Harley Quinn wants to break her new boyfriend Mason Macabre out of Arkham Asylum — but will she be able to do it when his life is in a certain somebody’s hands? Hint: It’s the Joker.
Is it good?
Harley Quinn #25 (DC Comics)
Why does this book matter?
First off this is a 25th issue which means you’re going to get something big! The solicit promises a face to face with Joker too and who doesn’t want that?
Good friends hug topless.
Fine, you have my attention. What’s good about it?
Amanda Conner and Jimmy Palmiotti write a story I think fans will love. The sequence between Poison Ivy and Quinn is a strong one as they talk about her state of mind and what she’s about to do; it serves to solidify their current friendship and close connection well. They’re open with each other and it’s a relationship I hope DC doesn’t mess up.
The break in to Arkham is about as you’d expect with Harley introducing a magic pill to sneak in that allows artist Chad Hardin to play around and make for some fun monster-esque moments. I don’t want to spoil it but it’s a nice distraction as she attempts to break out her new lover. That leads to the big Joker appearance that fans will be talking about. Palmiotti and Conner do a slick job setting up this face to face as Joker is caught manipulating her new boy toy. We all know she can’t resist Joker, but maybe she can based on this sequence? There’s a cat and mouse feel to this scene and it gets violent rather quickly. While the events might transpire in a way that we could have expected I sure as hell hope they stay this way as Harley comes out of this issue stronger and more interesting for it.
Hardin does a bang up job on the art especially the fight sequence between Harley and Joker. The fight is easy to follow and downright brutal. The two have a lot of history together and you can tell they’re letting loose because of it.
It can’t be perfect can it?
While the Joker and Poison Ivy scenes are solid overall this comic feels like it’s padded a bit too much. Instead of giving Harley more to do filler is used to keep this book at its page count. The conclusion feels lazy in this same way too and there’s really no explanation as to why Batman… allows things to go on. That could be a bit of nitpicking though, but again these scenes feel longer than they need to be.
A trick up her sleeve!
Is It Good?
Harley vs. Joker: Who ya got? In this case a semi-winner with strong character moments.
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