Harley Quinn is the kind of character who can get into all manner of creative hijinks and nobody will bat an eye. Case in point, Multiversity: Harley Screws Up the DCU, where Harley royally effs up the timeline. It’s a miniseries that should please fans of Amanda Conner and Jimmy Palmiotti’s run on the character, and especially those who liked Palmiotti and Tieri’s Harley Quinn and her Gang of Harleys. Why would that be? Oh, just that the gang is back!
That’s right, Harley and her gang open the first issue, and they’re all grabby on Harley. She’s back in Coney Island, and they wanna know all the juicy gossip on Gotham since she’s been away. The extra-sized issue allows Tieri and artist Logan Faerber the room to give the large cast goofy things to say, do and generally remind us of their silly vibe. About half of this issue is refamiliarizing the reader with the group and setting up the time machine.
Or in this case, it’s a time booth. Harley has been given an inheritance from a person Harley doesn’t know, and it’s a warehouse filled with goodies. Along with Red Tool, Harley and her friends look over things and decide that trying out the time booth is worth doing. Soon we see a great flash of DC history thanks to Faerber’s art in an impressive full-page splash, and away we go to a horrible future. That’s just Harley’s luck.
The art is fabulous in this issue.
Credit: DC Comics
The second half of the first issue amps up the action and has Harley fight off some familiar drone foes along with a helper. If the first half was reminding us of the humor and vibe of Harley and her gang, the second half is showing us that positivity and the chaos of her friends are long gone. Faerber kills it on the action scenes here, with a good brightness to the colors. Harley’s very animated–practically a cartoon character at times–and it’s easy to root for her.
The humor is good in the issue, though it’ll induce smirks more than laughter. Tieri throws in some clever jokes, along with some dated ones, like referencing Hot Tub Time Machine, but generally speaking, the positive, humorous vibe works. The issue could definitely use more Red Tool, but he at least makes an appearance.
I imagine some will put this book down and feel a little disappointed–really, the first issue is all about the kooky gang and Harley’s character–but it does establish the stakes and problem at hand. By the end of the issue, you’ll be wondering what Harley could have done to screw up the DC timeline, and you just know it’ll be some silly tomfoolery.
If you enjoyed Tieri and Palmiotti’s work on Harley Quinn in the past, you’ll love this. Multiversity: Harley Screws Up the DCU is the return of the kooky and silly Harley Quinn gang, which is in itself a major selling point. Add in Faeber’s excellent cartoony and comedic art, and you have yourself a bright and silly narrative only Harley Quinn could supply.
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