#or Dinah and Helena being frenemies

[manyu-ten]

I'm convinced some of y'all don't even like Helena the way you guys are reducing her to a side piece without having even read a comic that isn't OUT yet. I've seen so many people call her "Dick's sloppy seconds" or a "sidepiece" or "Jason's bitch".

You don't want her in the comic cause you think she'll be reduced. Okay, valid concerns. You fear DC will uphold some misogynistic stereotypes. You don't want her in the comic, so DC doesn't put her in the comic but then she's not in any comics and DC is still misogynistic because omg why are you not putting women in comics!!?

Babes. I am scared for Helena's characterization too. I am. I love her character so bad. HOWEVER, I'm not so far up my own ass that I'm going to start shitting on a Transwoman's writing of the comic when the comic isn't even OUT yet.

I get that many fans want a mlm and wlw story for both Jason and Helena. Hey, that'd be great! Some of y'all love Helena so much you will actively disregard how important Oliver is to Dinah and use the same horrible misogynistic mouthpiece to shit on Barbara.

My dears, you pointing out DC "passing" Barbara along (which is a HUGE issue and should have a CONSTRUCTIVE dialogue that doesn't still reduce Barbara by making it all about how DC lifts the Batboys balls) but STILL using misogynistic language against her by insinuating she IS something to be passed around and not another human character is still upholding patriarchal rhetoric. Y'all are still male-centered even when you think you aren't.

Stop masking your anger towards DC with hatred for some characters in order to APPEAR like you are a visceral supporter of the female characters you wish to see stories about. You aren't HELPING these wonderful female characters get any storylines that will uplift them, you alienate what they might need from a publishing standpoint to have a segway into their own major stories.

[geekcavepodcast]

DC Announces 2025's Graphic Novels for Ages 5-7, 8-12, and 13+

DC Comics has announced six new graphic novels and a box set for younger readers going on sale in Fall 2025. The new early reader age group (ages 5-7) will get Superman's Good Guy Gang. Middle grade (ages 8-12) will get Kid Flash: Going Rogue and Supergirl: Cosmic Adventures in the 8th Grade. Young adult (13+) readers get Birds of Prey: The Origins, Teen Titans: Together, and Nubia: Too Real. DC also announced the DC Spooky Graphic Novels for Kids Box Set for middle grade readers.

Rob Justus' Superman's Good Guy Gang sees 9-year-old Clark Kent / Superman befriending super-powered kids Kendra Saunders / Hawkgirl and Guy Gardner / Green Lantern. The three form a club "where other supers can be themselves, test their powers, grow together, and maybe earn some good guy points along the way." Future books in the series will include Mr. Terrific, Batman, and Wonder Woman.

Superman's Good Guy Gang goes on sale on July 1, 2025.

Steve Foxe and Jerry Gaylord's Kid Flash: Going Rogue sees Ace West, aka Kid Flash, learning an important lesson on being a hero. Kid Flash may think he's got everything all figured out, but after one too many missions are jeopardized by his habit of signing autographs and taking selfies, his uncle Barry Allen takes Kid Flash and a group of teenaged rogues - Golden Glider, Pied Piper, Trickester, and The Top - "to a pocket dimension for an intervention. Kid Flash assumes he’s there to show the other kids how to use their powers responsibly, but when Flash gets unexpectedly called away on important Justice League business, Kid Flash must learn it takes a lot more than being super to be a hero."

Kid Flash: Going Rogue goes on sale on September 2, 2025.

Landry Q. Walker and Eric Jones' Supergirl: Cosmic Adventures in the 8th Grade sees Linda Lee, aka Supergirl, tackling the 8th grade. Linda's powers should make things easier, "but they only seem to complicate things for Supergirl. Life gets even more messy when a new enemy named Belinda Zee shows up. Suddenly, facing down super-villains doesn't seem so bad.

Arch-frenemies, scheming faculty, an intergalactic orange kitty, and a flying horse are just a few things that come Linda’s way. Will Supergirl even make it to graduation?"

Supergirl: Cosmic Adventures in the 8th Grade goes on sale on August 5, 2025.

Sara Shepard and Stephanie Pepper's Birds of Prey: The Origins finds teenagers Helena Bertinelli, Barbara Gordon, Dinah Lance, and Harleen Quinzel all returning to Gotham City, each with a potentially life-destroying secret. "When strange things start happening to students at Gotham Prep, everyone at the school is on edge, worried they might be next. Will Helena, Barbara, Dinah, and Harley be able to put their differences aside and learn to trust each other in time to find out who is behind the mysterious accidents before another victim turns up?"

Birds of Prey: The Origins goes on sale on November 4, 2025.

Kami Garcia and Gabriel Picolo's Teen Titans series brings the whole team together in Teen Titans: Together. "H.I.V.E. has been experimenting on teens with super-human abilities, and Kori Anders was next on their list. Dick Grayson, Raven Roth, Garfield Logan, Max Navarro, and Damian Wayne got to Los Angeles to save her before Slade Wilson found her, but should she trust these strangers? After all, they’ve accused her mom’s fiancé of abduction, experimentation, and torture! And Kori’s new friend, Victor Stone, has a summer internship designing next-level prosthetics in Edge Labs, a company funding H.I.V.E.

To make matters worse, Kori’s sister, Kira, is working with the organization and singing their praises. H.I.V.E. has a plan for taking down Raven’s demon father, Trigon. They’ve got a plan for training the next generation of superheroes. They’ve got plans for everything.

Lines blur as the teens struggle to decide what to do. H.I.V.E. might be their greatest ally…but at what cost? Can the Teen Titans pull together a plan before they fall apart?"

Teen Titans: Together goes on sale on November 4, 2025.

L.L. McKinney, Robyn Smith, and Manou Azumi's Nubia: Too Real is the sequel to Nubia: Real One. "After a turbulent school year, Nubia is both thrilled and anxious as she embarks on a transformative summer training with the Amazons on Themyscira! Amid the mounting pressure of expectations, she grapples with feeling like an outsider, letting the weight of her self-doubt strain her most important relationships.

Just when she thought her life couldn’t get more complicated, her biggest fear threatens the safety of everyone on Paradise Island. Will Nubia rise above the chaos and embrace her true self as the hero she was destined to be?"

Nubia: Too Real goes on sale on September 2, 2025.

DC Comics is also releasing a box set of graphic novels for middle grade (ages 8-12) readers. DC Spooky Graphic Novels for Kids Box Set includes Franco Aureliani's Deadman Tells the Spooky Tales, Ryan North and Derek Charm's The Mystery of the Meanest Teacher: A Johnny Constantine Graphic Novel, Kirk Scroggs' We Found a Monster, and Matthew Cody and Yoshi Yoshintani's Zatanna and the House of Secrets.

DC Spooky Graphic Novels for Kids Box Set goes on sale on July 1, 2025.

(Images via DC Comics - Covers of Superman's Good Guy Gang, Kid Flash: Going Rogue, Supergirl: Cosmic Adventures in the 8th Grade, Birds of Prey: The Origins, Teen Titans: Together, Nubia: Too Real, and DC Spooky Graphic Novels for Kids Box Set)

[dibs4ever]

The Next Generations view

My name is Nathan Wayne Grayson

My name has a meaning for it in all 3 pieces. Nathan after my maternal great grandfather, Wayne for my Adoptive Paternal grandfather and Grayson my dad's last name. I am the next generation of the legendary ”Flying Grayson’s”

The nickname the press has given me since I was an infant is ”The Prince Of Gotham” I despise my nickname, I don't want to be looked at like that. I just want to be looked at as a regular 14-year-old boy. I suppose the nickname spans from who my parents are Dick and Barbara Grayson-formally Gordon. The adoptive son of Bruce Wayne and the police commissioner daughter. As much as I’d like to be normal my life is anything but normal. Ignoring the fact of WHO my family is it’s WHAT we are that makes us abnormal. I am the protege to the Dark Night, the legendary Robin. I followed in my father’s and Uncles footsteps. I started my training at age 10 and officially became Robin at age 11. My abilities include acrobatics and extraneous computer skills plus all the other skills it takes to be accepted as a Bat.

Want a rundown of what makes up my family? Here it is,  

Dick Grayson, my father AKA Nightwing. I don’t always patrol with Batman, I’ll occasionally patrol my hometown of Bludhaven with him. I love him and look up to him but people often compare me to him because of our resemblance and sometimes that makes for a lot of pressure. But I can't be all that much like him, from what I've been told my dad was quite the ladies man. I can't flirt worth anything, the only girls I can talk to I'm either rated to or are my friend. Otherwise, I turn into a klutzy, stuttering mess My dad is super overbearing though, he coddles my sister and me to no end. Mom says when my sister was a baby she arrived back from patrol one night to find him rocking her and singing ”I’ll be watching you” which isn't creepy at all (note the sarcasm). And he will randomly just hug me and kiss my cheeks, even when we’re being Robin and Nightwing.....I’m almost 15 that's gotta stop.

Barbara Grayson- My mother, we’re really close. I will secretly admit that I’m a “mamas boy” but I can’t help that we have a really great bond. Maybe it spans from the fact that for the first 8 weeks of my life it was just her and I. Long story short they thought my dad was dead but he was actually undercover and had no clue my mom was even pregnant. She thinks I’m innocent and her “precious baby boy” like I said, I’m almost 15 my parents gotta accept that I’m growing up. My mom used to be Batgirl then when I was 4 she was shot by the Joker and became paralyzed from the waist down which transitioned her to Oracle. When I was 10 she had a chip inserted on her spine that made her regain the use of her legs. She now alternates between going out as Batgirl and Oracle stuff but mainly does Oracle now.

Leah Grayson: My 10-year-old younger sister. She looks like my mom, red hair and all. She wants to become a vigilante but Dad’s against it. My mom seems to be on the fence though and if she decides it’s okay she’ll convince my dad to let her. She’s -spunky for lack of a better word. My dad says she reminds him of my Uncle Jason when he was young which might be why he doesn’t want her to be a vigilante. It also explains why she’s Uncle Jay’s favorite

Tim Drake, My Uncle Tim is the vigilante known as Red Robin, he’s cool and understands my love for tech, he's kinda over obsessed with everything. He likes to research everything to the max and is always prepared for the situation ahead of everyone else ,whatever it may be.

Stephanie Drake, AKA Spoiler. My sister is my Uncle Jason’s favorite and I’m my Aunt Steph’s favorite. For as long as I can remember she’s loved me. We have a good bond and she spoils me (no pun intended)

Juliet Drake- My baby cousin, she’s 1 and is my little princess. She has me wrapped around her little finger. She has dirty blonde hair and big blue eyes, I love spending time with her and can’t wait to see what she becomes.

Jason Todd AKA Red Hood, my Uncle Jason and I have a -I guess you would call it a normal relationship. We aren’t close but we aren’t .....not close. I know he’d kill someone if they ever messed with me in other words. He sure doe’s spoil my sister though, in his eyes she can do no wrong.

Cassandra Cain AKA Black Bat, Aunt Cass is cool cause she helps me sneak behind my parent's backs and get away with stuff. I should’ve mentioned my Uncle Jay does too occassionally.

Damian Wayne, AKA NightGoul Uncle Dami is....interesting. We’re only 13 years apart so he hates it when I call him “Uncle” even though he only refers to me as “Nephew” seriously I think he’s only ever called me by name a handful of times. I like to call him Uncle Damian just yo annoy him.  Dad says he’s calmed down a lot since when he first met him. I can’t imagine how emotionless he used to be cause he’s pretty emotionless now. But he’s also one of the main ones who trained me to be Robin so I owe him that

Helena Wayne: AKA the new Huntress shes technically my aunt but  she’s only 2 years older then me and I have never called her “aunt” she’s more of the older sibling I’ll never have but she’s fun and I’m sure as I get older we’ll have some good times.

Selina Kyle-Wayne, Aka Catwoman I called her Grandma once when I was 5 and she gave me a death glare that gave me nightmares for a week so I never did it again. We kinda do our own thing. She has started to socialize with me more now that I’m older.

Bruce Wayne, Aka Batman Everyone thinks he’s so tough but he’s not. Supposedly he’s completely different with me then he was with my dad and uncles. We’re close, how can we not be? He’s Batman and I’m Robin. He literally buys me anything I want so when I turn 16 it’s going to be epic.

Mark and Melanie West- They aren't family but they are my best friends. They’re twins and we’re the same age. We’re in 9th grade at Gotham Academy. Our dads (mainly my dad) like to call us the ‘Big 3’. Mark is an Archer he’s the protege to the Green Arrow. He’s my best friend and basically the brother I’ll never have, we literally share everything with each other and keep no secrets. Melanie inherited her fathers abilities and is a speedster she is the protege to The Flash. She’s one of my best friends too. We actually kissed a few months back. It wasn’t anything romantic, she did it more as a favor for me, it’s a long story and we swore never to speak of it-I kinda want to talk about it though.

So there you have it, a little run down of my crazy family from my perspective. I also have a load of ”honorary” Aunts and Uncles. Like Wally, Artemis, and Roy who has a daughter named Lian that is like an older cousin to me. There's also my dad's childhood friend Donna, my moms best friend Dinah my grandpa's ”frenemie” Uncle Clark. His son Jon  is my Uncle Dami’s really good companion they go on alot of missions together. I could go on and on. It's probably not what most would consider a normal family buts its mine and I wouldn't have it any other way.

[shobogan]

8, 10, 17, 28?

8.Your oldest ship; the one you’ve shipped for the longest time?

Hmm I’m pretty sure it’s Xena/Gabrielle? I was, uh, probably too young to be watching Xena but I enjoyed the heck out of it, and it’s influenced my shipping tastes a lot. 

10. Is there a ship that makes your skin crawl?

Batman/Robin, in general. (Unless, like, Cass is Batman and Steph is Robin.) Batman/Joker unless it’s Telltale. 

I never thought there’d be a Doctor/Master pairing that did this, but Thirteen/Simm!Master sure does.

Can we PLEASE leave Charles’ crush on Jean in the sixties where it belongs. (It was one throwaway line Stan Lee never even referenced again PLEASE LET IT DIE.)

17. Is there a type of ship you always go for?

FRENEMIES. It’s just hilariously consistent at this point. Oh no, they were best friends but now they’re on opposite sides, SAGE IS DOOMED.

(This also fits into a broader theme of, well, contrasts. People who are so different, but still understand and respect each other, even if they still clash. People who can both challenge and complement each other, when they’re not being total disasters.)

It’s not as much of a sure thing, but I’m also very fond of battle couples, star-crossed lovers, and 

28. Is there a character you have several ships for?

Most of my faves, honestly. I’m a huge multishipper and so many ships appeal to me - especially in something like superhero comics, where there are so many relationships to choose from.

The one I have the most ships for is...probably Babs? Dinah, Dick, Ted, Helena, Renee, Kara (pre-Crisis)...

[wxnderbxy]

ABOUT JASON’S TEAM

        Okay so, on my headcanons to fit Jason’s story, i’ll be using the idea that the Young Justice has a new formation & it’s a team composed by the heirs of the Justice League. i'll be mixing up the canon kids with some ocs in the same universe bc i feel like they would work together ( & simply bc i adore them).

       Just like the Justice League, here we have the regular members ( the ones who are always working together ) & the guest members ( who help once in a while). I’ll do a list of other important members soon but right now:

HERE ARE THE REGULAR ONES:

Helena Wayne (daughter of Bruce Wayne and Selina Kyle):   she plays the “team leader role”. and is the person with whom jason has more conflicts in the team, because despite following her orders, he is always questioning her actions, and helena doesen’t like it.

Jonathan Kent -  ( son of Clark Kent & Lois Lane) : he's very good friend for jason, the one who give him advices and keeps him out of trouble.

Connor Queen (son of Dinah Lance & Oliver Queen): he's jason's best friend. they like to compete between each other all the time but they're very close to each other. Jason sees him as a brother.  

Don & Dawn Allen ( twin kids of Barry Allen & Iris West): very good friends of jason despite always pranking him.

Jessica Jordan (  daughter of Hal Jordan & Carol Ferris // created by me  ): & one of the most important people to him. she's the reason he joined the team and his anchor to stay there. also, she’s one of the charecthers i most want to write here some day.

Jason Prince (  son of Diana Prince & Steve Trevor // created by me  ): the grumpy bitch

Erkia Jones/ J'onzz   (  adoptive daughter  of J'onn J'onzz // created by me  ): being their hacker & "oracle" so them team wouldn't work without her. jason admires her. try to mess with her & jason will kill you.

Clay Stone  (  adoptive son of Victor Stone // created by me ):  Jason's frenemy. Clay is always correcting Jason and they are always arguing with each other. But in deep, clay just wants jason to be a better person that’s why he keeps pushin him.

        The team is together from 2 years now ( because on my timeline json joined them at age 16 & now he’s 18) and they already have a good chemistry together as a team. The members are childhood friends, so that helps a lot.  THEY'RE NOT JUSTICE LEAGUE SIDEKICKS. they have their own villains & problemas and only helps their parents when things are extremely bad or when they request.

* please note that this is only my headcanons. I'm not saying in any ways that this said characters ( the canon ones) have to follow this.  i'm just going with the same idea of the comics where we have a lot of different earths, so just chill.

[cogentranting]

What's your overall opinion on BS? In terms of narrative purpose in s5 and more so in s6? Do you think its likely she might travel the redemption train.

I like Black Siren. She’s got a cool style to her, her cry is pretty cool, she’s sufficiently slippery. I usually like the recurring villains (Deadshot, Chien Na Wei, Cupid, Helena) I think it’s fun to have a thorn in the team’s side who keeps showing up and causing havoc but isn’t the grand mastermind big bad. So keeping Black Siren around as a regular in season 6 should be a lot of fun. 

I think in general she plays this really unique role on the show that brings out a lot of good character stuff in a wide range of different characters. Her season 5 storylines are pretty easy to break down. Her first appearance in 5x10 is all about whether or not Oliver has held on to hope. It’s sort of a test to see how much killing Billy broke Oliver- and so we get this episode all about Oliver striving for Black Siren’s redemption. And it brings in the strong contrast of Felicity who lost a lot of her belief in redemption back in season 4 and has a lot of her hope drained out of her by Billy’s death. And so those two are brought into conflict over Black Siren. And since then Felicity has regained a lot of that and kind of come through the other side of her crucible, so we’ll have to see what defines her relationship with Black Siren in season 6- will there still be an element of rivalry, will they be juxtaposed as the woman who lost (her version of) Oliver and the one who got him back, will Felicity’s friendship with the real Laurel come into play? I don’t know, it’s uncharted waters, but there are lots of options (and she might not have much to do with Felicity specifically at all). However, Oliver fighting for her redemption is, I think, going to be a big ongoing part of her story. 

She also brings in the idea of legacy and serves as the opening to bring in Dinah. And those two have a dynamic that’s really interesting. It’s sort of the expected legacy and the true legacy. Black Siren is a version of Laurel but she’s become twisted and evil. Whereas Dinah has no true connection to Laurel but is the real spiritual successor and fits well within the Lance family dynamic. And it really emphasizes the idea of Dinah within this dynasty of heroes, which is continually evolving, and it challenges Dinah’s self-concept and allows her to grow. I also think (assuming he lived) Lance will have a lot of growth in his relationship to Dinah and we’ll see her becoming like a daughter to him, while we see Black Siren offsetting that relationship. 

And so on and so forth. She’s a really unique villain because she has all these built in connections to the main characters. And that should play really nicely in a season with the family theme. Because she’s tough and she’s evil, but Oliver and Quentin and maybe Thea (and Sara if she’s ever around at the same time) are sort of these built in weaknesses, where she never knew them but she loved different versions of them (and vice versa) and seeing how that plays out with each of them. 

And with that, I think it will be a sort of question of Black Siren (and Evelyn?) being the wayward family members- the ones who are lost and need to be redeemed and brought home. And so, as I said, I think the question of Black Siren’s redemption will be ongoing. HOwever, I don’t think she’ll be redeemed. What would be perfect (in my opinion) is both Evelyn and Black Siren getting the offer of redemption throughout the season, and having Evelyn ultimately accept it, but showing Black Siren as someone who is unwilling to let go of her bitterness and her darkness and rejects the redemptive path. Sort of a twist on Laurel’s line from Birds of Prey “Once you let the darkness in, it never comes out”. 

I think redeeming Black Siren would be a step backwards- essentially it would just be going back to regular Laurel who they already made the decision to move away from. I think it would create a surplus of sonic-powered team members- if Siren’s redeemed and stays on the show, then why isn’t she on the team, if she’s on the team, what does that mean for Dinah, sort of thing. And I think Dinah’s here to stay. I think all the really really interesting connections that Siren has, instantly become 90% less interesting if she’s redeemed. And, frankly, I think her actress is much better at playing a villain than a good guy. 

I could see them sort of bringing her halfway, though. A shifty frenemy, like season 3 Merlyn, or even Deadshot. But I don’t see a full redemption happening unless she’s killed or written off immediately after. 

[mastcomm]

‘Birds of Prey’ Review: Nihilism for Fun and Profit

A lot of shocking stuff comes out of Harley Quinn’s mouth — maniacal giggles, streams of obscenity, big words to remind you that she has a Ph.D. in psychology, a splash of greenish vomit — but what caught my attention was the line “I voted for Bernie.”

This admission is offered up as part of a string of reasons for people in Gotham City to hate Harley, best known locally as the Joker’s (now ex-) girlfriend, and even though it’s a throwaway joke I can’t seem to let it go. Less because I’m distracted from my solemn movie-critic duties by electoral politics (though of course I am) than because the Bernie name-check is close to the only topical reference in all of “Birds of Prey (and the Fantabulous Emancipation of One Harley Quinn).”

That title works very hard to achieve a puzzling effect — what is a “fantabulous emancipation”? why just “one” Harley Quinn? — and the rest of the movie, directed by Cathy Yan from a script by Christina Hodson, does the same. Including the scrap of dialogue I’m hung up on. What if instead of Bernie, Harley said she voted for Trump, or Hillary, or Jill Stein? Not as funny, for some reason. Are we meant to infer that she’s a socialist? Or (as she and others like to insist) that she’s crazy?

There isn’t really an answer. The answer is anything you want it to be. The senator from Vermont, whatever else he may achieve in 2020, has risen to the level of empty, vaguely humorous pop-cultural signifier. Whatever the name-check might mean, it’s a safe and easy reference.

Like “Joker,” “Birds of Prey (and the Fantabulous Emancipation of One Harley Quinn)” is sincere in its commitment to nihilism, but coy about the implications of that commitment. Unlike “Joker,” this exercise in R-rated fan-flattery allows itself, and the audience, to have some fun with its noisy, hectic, self-conscious riffing on the conventions of comic-book-based entertainment.

Harley is played, as she was in “Suicide Squad,” by Margot Robbie, with strenuous attitude and abundant confidence in her own charm. This time, fortunately, she has a new squad. Her erstwhile beau the Joker, though he is frequently invoked, is never seen. Supervillain duties are taken up by the Gotham billionaire Roman Sionis (a gleeful Ewan McGregor). He and his chief minion (a glum Chris Messina) are venal, volatile sadists who like to slice off the faces of anyone who makes them mad. Harley has joined that group, and now that she no longer has the immunity of being Joker’s moll, Roman can dispose of her at will.

It’s more complicated than that, of course, as you might expect from a movie called “Birds of Prey (and the Fantabulous Emancipation of One Harley Quinn).” (The more you say it, the less sense it makes.) The plot, driven by Harley’s hyperactive narration, zigzags and hopscotches across time and space to fill in the back stories of her frenemies, the as-yet-unhatched predatory birds who get top billing.

These include Cassandra Cain (Ella Jay Basco), a young pickpocket; Helena Bertinelli (Mary Elizabeth Winstead), a vengeful Mafia princess who wants to be known as the Huntress but who is usually called the Crossbow Killer for obvious reasons; and Dinah Lance (Jurnee Smollett-Bell), a singer in Sionis’s nightclub who is recruited for nastier work. On the other side of the law is Renee Montoya (Rosie Perez), a hard-as-nails Gotham detective who has grown bitter watching mediocre male colleagues receive credit and promotions for her work.

If Perez were to star in a stand-alone Renee Montoya movie (or an old-fashioned network-television cop series) I wouldn’t be mad. But this is Harley’s show, and it runs on a strange brew of righteousness and aggression, at once embracing and neutralizing the tropes of female anger and semi-feminist solidarity that are quickly becoming movie clichés. (The secondhand feeling is affirmed by the musical cues, which include “Black Betty,” “Barracuda” and other staples.) At times, a fed-up, cleareyed critique of male entitlement (and worse) snaps into focus — Sionis’s cruelty has a decidedly misogynist edge — only to dissolve into jokey irreverence.

The one thing “Birds of Prey” fears is being taken seriously, which makes it, again, something of an antidote to “Joker” and to the doomy solemnity of other DC products, going all the way back to “Batman Begins.” The mood of antic, playful obnoxiousness feels forced rather than liberated, the result of careful note-taking during repeated viewings of “Deadpool.” The rapid-fire repartee is less than sparkling, as if the goal were to sound smart while still appealing to the dumbest or most distracted person in the audience.

The fight scenes, on the other had, have snap and surprise — a hand-to-hand, martial-arts classicism that hasn’t been seen much in recent action movies. When Harley and her crew, outnumbered and outgunned, take on legions of muscular bad guys, “Birds of Prey” finds a rhythm and a logic, a sense of gravity and self-assurance, that is otherwise lacking.

It isn’t enough. Like other big-studio exercises in pseudo-subversion (very much including “Deadpool”), “Birds of Prey” is happy to play at provocation with swear words and violence while carefully declining to provoke anything like a thought. It’s really not that interesting that Harley Quinn voted for Bernie, though it might be very interesting to know why, or if she’s backing a different candidate this time around.

Birds of Prey (and the Fantabulous Emancipation of One Harley Quinn)

Rated R. Sadistic violence, all in fun. Running time: 1 hour 49 minutes.

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