Roger’s Comic Ramblings: DC’s Harley Quinn

Roger Ash with the voice of Harley Quinn, Arleen Sorkin. You can tell it's an older photo because his beard hadn't turned white yet.

Roger Ash with the voice of Harley Quinn, Arleen Sorkin. You can tell it’s an older photo because his beard hadn’t turned white yet.


by Roger Ash

I’ve been a fan of Harley Quinn since she first debuted in Batman: The Animated Series. She’s so goofy and cute and dangerous, how could I not? She’s a perfect companion to the Joker and a force to be reckoned with in her own right. Of course, part of her appeal came from the wonderful voice work of Arleen Sorkin. It was a real thrill for me to meet Ms. Sorkin and Paul Dini (co-creator of Harley with Bruce Timm) at a Capital City Distribution trade show a number of years ago (I think this may have been the last one before Capital went away).

A signed postcard from the Capital show.

A signed postcard from the Capital show.


I wasn’t the only one who was taken with Harley and it wasn’t long before she made the jump into comics. Some of her appearances in comics were great (Dini & Timm’s Mad Love and Karl Kesel & Terry Dodson’s work on her self-titled series); some, not so much (her recent stint in Suicide Squad). So when DC announced they were going to be doing a new Harley Quinn series, I had mixed feeling. On the one hand, I like Harley and I enjoy the work of Jimmy Palmiotti and Amanda Conner who were slated to write the series. On the other hand, there had been changes made to Harley over the years (the most obvious being her look) that I wasn’t that wild about. But the good points won the day and I decided to give the book a try. I’m glad they did because, so far, Harley Quinn has been a really enjoyable series.

If you don’t want to know anything aside from the fact that I like the book, you can stop reading now. While I won’t be giving away any major spoilers, I will be discussing a few story points.

Harley Quinn #0

Harley Quinn #0


The series started out with a #0 issue that was fantastic. The premise of the issue was finding an artist to illustrate Harley’s new book. The story was lots of fun with Palmiotti and Conner talking with Harley throughout and the artists involved include Tony Daniel, Bruce Timm, Darwyn Cooke (my favorite page in the story), Adam Hughes (his page was hilarious), Walter Simonson, Stephane Roux (who helps out on issue #2 as well) and many others. The issue was laugh out loud funny and introduced two important things to the series. First, series artist Chad Hardin and second, the fact that a former patient has left Harley a building in Coney Island in his will.

Harley Quinn #1

Harley Quinn #1


The first issue begins with Harley heading to her new digs and we are on more traditional ground with the fourth wall being firmly back in place. While the building’s cool, it presents a problem of its own as Harley still has to pay for taxes, utilities, etc. (which forces her to look for work), and she’s now landlord to the shops in the building. This is a great set up for the series as there’s a built in supporting cast of characters in her tenants and neighbors, the most noticeable so far being Big Tony, a Lothario who may be short in stature but not in confidence. We also learn that someone has put a bounty on Harley’s head, though we don’t know who or why. However, it is creating all sorts of issues for her. Oh, and two of the supporting characters in the series are a stuffed and burned beaver and a rescued wiener dog.

Harley Quinn #2

Harley Quinn #2


The third issue (#2) features the return of an old friend and Harley rescues a bunch of animals from a local shelter with hilarious and gruesome results.

I’m really enjoying this series, due mainly to Palmiotti and Conner’s writing. For crime novel fans, their take on Harley reminds me of Tim Dorsey’s character, Serge Storms; neither is a nice person and bad things happen (a number of people have died and we’re only on the third issue), but they are very eccentric people and boy are they fun to read about. All of the violence is done with a great deal of humor so, for me at least, that makes it palatable instead of disgusting. It’s like the scene in Pulp Fiction where Vincent Vega accidentally shoots Marvin; it was horrible, but the surprise and the reaction of the characters made it a funny scene. Plus, the really horrible things that happen in Harley Quinn are not shown graphically, often taking place off panel.

The art by Chad Hardin is good, but nothing about it jumps out at me. Hopefully that will change as the series progresses. Conner’s covers for the series are fantastic and I’d love to see her illustrate a stand-alone issue at some point.

Bottom line, Harley Quinn is a really fun book. The art is nice and Palmiotti & Conner have a real handle on her personality making her both fun and lethally dangerous. It’s tricky making a nasty character relatable but they manage to do it. I can’t wait to see what happens next.

Now, go read a comic!

Purchase

Harley Quinn

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