Silent Butt Deadly is very controversial.

The latest Harley Quinn comic is causing a stink. I say that because I'm a big talker, both figuratively and literally. The upcoming April Fool's Day issue of Harley Quinn Fartacular: Silent Butt Deadly is a scratch and smell cartoon in which Harley farts a lot. That seems to be the only plot point.

It quickly became controversial just a few days after it was released. In some ways, it's asking for trouble. Many characters have created gag comics for April Fools' Day, and Harley has utilized a variety of joke gimmicks, but it's rare to hear about them in advance – until now. Everyone on the internet thinks the worst about each other (and they're often proven right), and the overarching theory is that someone (or several people) in the creation and approval process likes a little fart. ~ degree many.

Comics these days need a hook.

Pull my Finger alternate cover art by Harley Quinn Silent Butt Deadly

That in itself is difficult to discuss. If you say the concept is interesting and suits Harley's slapstick, sick humor, you run the risk of being labeled as yet another person who likes to fart too much. But your criticism goes too far, as many people already do (quite performatively), and I think you protest too much.

It's still too early to promote April Fools' Day cartoons, but the strategy may already be paying off. Comics, especially those about to be released, rarely go viral. There are plenty of movies, TV shows, and video games based on superheroes, but comic book sales are declining. New book sales in 2023 were down 73% compared to 2022 figures, with more than half of all comic book stores reporting that total sales last year were lower than in 2023.

And if you want to boost venomous Sales, fart cartoons will definitely help you. now that Just kidding.

I don't think Silent Butt Deadly will be the savior of comics, or the pinnacle of the art form. It's probably just a silly little throwaway story with some very obvious toilet humor. This is the Harley Quinn April Fools' Day Problem. We have to maintain some perspective. However, as interest in this increased, interest in comic books in general also increased. You can get more visitors and increase sales of other issues by proxy. Every little bit helps

This humor suits Harlequin

Beans alternate cover art by Harley Quinn Silent Butt Deadly

But my first introduction to comic books wasn't through superheroes. My grandparents had an old annual event at The Beano going back to the 70s. When I was about eight years old, I dug them out of the cupboard and ate them. From then until I left home, I received the latest Beano annual leave every year. I have been a weekly subscriber to The Beano for almost 10 years. I still despise The Dandy. It's entirely because they feel like a 'different team'.

Silent Butt Deadly is more like something you'd see in The Beano than a superhero concept. So while many comics enthusiasts feel this isn't a good fit for the medium, it feels at home with a wider lens. The scratch-and-sniff gimmick is also the kind of clever idea that print media needs (you can't smell digital files), and it's clear that most scratch-and-sniff things work in favor of fart cartoons. This isn't even the first time a Harley comic has been scratched and sniffed.

Again, the comic itself doesn't help. While connections can be drawn between Silent Butt Deadly and his more comical history in British comics, the blurb brings back the accusation that he's a man who enjoys farting too much for less pleasant reasons. 'If farts annoy you, this cartoon is not for you. (It's totally okay!…even though I'm judging you!)', which sounds more like a disclaimer about perversion than a comic book. The rest is a paragraph full of puns better suited to the topic, which is fine if you're not interested, but the qualifier that makes it a vanilla square doesn't do it any favors.

I don't buy a lot of comics these days. Like many online hypocrites, I am part of the problem I am against. I know it's strange that Silent Butt Deadly draws me back to the physical issue, but it's the connection to the comics I grew up with, the tactile nature of that gimmick, and the potential for it to become one of its most infamous problems. The vicious problems of recent history make it a very tempting proposition.