Review – Harley Quinn #39: The New Gig

Harley Quinn #39 – Tini Howard, Writer; Natacha Bustos, Artist; Nick Filardi, Colorist; Erica Henderson, Backup Writer/Artist

Ray – 9/10

Ray: Harley has been up to some crazy adventures so far in this series, including taking on the entire multiverse, so it’s good that Howard is dialing things back and taking her back to her roots—as Gotham’s most chaotic criminal. We saw last issue that Harley is struggling to find her place now that she’s back on Earth, and she thinks crime might be exactly what she needs. But she’s going to do it her way this time, starting with rejecting an offer by Mister Freeze to team up. Instead, she’s going to put her own team together, as only she can—and her first choice is one of Gotham’s most laughable villains, the bawling Greek-myth-obsessed crimelord Maxie Zeus, who most famously sparred with Tim Drake.

Zeus is one of those villains, like many of the classic Batman ‘66 villains, who sounds hilarious on the surface but has a lot of hilarious. He’s strong, obsessed—but undone by his own egomaniacal nature. Despite this, he has an origin that actually fits right in with Greek myth, and I kind of love the idea that Harley isn’t just building a team of criminals, she’s building a team of therapy clients. This is a clever twist, and I also like that this issue seems to focus a lot on Harley’s relationship with Ivy. The two have some really fun moments together here. I could do without the new police officer who’s obsessed with the idea that Harley is still a criminal (which she kind of is), but this might be my favorite installment of this run.

The backup, written and drawn by Erica Henderson, takes Harley into the realm of space adventure. Like almost all the backups, this is a dream segment—casting Harley in the role of a roguish adventurer, with Ivy as a gorgeous plant goddess and the Green Lantern Corps as the ruthless space police. Gorgeous art and highly entertaining story.

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GeekDad received this comic for review purposes.