[Editor’s Note: This review may contain spoilers]
Writer: Frank Tieri
Artists: Mirka Andolfo, Alex Sinclair
Covers: Amanda Conner, Paul Mounts, Frank Cho, Sabine Rich
Summary
Harley tries her hand at a new business endeavor while a new threat emerges that threatens New York city.
Positives
I have to give it to Frank Tieri in this issue for giving us some much needed humor. “Harley for Hire” was absolutely tons of fun to read, and a great idea for this story arc. I guess no matter how alone you want to be, even vigilantes have to make a living.
Whether it was the “Harley for Hire” commercial, her attempt of “helping” people in need, or the constant notion of always correcting the public that “Harley for Hire” is not an escort service, it just worked in this issue, and kept me laughing throughout every page.
The story itself is definitely getting much more compelling as well. Now that we have an idea of Penguin’s master plan, it’ll be interesting to see how Harley deals with this new threat. I’m usually all for creating new and exciting characters, especially villains, but the anticipation of seeing Harley interact with some old foes will be very fun to read. On a side note, what is going on with Killer Croc?
The art by Mirka Andolfo and Alex Sinclair was stellar. Harley looked great in every panel, and the lines and colors were vibrant. Action scenes were very well done, and even with all the characters on some of the pages, the art team still managed to make each one unique and look great.
Negatives
Despite the humor and compelling story, there were a few things about this issue I didn’t like. For starters, Penguin’s use of mutated penguins just seemed silly and ridiculous. I understand in the world of comic books, we read about flying men and woman in capes, and monsters from other multiverses, but mutated penguins, as far fetched as this may sound, is just a bit to out there and pretty boring.
Tieri’s dialogue for the most part was pretty good in this issue, however there was one part I wanted to mention as being pretty distasteful and unnecessary. After Harley’s friends watch the “Harley for Hire” commercial, they discuss amongst each other what they thought. One person said they had an upset stomach after watching it, followed by another person saying they might have stomach cancer after watching that. Saying something made you sick to your stomach is fine, hell I’ve said it a few times myself, but saying you may have stomach cancer from it was just tasteless. Maybe it’s just me, but I’ve never heard anyone joke about having stomach cancer, and just left a bad feeling with me. It wasn’t necessary and didn’t need to be in there.
Verdict
A really good and fun issue overall, and sets up what should be a very interesting second part of this story arc.
