By Luke Abbot
Hopefully issue #4 could be the turning point for the Harley Quinn series. Up until now, it has been played mainly for laughs, enjoying the idea that there is such thing as a comic series made for Harley Quinn, but this issue, while it keeps the same style of comedy and fun, tackles themes and plot, making it one of the most impressive issues yet.
The story revolves around Harley, trying to fit into her workplace. The first scene sees her put on human make-up (a brief reminder that Harley or the Joker do not wear make-up!), and head into her new job as a psychiatrist in a nursing home. She cares for an elderly lady, who has been abandoned by her family and Harley, unable to separate herself totally from her psychotic side, decides to head out and punish this family for their behaviour. Standard Harley chaos ensues. However, this time, it brings up a lot of character themes for Harley and I found myself getting a new layer of thrill from this issue, as it made me feel a lot closer to the actual person that is Harley Quinn.
From an outsider’s perspective, Harley Quinn has always been played for laughs. She is the Joker’s lover and is always portrayed as very cartoonish, dim-witted and eccentric. Her origin story of being seduced by the Joker suggests a certain level of stupidity about the character, as newcomers to the canon will be unable to see how the psychotic Joker is capable of such a thing. No one expects Harley’s character to go too deep: a pretty female side of the coin to Joker. However, this issue shows us a Harley that is touched by this sob story of an elderly woman and decides to go and do something about it, using the only way she has ever known. We could even go as far as to compare the elderly woman to the Joker. It could be suggested that she manipulates Harley into waging war on this family, even if her manipulation is unintentional. When Harley is going about her cartoonish rampage around this poor family’s household, there is a certain admiration we have for her character, but she is doing it all for a woman she hardly knows, but wants to help. No longer will I see Harley Quinn as little more than the pretty sidekick, hanging at the Joker’s arm.
But don’t let this backstory fool you into thinking that this issue is about a poor old woman suffering from loneliness. In fact, the humour here is better than ever. Maybe it is the fact that I am used to the style of this comic now; I have spent the last week anticipating the arrival of this issue in my mail. I spent the entire reading of ‘Very Old Spice’ laughing aloud. The humour is a perfect allegory for Harley Quinn herself: very dark and bleak (she essentially tries to drown a child for being spoilt), yet irresistibly fun. One of the best jokes shows a group of bored housewives, discussing their new ‘personal massagers’, the kind of joke that you can hardly believe is being told, especially when the comic slowly removes the subtle hint that they are secretly talking about sex toys.
I also enjoy that the series now seems to have found its stride. There are a lot of running themes through the Harley comics now, so it feels more than a simple 32 page issue of ‘What’s Harley doing today?!’ We check in with Harley’s pets, her new sports team, another bounty hunter sticks his face around the corner… I like that the past issues are referenced, without dragging them too far into this particular issue. Other times, it does get in the way of the fun though. I didn’t need a two page scene, where Harley meets up with her roller-skating club. Sure, it was fun, but we could have spent those extra panels getting further into this particular issue’s arc, a feeling intensified by the inescapable thought that this is the same joke as last week, just a little bigger. Clocking in with every side of Harley’s new life could get stale quick and make each issue feel routine, rather than fresh.
However, the main reason this issue deserves praise is the fact that we finally get a taste of a bigger story arc. The ending opens up some interesting ideas and gives Harley more to do than fight the occasional hapless assassin. While, when looking back at the series in a few years’ time, I might pick up a previous issue if I want to throw myself into a Harley adventure (the attack on the family is fun, but a little standard Harley), this particular edition deserves my appreciation for actually handling something meatier in terms of narrative.
Quote of the Issue: “Which one o’ you M.I.L.P.S is Jenny Rubenstein?”
(I like to think the writers left the definition of the P to the reader’s imagination.)
For more comic views and reviews follow Luke on Twitter at @LukeBbtt and check out his website at www.oracleoffilm.com
Posted on March 23rd, 2014
Category: ORACLE OF COMICS, REVIEWS
Tags: Batman, Comic Blog, Comic Reviews, DC Comics, Harley Quinn #4 Review, Joker, Luke Abbot