DC’s Harley Quinn Romances #1 – Alexis Quasarano, Zipporah Smith, Amanda Deibert, Frank Allen, Raphael Draccon/Carolina Munhoz, Greg Lockard, Jessica Berbey, Ivan Cohen, Writers; Max Sarin, Will Robson, Adriana Melo, John McCrea, Ig Guara, Giulio Macaione, Priscilla Petraites, Fico Ossio, Artists; Marissa Louise, Andrew Dalhouse, John Kalisz, Mike Spicer, Ivan Plascencia, Fabs Nocera, Michael Atiyeh, Sebastian Cheng, Colorists
Ray – 8.5/10
Ray: The first of two large DC anthologies this week, Harley Quinn Romances tells eight odd stories of love—many by writers who have not written for DC much or at all before. How do they shake out?
“Stranger than Fan-Fiction” by Alexis Quasarano and Max Sarin is a bizarre and hilarious Harley/Ivy tale, as Harley wants to celebrate their anniversary by giving Ivy a strange cartoony fanfic of her and Ivy in a high-school AU with Joker and Punchline as the “mean kids.” Ivy, however, is preoccupied by a massive flower about to bloom in a mansion’s garden. This is a classic romantic comedy filled with misunderstandings, and the cartoon diary segments really sell the quirky vibe of the whole thing.
It wouldn’t be a DC comic without Batman, and “Here’s to Jack, Here’s to Molly” by Zipporah Smith and Will Robson puts him front and center. Batman is busy brooding about being alone on Valentine’s Day when a new villain called the Red Bomber crashes a restaurant—and straps a biometric bomb to a hapless man proposing to his girlfriend. Batman winds up dragging both of the couple along to free the man from the bomb, with some hilarious banter along the way. I don’t exactly agree with the ethos of Batman’s last lines, but this is a really clever story.
Amanda Deibert and Adriana Melo are the creative team on “Power Girl and All-American Boy,” which finds Karen being set up on a date with… Jimmy Olsen? Clark is worried about his cousin being alone, so he tries to matchmake, and Jimmy actually proves to be a charming date. But as they’re interrupted by a supervillain, Karen starts to realize she’ll always be distracted in her dating life. This was a fun story, although I’m assuming this was Earth-2? Odd pairing, certainly, but the creative team is always great with banter.
“Grace” by Frank Allen and John McCrea, is a Constantine story that has a darker tone than the rest of the issue. Constantine and his associate Brandon—who we don’t seem to have seen before, but Constantine seems close to—deal with banishing a demon, but Brandon has a pressing engagement. He’s meeting with a woman named Grace on a first date, and he wants Constantine to guarantee him peace for the duration. As the date goes on, it turns out that the connection is far deeper than we first knew, and the twist ending is the best emotional gut punch in the issue. Allen is a great writer for the darker corners of the DCU.
“Dating App Disaster” by Raphael Draccon, Carolina Munhoz, and Ig Guara focuses on Fire and Ice, as the two BFFs team up to help Fire find the perfect date on a superhero dating app. This story is packed with cameos, including some like Power Boy who haven’t been seen for well over a decade. One I didn’t even know they were legally allowed to use! Eventually, Bea finds a date in a man named the Spider, who has a dark secret—and Ice steps in just in time. I liked this a lot, but I kind of wish DC would just let these two be confirmed as a couple—the ending gives a lot of fuel for the pairing without actually taking the plunge.
The second story featuring true LGBT rep in this issue focuses on Midnighter and Apollo, and “Across the Multiverse” by Greg Lockard and Giulio Macaione is a clever tale that finds the two captured by aliens who want to reverse-engineer their DNA. While Midnighter is trapped, Apollo has been sent into an alternate world where he’s a medieval warrior. This leads to a lot of fun action, but the real highlight is once they’re reunited. These two have such a great snarky, edgy banter that it’s just a blast to watch them work as a couple.
Jessica Berbey and Priscilla Petraites take on Kite-Man in “Once Upon a Romance Novel.” Yes, Kite-Man. This story seems to have more in common with the jokey Kite-Man of the animated series than the sad, tragic figure of King’s run. After being shot down on Valentine’s Day, Kite-Man fantasizes about being a romance novel lead—and then realizes his true love is actually his kite, I guess? Like I said, it’s bizarre, but less so than Penguin being married to an actual penguin, I guess.
Finally, Ivan Cohen and Fico Ossio take on “Splendor in the Foam,” an Aquaman/Harley story. It starts with Harley crashing a girls’ night for Zatanna, Barda, Vixen, Black Canary, and Lori Lemaris. The subject turns to Aquaman, and it turns out that each of the women has a very different memory of dating him at some point—at all different points during Aquaman’s history. It’s funny, but plays really fast and loose with all the characters involved. But like with all things Harley-related, it’s best to take it with a grain of salt.
Overall, it’s a funny anthology with some great tales, although quality varies pretty dramatically from story to story.
To find reviews of all the DC issues, visit DC This Week.
GeekDad received this comic for review purposes.
