Review; Harley Quinn and Her Gang of Harleys (2016-) #1Review by Paul Fiander
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Published by DC Comics
Written by Jimmy Palmiotti & Frank Tieri Pencils & Inks Alain Mauricet Colored by Hi-Fi Cover by Amanda Conner & Alex Sinclair |
For many a reader new and old alike Harley Quinn is tied to the names of Palmiotti and Conner. Their take on the eccentric Doctor have taken the character to new places and been thoroughly entertaining. Here though we find Palmiotti pairing with Frank Tieri as we meet a cast of Harley’s all bent on serving Dr Quinzel.
The tag tag group is nothing new from DC with We Are Robin being the latest idea of a group of non heroes fulfilling the role that one hero would usually take. This though is Harley Quinn do the introduction of a less than stable head of a group does add a large quota of crazy into the mix. We are guided through this issue by Coach a blind, wheelchair bound woman who comes across is canning measured manner. This is at odds with the rest of the gang, as the other six members are a mix of the silliness you would expect from the premise. The group have a range of names which all play on Harley’s name, from Harvey Quinn (the only male member) to Harlem Quinn (Antonia Moore from you guessed it Harlem) the gag is fun but does not feel forced within Harley’s character.The laughs are all there for you to enjoy as per usual but sadly Harley plays second fiddle to the gang and that does take a little of the gloss of the issue. Artistically Alain Mauricet is responsible for both the inks and pencils. This gives the art a continuous look throughout something that can be lost to multiple artists. Everyone is well toned when they need to be and the portrayal of the Hipsters is spot on for the stereotype you expect. The colours by HiFi give the imagery the pop it needs to match the colourful array of characters we see. The story is fun, the first task for the gang is actually to recover their leader when she is Kidnapped. Of course nothing goes smoothly and their search is full of crazy ideas that show the lunacy of the assembled team. There is little action to speak of but the threat of violence does run through the book. Overall this is a nice backup to the main Harley book, if you are a fan then you will enjoy the humour and visual style. Though I will admit if push came to shove I would lean to the main Harley book instead of this. This is not a criticism but I just prefer the other title. |