By Luke Abbott
I don’t know if it was the long wait for the next issue of Harley Quinn, especially after a lacklustre previous issue, but this comic really hit the spot.
It was just non-stop funny. Last time, the fact that the plot was advancing like a usual comic hurt the Harley Quinn madness. There was no time to take part in the usual Harley antics. This time out, the set-pieces were far more up Harley’s street, so the writers were able to milk comedy out of every angle. Just setting it in a zoo rather than a hospital ward was a much better decision. A zoo has far more possibilities for comical references, even if it is little more than Harley going from cold-blooded killer to a fourteen year old girl, petting a giraffe. This issue also moved at a much faster pace than anything we have seen before from Harley yet it worked. It crammed so much in, but it was never too much. The writers timed everything perfectly, which is hard to do with comedy, as you sometimes have to revel in a moment to squeeze every potential joke out from it. The only downside to the humour was the fact that it was still a little dependent on people finding the Russian accent funny. Even then, there were enough jokes to breeze over that small flaw. (On the other hand, I loved the fact the female Russian spy was called Bendemova. That was a good touch.)
The jokes weren’t even all in your face. There was a joke from every angle. One frame, there would be something massive and hilarious, like Harley crashing a helicopter two seconds after getting in it. However, because there was some space in the background, the writers threw in a small detail, where an insane person kills a homeless man. Who does that and why was it so funny? It was the norm that the comic book created and we were able to roll with this needless murder and act as though it was another day in the life of Harley. In fact, there are a lot of things here that only Harley Quinn could get away with. She mercilessly murders a helpless woman for her jewellery, kills someone over a Gran Torino she hypothetically could have inherited and has so few redeemable qualities. On paper, she is a useless hero to get behind. However, she is so honest about her evilness that it is so difficult to hate the character. Story-writing 101: it is always more fun to hang out with the bad guy.
Quote of the Issue:
Thug: Any last words?
Harley: Pneumonoultramicroscopicsilicovolcanokoniosis.
Thug: What’s that?
Harley: Longest word in the dictionary.
For more comic views and reviews follow Luke on Twitter at @LukeBbtt and check out his website at www.oracleoffilm.com
Posted on June 14th, 2014
Category: ORACLE OF COMICS, REVIEWS
Tags: Batman, comics, DC Comics, Harley Quinn #6 Review, Luke Abbott