During my time reviewing at Batman News, I’ve given most comics scores of about 6 or lower. That’s because, quite simply, I don’t think most comics released today even manage to be of average quality. I’m especially harsh on Harley comics. The problems DC has with writing her character run very deep and seem to be never ending in mainstream comics. DC editorial seems not to care about doing anything to remedy the situation. (This is disheartening to me since Harley Quinn is supposed to be my favorite character).
That’s why I’m very pleased to say that this comic is going to have the highest score that I’ve ever given while working for this website! And I’m so pleased that I can award that score to a Harley Quinn comic! As such, I’m going to spend a little more time explaining WHY this comic is so good. I think after all the negative reviews I’ve given to Harley comics, it’ll be worth it.
Origin Stories for Dummies, by Kelly Thompson with Art by Annie Wu
Wow, I owe Kelly Thompson a BIG apology! She got a lot of hate for including Harley in her upcoming Birds of Prey run, and I was with that dissenting opinion. However, I am so pleased to say that she writes Harley better than anyone I’ve read in years!
One of the biggest problems, if not the biggest problem with Harley today, is that writers at DC have forgotten what her voice is supposed to sound like. They just write her as a generic, loud, gross, looney tune. Other writers attempt to do Harley’s traditional voice, but still make it a little too grating, and therefore, fail at the comedy. Kelly Thompson NAILS Harley’s traditional voice – the voice she’s supposed to have – perfectly! She also handles the comedy of the character well!
Getting It All Right
Another huge factor that Kelly Thompson gets right with Harley is she brings her sympathetic nature back. We watch as Harley, frustrated that people keep defining her by the mistakes of her past, tries to use a magic spell to rewrite her origin story into a superhero’s like Batman or Superman. Harley only finds out that it’s impossible to undo the past and people’s perception of her, however. This story provides good comedy and a more subtle look at some of the pain and struggle in Harley’s character.
Both of these elements are complemented by Annie Wu’s art. While Kelly Thompson has the characterization pretty much on point, Annie Wu makes sure that Harley’s character expressions match her personality to portray more of a grounded yet wacky character rather than an obnoxious one. Not to mention, she makes good drawings of Harley as various superheroes.
Is this a perfect story? No. For me it fell a tiny bit flat at the end. I thought the story was building to deliver a deeper message about how our past scars make us who we are and that we can’t erase the past. Instead, it just ends on a note that Harley needs to keep being who she is regardless of what people think about her. All of this is clearly a meta-commentary on the fact that there are many fans out there who can’t stop defining Harley by her time spent with the Joker, and can’t accept the modern independent version. (This commentary comes off as observational rather than mean-spirited). I’d like to just offer my two cents on that:
Is Growth and Change Always Good?
As a fan of Harley, I don’t enjoy her stories with the Joker because I’m trying to “hold her back.” I enjoy them because the humor, sympathy, and relatability that they brought to Harley’s character is what made me love her in the first place. The fact that Harley was in love with the world’s worst serial killer was so simultaneously hilarious and sad… and I LOVED her for that. When DC removed it, so much of Harley’s character and what made her work was lost. You can still tell fun stories with her like this, but to me, it’s still like her character is in a constant epilogue in which DC resolved her true story years ago.
We lost an insanely entertaining dynamic when DC banned Harley and Joker. Joker lost the only partner that ever worked with him and showed a different side of him. Harley Quinn lost what made her unique and so relatable to so many people. And I have to say, given the low sales of all of Harley’s subsequent “independent hero” work, I have to wonder if people really like who Harley is sans Joker, or if they just like the *idea* of her independence.
But, once again, those are just my two cents. I was feeling hopeless that no one at DC could write Harley’s voice correctly again. Kelly Thompson just proved me wrong. I definitely want to check out her Birds of Prey run after this, and I hope she is given much more work to do on Harley!
8.5/10
Great Petspectations by Brett and Stein
To my surprise, this is ANOTHER good Harley story! I was a little bit concerned when I saw the very exaggerated facial expressions on Harley, that she would be written very obnoxiously in the story. I was wrong, though. Like Kelly Thompson, Brett and Stein nail Harley’s voice and personality!
This is just a silly story where Harley is desperate to defeat Robin in a pet show with her hyenas, Bud and Lou. Harley definitely comes off as over-bearing and selfish. As someone who is trying so desperately to win something, but keeps falling on her face, however, we can feel some sympathy for her in the midst of her ridiculousness. Striking the right balance between silly, villainess, and slightly sympathetic? That sounds like Harley Quinn to me!
DC’s been making some fairly obvious attempts to turn Harley into Bugs Bunny. Writers have even blatantly made the comparison. Bugs Bunny, however, is a smug, know-it-all character who, through the power of cartoon logic, always makes it out on top. None of that says Harley to me. If you are going to compare Harley to a Looney Tunes character, I would probably point to Daffy Duck. He’s a total lunatic. He doesn’t always have the best intentions, but he is also pretty tortured with his many failures (depending on which version you watch). That’s far closer to the correct balance of Harley’s character, and that’s how she is written here. The artwork wound up complementing that and is pretty nice to look at after all.
8.5/10
Coffee and Pie, Oh My by Ryan Parrot with Art by Luana Vecchio
I want to take a moment to absolutely fall over my face in praising Luana Vecchio’s artwork. I mean, great bouncing clowns! This is the best person I’ve EVER seen draw Harley Quinn since her creator, Bruce Timm!
Luana not only nails the “black, white, and red” assignment, using multiple variations of each color from deep red, to grays, to pinker reds, but her drawings of Harley are so adorable I could die. There’s a softness to the way her hair falls and the way her eyelids rest. Her cute expressions convey so much to a damaged character who still retains some semblance of innocence. Previously, I never cared for Harley’s corset and booty shorts look that she first wore in the New 52. I thought it looked trashy and not like something Harley would actually wear. Luana is able to make it look cute and sexy here though, I love it!
But, could it be? Could the writing be just as good as the artwork? Well, color me surprised and delighted, it is! This is the third story in a row that nails Harley’s voice! The plot is that Commissioner Gordon visits a diner to investigate a disturbance made by Harley Quinn, who attacked some cops. Harley insists she was doing something good, but Gordon is distrusting of her. Not only has Harley helped kill countless people in the past, but for years she dated the man who crippled his daughter.
Can Harley Be Written Well As a Hero?
Through this story, we get a natural and HONEST exploration of the matter of Harley trying to make up for her mistakes from the past. Gordon is portrayed very much in character as someone who would have a hard time ever forgiving Harley. Harley, however, is portrayed as someone who is going to have an even harder time ever forgiving herself. Hello? Is that character depth I see for Harley Quinn? Finally?!?
Now, do I think this “Black Widow” direction that DC has tried to give Harley is ever going to work, in that she’s a hero motivated by constantly trying to make up for her past? Well, the answer is no. When it comes to Batman rogues, each of them has an era or an arc that explores the potential of who they could be if they reformed. However, there is a reason why all of those villains go back to their original status quo AS villains. That’s simply the place where they work best, even if a reform storyline can be interesting.
That’s how I feel about Harley. Her crazy, violent, yet sympathetic clown persona is always going to work better when she’s a villain. That isn’t even getting into what I’ve said a million times now: it doesn’t make sense for Harley to be affirming that Joker is her ex and that she’s changed when she’s still using the same motif. However, that is not to say that you can’t tell an interesting story of Harley reforming, and that’s what this story is all about.
Ryan Parrot Gets it Right
Ryan Parrot addresses so many of the problems that people have had with Harley’s reform. The Gotham heroes don’t just blindly embrace her as their best friend all of a sudden. Harley isn’t automatically freed from the sins of her past. Ryan gives Harley a lot of nuance and doesn’t just make her a vapid screaming thing. She is trying to make amends in her own flawed, insane kind of way. That is what makes her a complicated and interesting character in this individual story.
Once again, I’m not agreeing with the direction of making Harley to be a hero. I still think it’s ultimately a dead end. However, to see Ryan Parrot handle it in such a good way shows me how much DC has fumbled with writers of the character over the years. We’ve had 7- going on 8 – years of DC trying to make Harley reform. None of them have written it as good as this. This is interstellar work for such a short story!
9.5/10
The Importance of Harley’s “Voice”
I’d like to take a moment to emphasize something important. When I refer to Harley’s “voice” in these comics, what I am referring to is the dialogue written on the page and how it sounds in the mind of the reader. The number one problem with Harley Quinn in modern times is that writers forget her unique, good-humored voice, based off of her original voice actress, Arleen Sorkin. They have allowed her dialogue to become generic, loud, crude, and unreadable. This is the main reason why so many people have turned against the character. So many seem to hate whenever she shows up now. It didn’t used to be that way! That’s why it was so incredible for me to read this comic and see that not one, but THREE writers were able to get Harley’s voice so right.
This is not something DC should take lightly. Why do you think Harley Quinn struck such lightning when she first appeared, despite just being a side character without any development? Why do you think she caught such fire again when she appeared in Batman: Arkham Asylum, or why Margot Robbie’s performance in Suicide Squad was so electric despite also having had a botched introduction? It was because Harley’s original personality and voice were that electric. (Margot Robbie played Harley more closely to the modern version in Birds of Prey, and notably didn’t catch any of the same fire.)
Recommend if…
- You want to see Harley Quinn written well, for once.
- Red, black, and white is your favorite color combination.
- Incredible comic book art is something you like to see.
- You enjoy quick, fun reads.
Overall
There are so many things to enjoy about this comic. The stories are either fun or insightful or both. The artwork goes back to Harley’s original, eye-popping black, white, and red color scheme. It’s so appealing to see that, without an intrusive spirt of pastel pink and baby blue. Importantly, Harley’s personality and voice are on point!
I’ve reviewed and read so many bad Harley comics, I started to think no one could write the character anymore. I now see that the people who know how to write the character are RIGHT HERE! They just have to be given more of a chance.
Now, will this comic sell? Unfortunately, I don’t have high hopes for that. Anthologies, even for the most major comic book characters, tend to be overlooked. Harley is also still too over-exposed, and I can see people ignoring this book. There’s also the problem of anthologies, in general, presenting inconsistent work. This comic might be great, but the next collection could be mediocre or even bad. However, I gotta say, if you love the GOOD versions of Harley and you’ve got money to spend, BUY THIS COMIC!
Score: 9.5/10
Disclaimer: DC Comics provided Batman News a copy of this comic for the purposes of this review.
