“Vote Harley!” We’re kicking of Harley Quinn’s mayoral candidacy in this book that’s an odd combination of a car-theft-ring bust and what’s looking to be Madison’s ultimate downfall. It’s one of those bridge books that demonstrates how brilliant Amanda Conner and Jimmy Palmiotti are at lobbing set-ups that still percolate with good energy and action. There are, after all, a lot of pieces that need to be put into place to kick off Harley’s campaign–including disparate characters and storylines and persist, unresolved as of yet, from the ongoing continuity.
Such as Madison and her Unconquerable (and subsequently conquered) 25. Madison now has a track record of hiring gangs she cannot control and who haven’t been effective in dealing with Harley Quinn, so it should come as no surprise that things aren’t looking good for her. What’s more of a surprise, perhaps, is that she tries to resolve the situation single-handed.
It’s a desperate, dumb move that you know it’s going to cost her.
Madison is an interesting nemesis: she’s trying to fight smart, but she just never really has the leverage to justify her swagger. I don’t think I like her or feel sorry for her in any particular way, but she is an interesting train wreck at this point.
It ain’t going to end well here–that’s for sure!
This issue is called “Junk in the Trunk” which aptly describes the other half of what fills the pages of this book: Harley, Ivy, and Harlem Harley packed into a delivered stolen vehicle with the intention of getting the jump on these crooks. There’s only one problem: they might have underestimated their ability to un-pack once the trunk is popped open.
It’s okay though, because of course Ivy has a creative way of rescuing them from the situation. My only question is (as if always the case when you have a character as ridiculously overpowered as Ivy against a bunch of mere mortals): why did they need to set up a bust this way to begin with? Tony brought the car (isn’t that entrapment? Does it work that way?), and Ivy has command of the green, so why they need to be packed in the trunk defies logic.
But it’s Harley, so logic is, by the nature of the comic, out the window anyway. I’m just saying you may need a little extra suspension of disbelief on this one. And that’s okay. Because it allows this team to give us genuinely comedic moments such as this:
Nope. Not the way they planned it, I expect
John Timms and Tom Derenick share duties on this book artwise, and they make a good match with the pages divided along the storylines, which always seems to work well in the planning of this series. Derenick tackles Madison and the trouble she’s getting into with trying to tidy up loose ends from her last fiasco, while Timms covers Harley and her cohorts in the garage. The book bounces back and forth, providing a nice balance of Madison’s scheming up against the full-blown craziness as Harley, Ivy, and Harlem Harvey kicking all manner of aspirations and not taking a single name. They get an assist from other pals, too, but honestly I was actually most glad to see Harlem Harley here rather than someone less appropriate (like Catwoman). And it’s always a pleasure to watch Harley and any of her crew deal with thieves and thugs as only wacky costumed pseudo-vigilantes can.
This book is definitely on the milder side of things given the gore of the previous storyline. There’s plenty of killing still–and the triumphant return of Red Tool to a meatier part of the action. But again, much of this is set up with a fun side story to hit the ground running for Harley’s bid for political office. And the ending introduces a fun new variable in the form a familiar villain who I’m sure will wreak some delightful havoc in Harley’s world.
Recommended If…
- You like a straight-up shoot-’em up cops and robbers kind of plot (but with villains and…worse villains).
- You’ve got a yen to see how Harley finagles her way into office (you know she’s gonna take this election somehow–or at least get mighty close).
- Harley and Ivy action steams your greenhouse.
Overall
Amanda Conner’s beautiful cover alone is a selling point for this issue which will kick off Harley’s race for the mayor’s office. But the innards in this book are fun too, as always. Conner and Jimmy Palmiotti balance a somewhat cracky caper with further plot advancements concerning Harley’s ongoing way with the corrupt and terrible Mayor DePerto! So get ready to hit the campaign trail because this is apt to be as wild a ride as Harley ever could hope for!
SCORE: 8.5/10
