Harley’s
Apokoliptic vacation comes to a close in the final showdown between Hammer
Harleen and Granny Goodness. Despite efforts to break the Quinn-meister, Granny
keeps coming up empty. I guess crazy is the best defense against torture and
brain washing – at least in the comic book world. And Harley psychiatric
know-how enables her to use Granny’s deepest, darkest secrets against her.
Within the
pages of this issue there are two brief visits inside Harley’s head. One is an
entire send-up of Stephen King’s Carrie, the other is a riff on the classic
good angel/bad angel often scene in classic cartoons. However, Timm’s
reinvention of this idea comes across a bit muddled, as it all takes place in a
crowded phone booth in Harley’s head. It’s a bit confusing and ineffective in
my opinion.
One thing I
appreciate about this series is how consistent it is, art-wise. In my formative
comic book reading years, artists stayed on a title long enough to become
inextricably linked: Curt Swan on Superman, John Byrne on X-Men, and so on.
That rarely happens these days, especially on titles that publish every other
week. Usually there is a steady rotation of illustrators. But even when John
Timms (who seems to be the primary on Harley
Quinn) takes a break, his replacements seem to adapt to his style quite
ably. There’s barely a visual hiccup, and HQ
continues to build its audience.
This is the
conclusion of the current 3-issue story arc, which is fine with me. In the
hurly-burly world of Harley, staying too long in one place only allows the
humour to wear thin. It devolves into an SNL skit that’s gone on too long. It
is best for the writer (whomever it may be) to remember she works best as a
moving target. Keeping the audience guessing helps keep things interesting.
Rating:
8/10