I certainly like green too.
Creative Staff:
Story: Marguerite Bennett
Art: Mirka Andolfo
Colors: Wendy Broome
What They Say:
Harley Quinn falls from the sky and crashes into a greenhouse, where she meets a girl who is obsessed with her research on plant life.
Content: (please note that content portions of a review may contain spoilers):
While Harley’s first appearance had its moments for me that I definitely liked, it wasn’t a strong piece for me simply because the character is admittedly wearing a bit thin. I rather preferred her non-crazy moments more simply because it presented a nice take on her, especially with the artwork we had. With a few stories in the mix at the moment as we work through more of the Combat arc. Bombshells takes us back to Harley once again and we get to see what she’s up to. Which is essentially going all Dr. Strangelove on us by riding a dud of a bomb down into France as the Axis is finishing up their conquest of this particular territory. It’s a fun sequence overall with its homages combined with her sense of style.
Where the book wants to focus is on our latest addition in Pamela Ysley. With Harley crashing into her house, complete with oversized greenhouse, we discover that Pamela has been spending her time dealing with ensuring luxuries make their way to those willing to pay in France as she works the black market. It’s a nice touch that keeps her connected with the criminal side while also allowing her to play up a very French beauty kind of role here. Andolfo really brings it to life with the design and costumes she gets to put her in here, which is a contrast to Harley’s Christmas Elf costume that works and doesn’t work. Pamela does spend most of it in a pink robe, but the design of the character is strong even with that and the end result is highly appealing.
And appealing to Harley as well, even more so when she sees the makeup slipping off that reveals that Pamela’s skin is green. And oh does Harley like green. Pamela’s background is interesting as she definitely has a resistance fighter element about her as she talks about how she took out some Nazi’s with a special perfume, though the incident had side effects on her with her skin. But what it does is separate her out in a unique way while playing to her more familiar comics side. The pair have some fantastic dialogue here as Harley does what she can to team up with he, giving us a really fun team to have in the future with a sense of calm and cool alongside crazy and hot. It could make for a good balance to what we get with Maggie and Kate.
In Summary:
Bombshells brings us another character that fits in the gray area of how she can be perceived and that’s definitely welcome to see. The story is mostly just a simple introduction piece with minor backstory to it that helps to beef up the cast overall. Bennett continues to bring in some sharp and fun dialogue that hits a few layers at times, speaking to the present and providing a contrast to the past, which keeps it moving and engaging to read. This installment brings back Mirka Andolfo and that’s definitely a treat as she gives both characters a great look, sense of power and strong sense of sensuality as well. Combined with Wendy Broome’s strong color design in general, you end up with another very fun installment that has got to be a great read when you can sit down with a slew of installments all at once.
Grade: B+
Age Rating: 13+
Released By: DC Comics via ComiXology
Release Date: October 24th, 2015
MSRP: $0.99
