Harle–err, GG Harlin’s days moonlighting as a punk rock frontwoman come to a close as the ‘Eat to this Beat’ story arc wraps up in Harley Quinn #7. Last issue ended with Harley finding herself in some kind of a superhero/super villain fetish club; seems right up her alley, honestly. Is it good?
Harley Quinn #7 (DC Comics)
The official DC solicit doesn’t give us much to go by, but for the sake of posterity:
“EAT TO THIS BEAT” part 3! Harley’s punk-rock epic concludes with her and her bandmates in way too deep on their undercover mission to take down a brutal gang of thieves and murderers!
Before we begin I just want to point out that I somehow totally missed the fact that the girl in the rival band who’s got it bad for Harley is named Jello–a great homage to legendary Dead Kennedys’ original frontman Jello Biafra. There are several insider punk references throughout the arc as I’ve talked about before, and they are all appreciated by an aging punker like myself.
Anyway, we’ve reached the conclusion of ‘Eat to This Beat’ and it’s a great ride. The pacing is very brisk without feeling too fast or like it’s glossing over things. Granted a lot of things actually do happen this issue, but the writing does a good job keeping it all under control. I don’t want to spoil anything, but we see what becomes of the band members Harley’s been hanging out with, as well as get a glimpse of a familiar Gotham villain that may have been behind it all. Overall I had a lot of fun reading this issue and honestly, if I had any complaint about the story it’s that it ended too soon. I was so down for a few more pages of shenanigans.
Some of the writing though, especially some of the humor, fell flat for me. Red Tool in particular just didn’t come across as particularly funny in this issue (horse pee? Really?), and since that’s basically his raison d’etre, that’s a problem. Eggy on the other hand had some pretty funny moments as he was drinking people under the table (“do you scamps enjoy drinking games?”), and Harley herself was hilarious. I genuinely laughed out loud at her excitedly daydreaming about driving a Flintstones car.
John Timms’ artwork is on point again this issue. Backgrounds are generally well done, and all the cast look great. It’s a fun issue with a lot going on, and Timms absolutely nails it. Basically, if you’ve been enjoying the artwork in the series up to this point, you shouldn’t have any problem here.
Is It Good?
Harley Quinn #7 is a fast-paced, fun as hell adventure that closes out the punk rock epic. If you’re looking for a dose of biweekly fun in your pull list, you really can’t go wrong with this series.
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