Meeting of the Minds
Writer: Paul Dini
Artist: Bret Blevins
Colors: Alex Sinclair
Letters: Dave Sharpe
Cover: Amanda Conner & Alex Sinclair
Cover Price: $3.99
On Sale Date: May 16, 2018
**NON SPOILERS AND SCORE AT THE BOTTOM**
This story that swept into Harley Quinn continuity like a hurricane is over after this issue,
so perhaps the damage will be minimal. Or perhaps this story actually bolsters
the character somehow! Only one way to find out: by reading my review of Harley Quinn: Harley Loves Joker #2,
which is conveniently linked below!
Explain
It!
So uh, now that Grison has joined Team Joker,
Harley Quinn is in therapy…with herself. She’s in her mind, I assume, being
observed by her prior identity, Doctor Harleen Quinzell, and she can also
conjure up her mother and other members of Harley’s life from time to time.
Harley’s mom here, incidentally, does not resemble the tittering mom from
Conner and Palmiotti’s Harley Quinn
series, where Harley had two parents and a couple of ne’er-do-well brothers.
But the story will address that, somewhat, later on. Thing is, Harley Quinn is
jealous, despite her relationship with Joker being more than a little abusive,
something Dr. Quinzell is quick to point out. But Harley just can’t quit that
grinning clown.
As they arrange another caper, Harley plots
against Grison and the Joker by diming them out to Alfred—the plan is to steal
a super ray gun from WayneTech, incidentally. Alfred knows it is Harley
calling, but he does his due diligence and alerts Batman before the deal goes
down. Just then, Harley has another internal therapy session and Dr. Quinzell
turns into—modern Harley Quinn! Meaning the Amanda Conner and Jimmy Palmiotti
version, with a little Margot Robbie thrown in for good measure. This Neo-Quinn
chastises Classic Quinn for not being independent, and Original Flavor Harley
starts to turn…when she suddenly realizes that this whole thing is a trap set
by the Joker to take down the Grison!
Over at WayneTech, that’s exactly what Joker
tries to do, but the Grison is too alert for him: she traps him in a
ludicrously tight web of laser beams that threaten to kill him if the Joker
budges an inch. Harley saves him with some acrobatics, then chases Grison away
with the help of her trained Hyenas. When Grison gets to the roof, Batman
accosts her, and Harley and Joker flee the scene before the cops show up. Joker
knows something funny has happened here, but owning to the normally chaotic
bent on his life, he brushes it off, blithely strolling into the new lair set
up by Harley Quinn, and for which payment is due…today! Check out the issue to
find out how it all wraps up!
I am left with one question after reading this
two-issue miniseries: why? Why does this exist? Why was it slotted into the
regular run of Harley Quinn, though
the character bears no resemblance to what we’ve gotten for six or so years? This
thing reads like a lost two-part episode of Batman: The Animated Series, and it
probably wouldn’t be the most fondly remembered. Bret Blevins does a terrific
job porting Bruce Timm’s style to the printed page, except when Modern Harley
Quinn shows up—this looks terrible! I don’t know what happened here, but New
Quinn looks like a wet dog in this. Only Dini completists and Harley Quinn
sycophants need to seek this two-parter out—and then you’d still need the six
or so back-ups that appeared in Harley
Quinn last year to set this story up. The whole thing feels like a pile of
bricks falling down a flight of stairs in the dark. More of DC Comics clutching
at straws.
Bits and
Pieces:
This two-part-plus-six-backups length story concludes and...that's nice, I suppose? I still don't get why this was part of the regular Harley Quinn run, or why it was commissioned in the first place. Fans of The Animated Series might enjoy this "lost episode," but fans of the modern Harley Quinn will be left scratching their heads. And even those that remember the cartoon fondly won't be thrilled here.
4.5/10
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