“Who Diss?”
Creative Staff:
Story: Tim Seeley
Art: Juna Ferreyra
Letterer: Steve Wands
What They Say:
The Joker is a master of many things, but one of them is not the mic. When a mythical recording of the Joker’s disastrous rapping turns up as the grand prize in Gotham City’s most elite rap battle tournament, Harley Quinn enters the contest to win this most excellent way to humiliate her awful ex. But who are Gotham’s fiercest rappers? Can Harley Quinn hold her own? The answers will shock you.
Content: (please note that content portions of a review may contain spoilers):
As the series continues I find myself delighted issue by issue with seeing what creative team steps into place and what they do with their shot at this particular little universe. This time around we get Tim Seeley on the story side and I got excited until I saw it was going to be a rap battle. Oh do I detest those. And I detest Seeley even more for pulling it off far better than it should be. And lament that it won’t see an animated adaptation because it’s a must. Making it even better is the incredible Juan Ferreyra, one of my favorite artists I don’t get to see enough of. Here, he gives Harley quite the look but it’s everyone else that I’m far more invested in with the supporting characters, Goth.I,Am, and particularly Ivy and the Joker. It’s a great look all around, especially with the specific coloring design.
The premise is definitely amusing here as word has hit the street that there’s a recording of the Joker doing some freestyle rap. And everyone wants it, thinking it’ll be gold. Harley finds herself accosted over it since the low-level criminals think she’s got access to it but all this does is turn her interest in it as something she can acquire and mock by adding fart sounds to it. I do like that Ivy tries to dissuade her from this but she basically feeds her all the info she needs. The tape is in the hand of Goth.I.Am (shaking my first at Seeley once again) and he’s hosting a rap battle for it at his club called Capeshakers (another shaking fist). That has Harley spending a good bit of time to come up with an outfit and makeup for it that lets her go pretty punk under the name Preparation H.
The group she’s facing off against is comical with Boujee Bane, 2-Dented, Kash Huntress, Young Croc, Lil’ Ril’, and Scarface as well. It’s a hilarious group but I love the way that it feels properly inspired by their reality with the costume design and enthusiasm, which also translates into what they rap about. Harley, however, has her special psychiatrist skills that let her pinpoint weaknesses of opponents (which gazes on Ivy in the best way) and gives her an edge over them. It’s a delight as she uses the lyrics so sharply to take them down verbally like she would physically and to have to go against a good range here. Of course, The Joker shows up to get in the mix with everything and that has its own issues but Seeley manages to find the way way to bring it all together and leave you grinning as it’s that supremely rare moment of humiliation.
In Summary:
As much as I’m in that place where I’m not keen on more Harley at this point, especially after just wrapping up the animated series, this Black and White and Red series is top notch. Going for the episodic one-off tales is for the best and letting some fantastic talent step in and just be wild and crazy in their own way has paid off handsomely for me as a reader. Tim Seeley’s a writer that I’m admittedly somewhat hit or miss on when it comes to his projects, but when it’s a hit it’s a real hit. And this one made me love a rap battle after trying to stay away from that field for years now. Juan Ferreyra is a fantastic artist and it shows beautifully in a book like this with its striking and distinct use of color to really draw the eye right. I love his designs here of the other contestants and just everything about it. It’s wholly distinctive like past issues are unique on their own and the combination with what Seeley has put together is wonderfully fun.
Grade: A-
Age Rating: 12+
Released By: DC Comics via ComiXology and Amazon Kindle
Release Date: July 17th, 2020
MSRP: $0.99
