Harley Quinn Vol. 1: Die Laughing
Harley’s back in this new Vol. 1 graphic novel from DC Rebirth! Her name is Dr. Harleen Quinzel—better known to her friends and enemies as Harley Quinn. Her very-very-ex-boyfriend the Joker may be the Clown Prince of Crime, but Harley’s the Queen of Coney Island! So when the zombie apocalypse threatens her li’l seaside stretch of paradise, who else would ya call to give the undead a blow to the head? In these platitudinous pages, the baddest bad girl in the entire DC Universe joins forces with everyone from her gal pal Poison Ivy to the New York City punk scene to take down anyone who stands between her and a good time—living, dead or undead. Fists will fly, hammers will fall, dudes will be brutalized and the ladies will rule the night! The acclaimed writing team of Amanda Conner and Jimmy Palmiotti joins forces with artists John Timms and Chad Hardin and draft a new beginning for DC’s craziest anti-hero in HARLEY QUINN VOL. 1: DIE LAUGHING—exploding from the blockbuster DC Rebirth event! Collects HARLEY QUINN #1-7.
Here’s the thing about Harley Quinn comics, they’re going to be deranged and full of enough ‘trigger words/actions’ it’s guaranteed to offend someone. This is common knowledge so if you aren’t capable of being around stuff without getting triggered (I’m so sick of that word and its connotations) then you shouldn’t read anything with her in it. That’s kind of what she’s known for whether she’s in her own story or part of something bigger like Suicide Squad.
Through Harley readers are allowed to explore and vent their base, animalistic thoughts. Harley allows women to feel confident about their sexuality, strong in what they want, and determined that who they are is okay regardless of what others think – of course in a way that could also be considered grounds for institutionalization and a strong cocktail of anti-psychotics.
When reading her stories keep that in mind, they’re meant to showcase the dark side of humanity and to be read for entertainment purposes – it’s JUST fiction.
Seeing the relationship between Harley and Ivy get so sexualized, including showers together, is pretty high up there on the dream list for a lot of people so I’m sure they’ll be happy. It didn’t bother me because it kind of goes in line with their personalities, particularly Harley’s.
If you ever wondered what would happen if Harley Quinn came into contact with Aliens and Zombies, wonder no more. Needless to say she’d be just fine if the Sci-Fi version of the Apocalypse hit and I want to be on her team because that will increase my chance of survival.
The interactions between Harley and her friends seemed consistent with their personalities and story archs so the writers did a good job with the dialogue and character combinations to make for some humorous moments.
The only thing I didn’t seriously like was her haircut towards the end, the Mohawk just doesn’t do it for me.
Thank you to Netgalley and DC Comics for allowing me to review this book.
*synopsis and pic from netgalley.com