Harley Quinn #40 – Tini Howard, Grace Ellis, Writers; Natacha Bustos, Hannah Templer, Artists; Nick Filardi, Colorist
Ray – 8.5/10
Ray: This series has taken a big step up now that all the multiverse nonsense is over with, and it’s gotten back to basics with Harley embracing her role in the Gotham criminal scene—with a twist. She’s loves being a teacher and a doctor, so she’s started hiring herself out as a trainer for criminals. This started with her serving as therapist/mentor to Maxie Zeus, who is actually turning out to be a pretty interesting character. But now, she’s working with bigger fish—frozen fish, in fact. Mister Freeze is hiring her to help train his two newest henchmen, Harmada and Vampire Squid. A naval-themed femme fatale and a German goon in an armored suit, these two are actually pretty funny.
Harley has two days to pull off a heist with them, and brings Maxie in for an assist. But things go horribly wrong when they’re ambushed by police officers—led by the Javert-esque Detective Pulaski. This shows off Harley’s better instincts, as she’s forced to sacrifice herself to protect her newest charges, but winds up behind bars herself—just in time for a dramatic double-cross that sets up a war between the villains of Gotham. Overall, this issue is fairly low-stakes, but it’s much funnier than Howard’s writing usually is and makes good use of the elements that Harley started with, before she became the cosmic trickster of the DCU. This fits in nicely with what Howard has been building in Catwoman, as well.
The backup brings acclaimed indie cartoonist and Lumberjanes co-creator Grace Ellis to Harley’s world, with the most horrifying of prospects—being back in school. Harley has another one of her strange nightmares, this time involving being inducted into a magic school that is divided between good and evil. This is obviously a hilarious take on the world of THAT book, and does the send-up well, with guest appearances by several players and amazing art by Hannah Templer, who I’m not familiar with but that’s about to change.
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GeekDad received this comic for review purposes.
