Future State: Harley Quinn #1 Review

 

The Doctor is Quinn

Writer: Stephanie Phillips

Artist: Simone Di Meo

Cover Price: $3.99

Release Date: January 5, 2021

Harley Quinn is one of the books with its main character intact for Future State, and I am glad.  I don't need a new version for two months since we will be going back to Harleen in March when the main books return.  That said, I was wondering what Stephanie Phillips was going to do with the Cupid of Crime in a darker Gotham where masked vigilantes are a no-no.  It looks like she will let Harley use her smarts to track down villains with a twist.  Let me explain...

The first thing most readers will notice is the art.  Simone Di Meo is fantastic, and the anime style here fits Harley and the Future State of things so well.  Sure, Phillips explains what's going on, but the mood is there from the first panel.

So, what is going on?  Well, Jonathan Crane needs Harley to help him catch some criminals.  It's part Suicide Squad and part Silence of the Lambs, and that's the genius of it.  What Harley do we get here?  All of them!!!

Check out our Future State: Harley Quinn #1 Video Review

If you've read other Future State books already, you know that some characters are slightly different than what we are used to, and that's the case with Dr. Crane.  Sure, he was the Scarecrow, but not everyone remembers that, and here, he is going after villains...with Harley's help.  Stephanie Phillips does a good job showing that Harley is the smartest one in the room, and I like the early interaction between her and Crane.  In an issue full of setup, the story had good pacing to it, and it flew by reading it.  By the end, we get Black Mask as the big bad which is a funny little thing with what happened to him at the end of the recently ending Suicide Squad book by Tom Taylor.

I liked this a whole lot!  I am a Harley Quinn fan and always want to see what take each new writer will have on her.  I always give a plus to anyone who remembers how smart she is, and that's what Stephanie Phillips does well here.  Everything else is the icing on the cake for me, and I am looking forward to the next issue and the regular run starting back up in March!

I already said it before, but I love Simone Di Meo's art.  It feels "futuristic" in an anime way, and I am all about it!  Why can't he continue with the book in March?  Why????

Bits and Pieces:

Future State: Harley Quinn #1 is a really good start by Stephanie Phillips that hopefully reminds people that Harley can be more than fart jokes and Brooklyn accents.  This book is a sneaky-smart combination of the Suicide Squad and Silence of the Lambs and looks fantastic thanks to Simone Di Meo's art.  This is an excellent start for Harley Quinn fans!

8.8/10