A Quinn to Save Them All
Writer:
Rob Williams
Penciller:
Jim Lee
Inkers:
Scott Williams, Jonathan Glapion, Sandra Hope
Colors:
Jeremiah Skipper
Letters:
Pat Brosseau
Backup Art & Color: Christian Ward
Backup Letters: Dave Sharpe
Cover:
Lee, Williams and Sinclair
Cover Price:
$2.99
On Sale Date: November 30, 2016
**NON SPOILERS AND SCORE AT THE
BOTTOM**
Everything’s going haywire at Belle Reve—except for
Harley Quinn, who has somehow become sane and reverted back to Dr. Harleen
Quinzell! Though she already makes this transition at will in the pages of her
own series…but I’ll go with it. Last we left her, Harley was being menaced by a
rabid Katana—so let’s dispense with the preamble and get to the review!
Explain
It!
I am of the opinion that superheroes do not kill,
ever. Because comic books are fantasy, this is taken to the most ludicrous,
unbelievable extent—like Batman’s inability to kill the Joker, for instance. In
the real world, anyone who murdered the Joker, presumably after his having
performed several mass-murdering chemical warfare shenanigans, would be lauded
as a hero. But in fiction, we can keep the Joker alive indefinitely and present
him as a foil for Batman, who we can also keep alive indefinitely. Perhaps my
favorite example of how stupidly far superheroes should go to avoid killing is
the Phantom Zone. As I understand it, a Kryptonian criminal deemed unfit for
polite society would be placed within the Phantom Zone, another dimensional
plane that holds what can only be described as the souls of living beings in
permanent stasis, indefinitely. There’s no radio, no television, no need for
any third dimensional trappings, indeed the only entertainment available is the
nebulous ability to peek in on the living world you left behind. So let’s say
you commit a crime against Snork-Ul of Krypton, and you get chucked into the
Phantom Zone. You watch Snork-Ul and his wife Ursu-Ul have children, raise
them, grow old and die, you watch their children grow up, have children of
their own, et cetera, on and on eternally, long past the time where you or your
crime are even remembered. Even beyond the time where whatever you did might be
considered a crime. This is a much worse punishment than actually killing
someone, you essentially doom them to an unending, incurable insanity. You can
talk to the other criminals in the Phantom Zone, but that’s no respite. They’re
just other insane dudes that tried to vandalize a post office several millennia
ago.
I never really considered, as is shown at the
beginning of this issue, that the Phantom Zone would contain actual phantoms. Like, I get that the white
outlined version of the incarcerated are supposed to be ghost forms of their
tangible selves, but I didn’t consider the fact that hoary specters a la the
creepy librarian spook from Ghostbusters
could be coursing around the indigo plane. But that’s what we see here, from
General Zod’s point of view, just as light breaks through to signify his escape
from the Zone. And this is pretty much the most interesting part of the story,
on the first page. Much of the rest of it is Harley Quinn being not-crazy
Harleen Quinzell, but still kicking the crap out of and maiming people with
impunity. I mean, what the hell is the point of her being sane, then? Not
having to write any jokes? Amanda Waller, desperately struggling to maintain
her mental integrity, tells Harley to flip General Zod’s containment sun from
“yellow” to “red,” or he’s gonna break free and go to town on everything. This
proves to be difficult, however, because Belle Reve Prison is in chaos.
Well, not for everyone. Turns out that when Killer
Croc lunged to bite June Moon’s face, he was actually sucking face, and now they cuddle in a puddle (hey!) of what looks
like sewer runoff, basking in the afterglow of just having done it. Yep, I do
mean it. Waller yells at Harley and tells her to get to stepping, so Harley
tazes June Moon in order to bring the Enchantress out of her faster. This makes
Killer Croc very angry because he was hoping for a post-coital BJ. Elsewhere in
the prison, Hack did her…hack thing? And found out that the thing really making
everyone go bonkers is a computer virus…that somehow affects living people…and
is really Captain Boomerang?
The backup is a June Moon/Enchantress story. Not
really a full origin, but more of a clarification of their relationship to one
another, as inhabitants of the same body. It’s nothing too special, except that
the artwork is absolutely lovely. I can’t remember having seen Christian Ward’s
work before, but I will be on the lookout in the future. The rest of the story…well,
it’s okay. The art looks sharper in this issue than it did in the last, which
might be a function of the colorist. I liked the Croc/June afterglow, and the Captain
Boomerang revelation at the end, but the rest of it was just Harley Quinn
beating up her own teammates. I definitely didn’t get the impression she was
suddenly “sane,” just that she was up against those she once fought beside. An
old comic book trope. Anyway, I’m definitely sick of seeing these guys fart
around Belle Reve prison for so many consecutive issues, so I hope they pack it
up and do something interesting in the next.
Bits and
Pieces:
Continuing the fracas from last issue...well, the fracas continues. There's a big revelation about what's driving everyone bonkers at the end of the story, but the rest of it is Dr. Harleen Quinzell making her violent rounds. The backup is about the Enchantress, and is entertaining enough, but the artwork is really something special and may be worth the cover price all by itself. If you're prone to paying three bucks to look at great pictures, that is.
6.5/10
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