When Harley Quinn’s new series was first announced, I was excited, especially with the fact that it was by the people involved with Power Girl series from a while back. Several months later, I am still very much excited to read it and honestly, it was my most anticipated comic for November (nuts to all those serious and artsy-fartsy books, this is what I want). Even with the ridiculous, overblown suicide controversy (poorly timed admittedly) and the bad ending to her Villains’ Month issue, my hope did not waver. Now, it is here and I can finally read it! Is it good?
Harley Quinn #0 (DC Comics)
Harley Quinn is held up in a storage unit somewhere, relaxing and reading her DC comics. As she reads them, she wonders what it would like to have her own comic and who exactly would draw it. She is then visited by the voices of Amanda Conner and Jimmy Palmiotti, who pull her into a dream sequence and have several different artists draw her in different styles, hoping for her to pick an artist she likes.
Now you see this folks? This is exactly what DC has been missing for so frickin’ long. A bright and colorful book that is upbeat and funny. Seriously, I haven’t smiled and laughed this much reading a comic from DC in a very long time. So this gets points alone from just being so tonally different from every serious and dark book DC has.
What’s particularly funny about this book is that there are lots of different types of humor being used. You got your so-bizarre-it’s-funny (Tony Daniel’s page), the inside jokes (Jim Lee’s), the self-deprecation (Adam Hugh’s work), the fourth wall breaking ala Deadpool (pretty much the entire premise of the issue), physical humor, risqué and adult humor, and even the pop culture references (Tradd Moore’s page). With such a variety of humor on display, it honestly all works since the book never overuses just one type to point where it becoming annoying or overstays its welcome. It’s genuinely good stuff and should at least give everyone a laugh or two along the way.
The big thing with this issue was the fact that it got into trouble because of the suicide controversy, depicting Harley trying to kill herself in one of the page. While it was a bit poorly timed, seeing the page now and what the joke going on is, there is nothing really wrong here. The whole joke of the page in question is that artist or the writers have misinterpret what the Suicide Squad is and Harley points it. Frankly, Looney Tunes and Adventure Time have pulled darker jokes than this issue.
For the artwork side of things, we got 17 artists drawing this book, each with their own style and flavor. Unlike Justice League #23.3, which had about the same amount of artists, that many people working on this issue works. It’s all meant to be done as an audition for people to try to draw Harley Quinn in their own particular way, so constantly switching up the tone works perfectly fine here. Every artist is good, especially the issue’s contest winner Jeremy Roberts, and helps with the humor. It’s a great looking book overall and might be even worth getting just for the art alone.
- Undeniably funny and clever with its humor.
- The artwork by itself is worth the price of admission.
- Some artwork styles and darker humor may not be for everyone.
Is It Good?
Harley Quinn #0 is utterly fantastic and blast to read. It’s funny, wonderfully drawn from a parade of talented artists, Harley Quinn herself is enjoyable as a loveable baddie, and the perfect contrast to everything that DC has been putting out recently. Fans of the character and people who just want something different from this company should get this immediately.
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