Review: HARLEY QUINN #20

Timdogg | September 16, 2015 | Comics | 2 Comments

Writers: Amanda Conner & Jimmy Palmiotti
Artist: John Timms
Colorist: Alex Sinclair
Letterer: Tom Napolitano
Publisher: DC Comics

I’ll admit to not giving Harley Quinn a chance when it launched. I never saw it as a bad comic; just not my cup of tea. I decided to give Harley Quinn #20 a try, and I am glad I did. From the cover, we see that Harley is taking her one-woman show on the road to Hollywood! She’s out there to find a mother’s daughter and bring her safe and in one piece. What’s the worst that can happen?

What I Liked

Art by John Timms! I first saw his work over at Marvel on an arc of Nova and currently in the Secret Wars tie-in Inhumans – Attilan Rising. I love how he frames a comic page. Body composition is strong and has flash to it. You can almost envision the people moving on the page.

Letterer Tom Napolitano had his work cut out for him, as there were more word balloons than I normally see in a comic.

Harley is her usual quirky self. She speaks her mind and is not afraid of backlash. One example of this was when an airline employee offered an apology after losing Harley’s bags. Many people verbally say they are apologizing, without giving the actual apology. I had never thought about this, so kudos to Amanda Conner and Jimmy Palmiotti for pointing this out. Very clever.

There is some violence in Harley Quinn, but it is of the cartoonish variety. Some of it takes place off-panel. There are crude jokes, but a lot of it is witty, especially how Harley bounces dialogue off others. I can see why fans have fallen in love with Harley Quinn. It is a carefree, fun-natured comic. It takes a special character to be able to introduce someone like the Cowboy and have him seamlessly fit in. Harley and him got along like they’d known each other for years.

What I Didn’t Like

I don’t want to spoil who makes an appearance at the end, but is this person and Harley both competing to see who can find the daughter first?