Harley Quinn #44 – Elliott Kalan, Writer; Mindy Lee, Artist; Triona Farrell, Colorist
Ray – 9/10
Ray: Harley Quinn is one of those characters who changes up her status quo dramatically with each run. Sam Humphries took her on a cosmic, deeply emotional odyssey, while Stephanie Phillips took her back to basics with a grounded Gotham run. Then Tini Howard spent much of her run on an epic multiversal farce. Now it’s comedian Elliott Kalan’s turn to take the helm, and he inherits Harley at a difficult time – she’s back on the outs with the heroes due to being forced to aid Amanda Waller, and she has to keep her distance from Ivy who is being hunted by a terrorist group. She decides she needs to get back to basics – and that means visiting her old neighborhood, Throatcutter Hill. The blue-collar college area of Gotham was home to broke students, many muggers, and a mentally ill vigilante known only as Chicken Fingers. And when she shows up for a walk down memory lane…she finds Acai Bowls and a menacing skyscraper.
That’s right, the old nabe has been gentrified to hell and back, and when Harley tracks down the source, she finds a powerful lady executive (who might be exactly Harley’s type) who has no regrets about ripping the soul out of the neighborhood and uprooting the old residents. After trying and failing to wreck the joint, Harley decides she’s sticking around and rents an apartment in the one townhouse that hasn’t been taken over – owned by a flinty old Italian lady, with her dimwitted grandson with a crush on Harley, and a lot of structural hazards. From there, she sets out to bring life back to the old joint in the only way she knows how – with lots and lots of chaos. This feels like vintage Harley, with her being just a complete bundle of nutty energy, and it might be exactly what the character needs. This is probably the most accessible launch of a Harley run in some time, and it’s a lot of fun so far.
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GeekDad received this comic for review purposes.
