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Posted December 31, 2013 by Toby Alejandria in Comics
 
 

COMIC BOOK REVIEW: Harley Quinn #1


Written by: Amander Conner and Jimmy Palmiotti
Art by: Chad Hardin
Colors by: Alex Sinclair

Since today’s New Year’s Eve and almost everyone’s letting out fireworks, DC offers us one of their own explosive issue with Harley Quinn #1.

Like a firework, the story just goes up, up, and away, never letting up even for a moment. Readers are sure that they’ll have a hard time putting this comic book down once they’ve started because they’ll see a more interesting side of Harley.

This time, you get to see Harley struggle to be a more responsible human being—yep, you’ll witness her being a landlady after she inherits a building which houses “freaks”. It’s not so cut and dry after she discovers that she has to earn a living to sustain her inheritance.

Humor will never be absent out of a Harley Quinn title, obviously. But it takes a more mature approach now—Harley has to resort to her former profession, being a therapist. And, to make things a little more interesting, she takes another job which caters to her destructive side. Can Harley take two jobs in one day? How long can she keep this charade up? To top it all off, assassins are out for her head because someone has put a hit on her.

To make a beautiful fireworks display, you have to know how to play with contrasts. And this issue gives you a lot of that. As a whole, the art can be considered childish (especially with Harley’s reactions). But, it can sometimes be a little gory for its style and will seldom show a little more flesh than necessary (nope, no nudity here). There’s also an interesting texture brought about the rough lines Hardin puts out. Majority of people (freakshow members excluded) in this issue are drawn with rather comical proportions. I don’t know if there’s an underlying message here (are we all freaks? Pardon me for digressing, carry on.) Another contrast is the use of vibrant colors, be it Harley celebrating or seeing an assassin get shot on the spot. But, hey, isn’t Harley Quinn’s design a huge play of contrast as well?

VERDICT: Get it if you’re a real fan of Harley Quinn! However, I still prefer the old theatrical costume design rather than the look inspired by the recent Arkham games.

Grab a copy of Harley Quinn #1 at Comic Odyssey!


Toby Alejandria