Harley rips a page out of Marvel’s book.
Creative Staff:
Writer: Frank Tieri
Art: Mauricet
Colors: Paul Mounts
Letterer: Dave Sharpe
What They Say:
“The Gang’s All Here”! Harley’s grudgingly accepted the Gang of Harleys back into her life—and now they intend to impress her with all the new tricks they’ve learned in her absence! Unfortunately, they might’ve picked up some bad habits too…
Content: (Warning, section may contain spoilers)
Stealing ideas from Wolverine and Mad Max, DC gives us “Old Lady Harley“! Harley left Coney Island, and Things didn’t exactly proceed well while she was gone. Red Tool is bringing Harley back to her old grounds, Mad Max style, and from the beginning, things don’t go well. This is also where we run into our first “Old Man Logan” reference: Goat-Boy’s inbred offspring (a call to Hulk’s inbred children in the Marvel story). The duo finally make it back home after a few more mishaps and meet up with Tony, and we learn that Harley left Harley Gang member Coach in charge after she murdered the Penguin, but Coach died. The rest of her gang, according to Tony went all action movie and decided infighting and taking territory was a good idea. Making their way towards a meeting the old gang members are supposed to have, we also learn mutated creatures exist now too. The meeting turns out to be more akin to a brawl to decide territory, which Harley is only too glad to interrupt. As always, Harley wins the day, and sets things a bit more on track before heading off again.
In Summary:
I honestly had no idea what to expect when I read the gist of this issue, but man was I not disappointed! The blend of “Old Man Logan” and “Mad Max” really works, and i’s made better by Harley and her usual brand of humor. The parallels to the Wolverine story are pretty easy to see, such as the murder of the penguin and things going haywire after that (Logan’s accidental murder of the X-Men). The art is very familiar to those who have been following Harley’s book, but in tune with the story, adds an older, grittier feeling. The writing fits right in for a Harley Quinn story and works really well. A great example of this is the scenes at the beginning and end where Red Tool monologues about Harley in text boxes like he’s telling the reader a story, and Harley butts in to remind him that she can hear him. Both the writing and art fit the character and story well, and it really shows. The only real flaw I can think o is that I wasn’t too sure whether this was a one-off story or not. I really recommend picking this up, because it’s a blast!
Grade: A-
Age Rating: 15+
Released By: DC Comics
Release Date: April 18, 2018
MSRP: $2.99