, yes, but as I've said in the past, DC needs to learn to be patient with new characters so they can stand on their own legs and develop proper long-form stories.

If the plot does go in the brain-washing direction, I feel like Punchline would tonally become something similar to Mad Hatter.

As for the preview, still not a fan of how Bluebird's hair is interpreted.

They’re really inconsistent on how Harper’s hair is supposed to look like with her Bluebird hair changing in every appearance she’s in. Some artist depict an undercut, others a full head of hair with highlights, and then there’s those that interpret it as a mohawk like in this mini

[the illustrious mr. kenway]

Agreed, I'd like Harper's exclusion to be addressed sooner rather than later, but doing it now wouldn't add any new dimensions to the story, especially in the later half of a miniseries.



Something that confuses me is that Punchline is being treated as the leader of the Royal Flush Gang, where as I was under the impression that she was only the head of the Spades part of the group.

I would be extremely disappointed in editorial if they constructed Harper's demise solely to elevate Punchline. Harper needs work, yes, but as I've said in the past, DC needs to learn to be patient with new characters so they can stand on their own legs and develop proper long-form stories.

If the plot does go in the brain-washing direction, I feel like Punchline would tonally become something similar to Mad Hatter.

As for the preview, still not a fan of how Bluebird's hair is interpreted.

I haven't read the book yet so I don't know. Maybe she wormed her way to being the leader of the pack?

Patience is a virtue but it can ran out. A problem with Duke, Harper and most of the new characters is they often get poor stories from the get go. So it's harder to keep having faith in them. I get why DC would kill her off and move on to the next new characters.

It's just that DC doesn't learn it's mistakes.

I see more value in the brainwashing angle. It's a way to explore mental health awareness and gives her a struggle to explore. How are victims of brainwashing treated by Gotham's healthcare?

The ideal place for Harper and Punchline would be Batgirls. Harper could be a good foil for Steph and Cass while Punchline would see these three as a stepping stone up the supervillian rankings.

[Westbats]

They’re really inconsistent on how Harper’s hair is supposed to look like with her Bluebird hair changing in every appearance she’s in. Some artist depict an undercut, others a full head of hair with highlights, and then there’s those that interpret it as a mohawk like in this mini

Whenever it's depicted as a mohawk, I think about how cold that must feel.

Patience is a virtue but it can ran out. A problem with Duke, Harper and most of the new characters is they often get poor stories from the get go. So it's harder to keep having faith in them. I get why DC would kill her off and move on to the next new characters.

I see more value in the brainwashing angle. It's a way to explore mental health awareness and gives her a struggle to explore. How are victims of brainwashing treated by Gotham's healthcare?

The ideal place for Harper and Punchline would be Batgirls. Harper could be a good foil for Steph and Cass while Punchline would see these three as a stepping stone up the supervillian rankings.

That's true, it's just a little frustrating to see Tynion use her to great effect in the Punchline one-shot, only to have Harper make mistakes for the convenience of the plot. I really wish Harper was better explored in regular books before she was shelved due to Rebirth.

I've had the brainwashing concept in my head all day, and I could see Punchline use the nanites/brainwashing on Harper to give herself deniability in her crimes. It was never Alexis who did anything bad post Joker War, it was Harper dressed as Punchline leading the Royal Flush Gang (though we the audience knows that is false). This would create a lot of drama and a lot of fallout for Harper, especially if it results in Harper declared not fit to stand trial and admitted to Arkham Tower. Kinda flips the original trial of the Punchline one-shot and back-up series.

With everything going on right now in Batgirls I could see it happening if Marcus Row got caught up in The Royal Flush Gang. The through-line seems to be about villainous parents, and Marcus being a part of Punchline's group would connect her to that story.

[AmiMizuno]

this comic is interesting mostly interest culture with being a twisted

[the illustrious mr. kenway]

Whenever it's depicted as a mohawk, I think about how cold that must feel.



That's true, it's just a little frustrating to see Tynion use her to great effect in the Punchline one-shot, only to have Harper make mistakes for the convenience of the plot. I really wish Harper was better explored in regular books before she was shelved due to Rebirth.

I've had the brainwashing concept in my head all day, and I could see Punchline use the nanites/brainwashing on Harper to give herself deniability in her crimes. It was never Alexis who did anything bad post Joker War, it was Harper dressed as Punchline leading the Royal Flush Gang (though we the audience knows that is false). This would create a lot of drama and a lot of fallout for Harper, especially if it results in Harper declared not fit to stand trial and admitted to Arkham Tower. Kinda flips the original trial of the Punchline one-shot and back-up series.

With everything going on right now in Batgirls I could see it happening if Marcus Row got caught up in The Royal Flush Gang. The through-line seems to be about villainous parents, and Marcus being a part of Punchline's group would connect her to that story.

Sadly Duke and Harper were casualties of the New 52's half-hearted approach to storytelling.

I wished King did something with either character in his 80+ issues or DC committed to solos for either character. Snyder had a comic called All-star Batman that Duke was in and he got a follow-up miniseries. I'm sad Harper didn't get the same treatment.

The best place for them would be the imprints like Zoom, Ink and Black Label. The graphic novel format and the direct access to new audiences seems like the better place for all the new characters.

**** I've become a cranky old fan at 32...lol.

[Westbats]

Sadly Duke and Harper were casualties of the New 52's half-hearted approach to storytelling.

I wished King did something either character in his 80+ issues or DC committed to solos for either character. Snyder had a comic called All-star Batman that Duke was in and he got a follow-up miniseries. I'm sad Harper didn't get the same treatment.

The best place for them would be the imprints like Zoom, Ink and Black Label. The graphic novel format and the direct access to new audiences seems like the better place for all the new characters.

**** I've become a cranky old fan at 32...lol.

Agreed, Harper got pushed to the side once Batman Eternal and Batman and Robin Eternal got finished. I haven't really heard much about Ink imprints beyond the original solicited titles.

[Stars & Stripes]

Agreed, Harper got pushed to the side once Batman Eternal and Batman and Robin Eternal got finished. I haven't really heard much about Ink imprints beyond the original solicited titles.

Might be my personal bias, but I think Harper would do well as the star of her own teen-oriented original graphic novel. That story could retell her origin and give her a solo Bluebird adventure to dive into.

[the illustrious mr. kenway]

Agreed, Harper got pushed to the side once Batman Eternal and Batman and Robin Eternal got finished. I haven't really heard much about Ink imprints beyond the original solicited titles.

It could've folded or got stopped because of the quarantine.

Might be my personal bias, but I think Harper would do well as the star of her own teen-oriented original graphic novel. That story could retell her origin and give her a solo Bluebird adventure to dive into.

That would be good.

[Stars & Stripes]

Today’s issue was pretty much just setup for the next issue, which will probably be non-stop action.

[millernumber1]

Agreed, Harper got pushed to the side once Batman Eternal and Batman and Robin Eternal got finished. I haven't really heard much about Ink imprints beyond the original solicited titles.

I'm pretty sure Ink got renamed.

[Frontier]

I'm pretty sure Ink got renamed.

I think at this point Ink and Zoom just got molded into some kind of general graphic novel imprint for DC.

[Hypo]

Punchline: The Gotham Game #5 Preview
Writers: Tini Howard & Blake Howard
Artist: Gleb Melnikov

[Frontier]

It's nice to see Scarface and the Ventriloquist .