Back in 2013, to celebrate the launch of Harley's solo series for the New 52, DC launched a competition for aspiring artists to draw Harley with the promise that they could, potentially, get fast-tracked into the industry. Doesn't sound all that bad, right? For an industry as competitive as the comics one, it seemed - at the time at least - like a positive move.
How wrong we were.
You see, the images that artists were requested to draw were inflammatory in every sense of the word, all involving Harley attempting to kill herself shortly before suicide prevention week began. It took a massive response online for DC to realise that maybe - just maybe - making a rib on an abuse survivor attempting to kill herself wasn't in good taste, particularly in as literal a way as the script demanded (it involved Harley chucking electrical appliances into a bath-tub).
To Jimmy Palmiotti and Amanda Conner's credit, the initial description that went out for the scene lacked the context added dialogue would've undoubtedly afforded it. There's no denying the move was poorly-timed, however, and - as far as DC controversies go - this one is right up there with the company's most recent errors.
WhatCulture's very own resident movie guy, Ewan has been working in the content creation biz for over 10 years now, having started as a freelance contributor to WhatCulture Gaming all the way back in 2015. After graduating with a First-Class Honours in History from Northumbria University in 2017 (where he won a prize for a totally killer dissertation on the Watergate years), Ewan took on the role of Comics Editor at WhatCulture and quickly developed WhatCulture Comics into one of the biggest superhero-focused channels on YouTube. He followed this with a brief hiatus at Screen Rant in 2021, where he worked across the Gaming and Film sections as a writer and editor, before returning to WhatCulture as a Senior Content Producer / Presenter in 2023. He started his own podcast, We Love Dad Movies, in 2022, and has contributed several written pieces to the Eisner-nominated comics website Shelfdust as well.
In his current role, Ewan incorporates his love of cinema, comic books, and history into written pieces and video essays for WhatCulture's Film & TV channel, as well as WhatCulture Gaming and WhatCulture Horror, with a particular focus on nineties-era Dad Movies, old school Westerns, and Golden Age Hollywood Noir. John Carpenter is his fave, and he thinks Batman Beyond should never have been cancelled. If that's your vibe, you'll probably like his stuff.
