Harley Quinn #7 – Stephanie Phillips, Writer; Riley Rossmo, Artist; Ivan Plascencia, Colorist
Ray – 8.5/10
Ray: After last month’s annual which pitted Harley against the deranged wannabe villain Keepsake, it’s time for downtime and planning—for both parties. Keepsake, a knockoff obsessed with pieces of other villains’ gear, has a new plan—forming his own ridiculous wannabe team of knockoff villains with the stolen gear. The sight gags in this scene are great, and even Hugo Strange seems thoroughly tired of this jerk. I’m not there yet, but I do think he could easily wear thin if his plot isn’t resolved quickly. But now a much bigger threat is emerging, in the form of Fear State, and Strange is more than ready to take full advantage. With Batman out of commission, he’s strapped on his Batman suit again and is delivering punishments to criminals courtesy of his massively misshapen muscles. And while this is going on, Harley is busy herself, with… therapy?
The idea of Harley starting a clown support group has been one of the funniest parts of this book, but we didn’t see all that much of it besides her partnership with Kevin. But now, the entire group is on a retreat in the wilderness to embrace mindfulness and peace, and Harley is absolutely hating it. Not a surprise—she’s not one for quiet and peace. This has caused some slight rifts with Kevin, as he wonders if she’s really committed to the group, but they don’t have time to hash it out because a woman needs them to find her stray dog. This, naturally, turns into a bizarre adventure involving a rampaging bear and a surprising guest-star that indicates this might be a prequel to the current Bat-stories. Overall, I am really liking Phillips’ more psychologically-driven take on Harley and her world. It lacks the complete chaos of the previous runs, but might leave us a stronger Harley.
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GeekDad received this comic for review purposes.
