Harley Quinn, M.D.!
Creative Staff:
Story: Tom Taylor
Art: Mike S. Miller
What They Say:
The battered resistance regroups in the Tower of Fate while the status of the long missing Wonder Woman is revealed.
Content: (please note that content portions of a review may contain spoilers):
Facing off against the Spectre is not something you do everyday and what we got with that encounter over the last issue or so definitely didn’t leave things well for Constantine and company. While what unfolded did get Batman back into the game, something that Constantine nudged in his own special way, it did come with some loss along the way. But with the group now holed up in the Tower of Fate, there’s a chance at some down time and recovery. Which is needed because even though it’s a relatively small group with some impressive players in the mix, what they’ve seen could shake most of them even if they don’t outwardly show it.
It’s also another chance for Harley to be the most accessible character of the book, which continues to be a delight. Her moment with Detective Chimp’s hat the last time around extends further here as she wants him to live, having not lost any monkeys of her own before, and she’s getting quite frustrated by the way everyone seems to be giving up. That puts her in the drivers seat, though what she’ll do isn’t something we probably want to know. That Klarion gets involved isn’t too much of a surprise since he’s bailiwick is death magic after all, but that’s either going to be in the background or the next issue. The dialogue and interactions among all of this is definitely fun to see, especially with Doctor Fate having to try and explain that he’s not a medical doctor and also getting threatened by Constantine, as Fate is starting to suss out what it is that Rose is with her magical ability. Which is not something that John wants to admit at this point, instead hoping to preserve her as a simple, normal, little girl.
We also get a good bit more time here back at the Hall of Justice, which is its own set of complications. Though we do see glimmers of the old Superman in there in a few quick instances, he’s still pretty much the darker man that he’s become as he continues to let Sinestro torture Sprague for information – information that he plainly doesn’t seem to have. The conflict between Superman and Sinestro is interesting and watching the tension between them definitely works well. The main focus of this group continues to be trying to find their kidnapped friends though, but another delay enters the picture when the Spectre arrives here, aligning himself fully with Superman with what he sees as his just mission. But the purity of that mission becomes a focus as he wants to kill Captain Marvel here, since he has seeds of doubt and the Spectre cannot abide by that. The way Superman deals with him is really pivotal here because it’s another moment that has him standing up to an immense threat – one that he needs on his side – but also because it seeds in himself that there are those that are aligned with him that have doubt.
In Summary:
Admittedly, Harley Quinn continues to steal just about every scene she’s in and that’s something that’s not a bad thing. It’s the right kind of levity and humanity that we get from her and it helps to anchor us more to Constantine’s side, since he’s not always the most accessible of characters for a lot of readers. I do like his role here a lot and he’s playing it well while mucking it up with the name players. Spending time with the other side for a bit is also good to get done again, though it wasn’t easy to watch as Sinestro tortures Sprague and then to see Superman basically concede that it must be done even when he knows it won’t produce any actual results. There’s not a lot of forward progress here, but we get some decent nudging to things and character moments that makes for the larger work to continue to be engaging and fun in its own way.
Grade: B
Age Rating: 13+
Released By: DC Comics via ComiXology
Release Date: October 28th, 2014
MSRP: $0.99
