This month’s Harley Quinn sees our blonde bedlamite team up with Poison Ivy once again. It’s always a good thing when these two get together… isn’t it? Is it good?
Harley Quinn #7 (DC Comics)
Poison Ivy is in town and she’s here to help Harley Quinn find out who exactly has been setting up these hits on her. With the help of Sy Borgman offscreen, Ivy reports to Harley about where the hits are being ordered from: Harley’s own laptop! So the two of them set up a stakeout to see who has been breaking in and using her laptop, but the two of them get quite the surprise when they do.
Yes Ivy. It’s the mating call for the species known as beach douche.
With this issue, the assassin’s storyline is brought to a close (possibly given what they say at the end) and it’s a lot of fun overall. Poison Ivy and Harley are a great team as always and their personalities bouncing back and forth off one another’s is top notch stuff. Pretty much all of the best moments in the book stem from the two interacting with each other, especially during the beach scene. The story itself was enjoyable, with a fun surprise halfway through that honestly made sense in the context of this zany story.
The writing all around is fantastic. The story flows well from page to page, with no padding, decompressed, or pointless scenes added in to slow things down. There’s no awkward transitions, the pacing is good, the dialogue is fantastic with lots of great lines throughout, and more. The character work is just as good as always, with Harley Quinn being fun to watch throughout and Ivy playing a great straight man (woman?) to her. Like with the first issue she appeared in, Ivy’s characterization and portrayal doesn’t really match up with her appearances elsewhere in the DC universe, but that doesn’t really matter much. This comic feels so far removed from regular continuity and in its own little bubble that it really isn’t a problem.
Oh come on! Games are totally fun!
Now what about the humor? Is this comic funny? Short answer: Yes. This is easily one of the funniest issues of the series yet, again with most of the credit going to interactions between Harley Quinn and Poison Ivy. The humor is great with its nice mixture of funny dialogue, fun background gags, lively expressions, and solid timing. Almost every jokes hits here (except for one where I can’t exactly tell what the dog is doing during the end of the beach scene) and it really helps elevate this book higher than usual.
One of the more surprising things for me with the comic is the artwork. While Hardin’s artwork has looked odd at points in terms of depicting the characters and their expressions, honestly, there’s none of that here. All of the characters look great, well-drawn, and the range of expressions are wonderful. They feel more alive than ever. The rest of the artwork is good as usual, with good layouts, beautiful colors, great background gags — the whole works here. I also liked the little touches, such as Poison Ivy’s green fuzzy thought balloons (when was the last time we’ve seen thought balloons anyways?). Really great stuff here and I hope the artwork can keep it up.
The word of the day kids is incorrigible.
Is It Good?
Harley Quinn #7 is easily one of the best issue of the series to date. The story is great, the friendship and banter between Harley Quinn and Poison Ivy is absolutely wonderful, the humor is fantastic, and the artwork is better than ever. If you are looking for a good comic that’s actually funny this week, this is easily for you. Highly recommended and I can’t wait to see where the series goes from here.
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