The major comic companies put out enough comics that sometimes it can leave your head spinning and eyes bleeding as you search the new titles each week for something worth reading. To aid in your Geeky endeavors, Speak Geeky To Me on occasion reviews new titles from the major companies to spotlight the best and worst of what’s available at your local comic shop. So sit back, relax, and enjoy a new Comic Review.

 

The Info Bit

Title: Harley Quinn #0

Genre/s: Superhero/Comedy

Writer: Amanda Conner (The Pro, Before Watchmen: Silk Spectre) & Jimmy Palmiotti (All-Star Western, Creator Owned)

Artist: Amanda Conner, Becky Cloonan, Tony S. Daniel, Sandu Florea, Stephane Roux, Dan Panosian, Walter Simonson, Jim Lee, Scott Williams, Bruce Timm, Charlie Adlard, Adam Hughes, Art Baltazar, Tradd Moore, Dave Johnson, Jeremy Roberts, Sam Kieth, Darwyn Cooke, & Chad Hardin

Colorist: Paul Mounts, Tomeu Morey, John Kalisz, Lovern Kindzierski, Alex Sinclair, Lee Loughridge, Dave Stewart, & Alex Sollazzo

Letterer: John J. Hill (Edison Rex, Superman)

Publisher: DC Comics

Number of Issues: 1 (on-going)

Page Count: 20

Price: $2.99

 

The Review Bit

Harley Quinn is getting a brand new, solo on-going series. No longer a back up villain, sidekick, or sexy female protagonist of a team book, this will be Harley’s second on-going at DC. Coming exactly 10 years after her last on-going ended, I picked up this book a little curious as to how I’d enjoy a new Harley Quinn on-going based upon her recent New 52 styling. I’ve always been a fan of the old Paul Dini Harley, and really enjoyed her 38-issue long on-going from 2000, but I knew this would be a step in a very different direction.

Harley Quinn #0 truly is something very different, and it almost reminds me heavily of Marvel’s Deadpool. While this zero issue is unlikely to carry the same spirit as the rest of the on-going, it was a hell of a lot of fun to read through. Throughout this issue Harley breaks the fourth wall, acknowledging the creators of the book, that she’s in a comic, and even looking a bit into the future of this very comic. In that way, it gives off a ‘Deadpool has already done this’ vibe, but Palmiotti and Conner do it to such an extreme that it is actually quite funny and seemingly unique again. That said, the end of the issue promises that Harley Quinn #1 will stop breaking the fourth wall, so we can enjoy this one-off zero issue simply for what it is. But what is it? In truth it is more of an art book, showing off various artist’s takes on the classic clown princess, while Jimmy Palmiotti and Amanda Conner goof around in the word bubbles. The story, if you could call it that, involves Harley reading through a box of comics and talking to a stuffed animal while wishing she had her own comic. In imagining this she begins actually interacting with the creators of this very comic, breaking the fourth wall, and discussing what type of artist she wants to draw her. The pages that follow each have a unique and talented artist draw Harley in a situation befitting their style, with jokes directed more at the creators than the character. If you’re familiar with your comic artists, you’ll probably adore this and get all the fun jokes. If you’re less familiar with the men and women behind the books you read, a fair amount of this might be lost on you. But in the case of the latter, you can still enjoy the very pretty pictures.

One of the key things I feel I must point out, especially after the big controversy around it, is that page-15 is edited from its original form. As we saw in the script that was attached to the artist-seeking contest on DC’s site, the last panel originally found Harley naked in a bath, preparing to commit suicide by electric shock. Now this panel has been changed to the humorous riding of a missile, ala Doctor Strangelove. The page still works fine and would be unnoticeable to someone unfamiliar with the original script, but it is disappointing that DC felt the need to cave in and alter the scene. Never-the-less, new comer Jeremy Roberts delivers some magnificent art here.

Beyond constantly breaking the fourth wall with writer’s captions and listing the artist on each page via narration, there are a lot of other small treats. In the opening page we find Harley reading various DC comics, on Baltazar’s page there is a “signed picture” of DC publisher Dan Didio, Adam Hughes gets a Dr. Manhattan penis joke, and Jim Lee’s page makes constant jokes at the publisher’s expense including the fact that his page is just a digitally altered reprint from Hush! There’s of course more, but I’ll let you guys catch them (one of my favorites has to be Bruce Timm’s).

But it’s not just the artists getting jokes made at their expense and style, as the authors take a bit of a hit themselves. Palmiotti and Conner bring Harley Quinn and Catwoman to the very setting of their own recent wedding for an all out brawl between writers and characters. It’s actually quite funny and you get the brilliant line “I’m Amanda Conner, Bitches!”, which might stick with me for a while.

The art is, as you can imagine, fabulous with so many great talents filling these pages. There’s nothing bad that could possibly be said outside of my own personal distaste for Harley’s New 52 costume. If you’re a fan of comic art, you’re sure to find at least one page in here you’re in love with if you don’t instantly love them all. It’s almost a pity they tease us with so many great art styles and artists we won’t get to see in the pages of Harley Quinn again.

 

The Rating Bit

Harley Quinn #0 is a funny and visually stunning one-off comic that really doesn’t look to be that related to the upcoming on-going series. If you know your comic creators you’ll likely find yourself laughing heavily over many of the somewhat inside jokes. But even if you’re just a casual comic reader, seeing Harley Quinn drawn so wonderfully in various goofy situations by some of comic’s top artist will undoubtedly be a great experience; while worth $3. Therefore it is easy to give this zero issue a powerful 9 out of 10. If it was a little more accessible, or perhaps properly gave fans a taste of what’s to come for Harley than I could see giving it a perfect 10, but still…can’t go wrong with that high of a score when your entire issue was jokes breaking the fourth wall.