Harley Quinn #29 // Review
Harleen has been in this sort of situation before. She’s been in the dark. She’s okay with the crazy. She’s okay rolling with it. Other people in the group? They’re not so happy. Morale is low. And it doesn’t help that they’re all off-planet dealing with a vicious, vicious threat in Harley Quinn #20. Writer Stephanie Phillips continues to explore the possibilities of Harley in space with the aid of artists Georges Duarte and Simone Buonfantino. Their work is embellished by the colors of Romulo Fajardo Jr. The fusion between traditional space horror sci-fi, the DC Universe, and the distinct personality of Harley continues to find an appealing place on the page.
Harley. Solomon Grundy. Bronze Tiger. Dreadbolt. Lashina. Verdict. Luke Fox sent them all up there, but he didn’t exactly tell them what they were going to find. Hostile aliens are one thing. Hostile aliens from another dimension resulting in a weird crossover that could make things complicated for everyone? THAT...okay, that’s probably to be expected given the fact that it’s a Suicide Squad type of situation. Of course it’s dangerous and shady...but does it have to be dangerous and shady like some kind of alien Xenomorph sort of a thing? Harley’s got a hell of a lot of work to do.
Phillips has a sharp handle on a very competent sort of a Harley. Writers from the recent past have had her drifting through the world without much of a coherent grasp on things. Phillips has jostled her into a kind of functional, well-adjusted sort of crazy that’s just warped enough to handle the harrowing danger that she’s been thrown into on the moon. Phillips has a solid grasp of Quinn’s weird humor...even managing to throw a huge amount of philosophy into a single panel for comic effect. It’s fun, anarchic stuff. In addition to this, Phillips has pounded a rather large ensemble into the page, and most of the characters don’t make it through the events of the issue with a great deal of personality, but Harley IS the center of everything, and she IS really fun to hang out with on the moon for a third issue this summer.
Duarte and Buonfantino mix serious space fantasy horror with just the right wit and whimsy to make this third part of the story feel perfectly in synch with the title character. Fajardo Jr.’s colors bring the weird fusion of visual genres together with a dazzling resonance that even manages to make the dinginess of an Alien-inspired visual design feel...fun and fantastic in its own way. Overall, the fun is maintained in an action horror that is a lot more interesting than it has a right to be.
In Hollywood terms, it’s Aliens meets Suicide Squad. It’s also a crossover to the Metal family of DC comics, so Phillips’s work is...pleasantly derivative. Just toss a few things together and have some fun with them. Harley’s march to Issue #30 of her current series is respectably enjoyable without trying to go for anything too deep. It’s kind of a disappointment after the weird mix of things that found Harley’s mother dying of cancer not too long ago, but it’s the right kind of fun.
