[Editor’s Note: This review may contain spoilers]
Writers: Amanda Connor, Jimmy Palmiotti, Sholly Fisch
Artists: Pier Brito, Dave Alvarez
Colors: Paul Mounts
Letters: Dave Sharpe, Saida Temofonte
Summary
“A Hairy Predicament” finds our sometime heroine, sometimes villain Harley Quinn facing a hurricane without her BFF Poison Ivy, but discovering in the aftermath a box containing Gossamer (a seldom used character in the Looney Tunes cast of characters, but one that seems interestingly placed with Harley in these new crossover comics). In her quest to get Gossamer home to his creator after a hurricane, she encounters a killer robot, a host of other Batman villains, her beloved Poison Ivy, and her now maligned former lover Joker. All’s well that ends well in that we get the Looney Tunes cameo that we always crave as a certain long eared “stinker” finally makes an appearance!
“Monster Crush” finds Harley on the run and seeking shelter in what she thinks is Dr. Hugo Strange’s castle, only to find it occupied with Gossamer and his creator who looks like Peter Lorre. Gossamer turns his attention to Harley and seems quite smitten to the dismay of his creator who wishes for Harley to depart. Harley provides some advice to the creator to get Gossamer back on board with the creator’s agenda while providing some Looney Tunes slapstick humor that falls right into place in this type of genre!
Positives
“Monster Crush” feels right at home for Harley. Sholly Fisch does a great job of placing Harley into a ‘fish out of water” scheme that is reminiscent of a Rocky Horror Picture Show moment. And Dave Alvarez pencils Harley in a way that rivals Jessica Rabbit as he conveys both the allure and sensuality of the character.
“A Hairy Predicament” is a formula story where a lost pet is found by a girl, girl tries to change pet to accommodate her needs, pet is eventually return to prior owner and everyone is happy. In this case, Harley leaves a lot of destruction and puzzling pieces along the way. The artwork is pretty solid, but the Joker is drawn akin to Jared Leto’s Joker in Suicide Squad.
Negatives
Harley is moving away from her roots and I am afraid she is going to start being portrayed as something of a unique Barbie character rather than a deeper character that the Joker really tilted to a life of villainy. If you like a lighter side of Harley, this comic is for you. If you really like a lighter side of Gossamer (Why in the world does he rescue Batman when he is supposed to be a villain as well?), then the comic is for you! And Joker finds his way to cast a relationship “It’s over/It’s not over” in her mind! However, Gossamer may not be the adequate pairing of Looney Tunes character you really want for Harley…….really wish Bugs would have shown up in this one to play off her wild side!
Verdict
Dave Alvarez’s drawing of Harley saves the day. It’s unusual in these team ups that the lighter side wins over the deeper story, but in this case it is a ninth inning catch at the fence! Fisch’s story makes so much more sense than the throwback “lost dog” movie that Harley is part of in “A Hairy Predicament”. Here’s hoping Harley and Poison Ivy can swim in deeper waters, and that Bugs Bunny will anchor one of these team-up soon!
