Harley Quinn #2 Review

“Only psychopaths drink coffee without sugar.”--Harley Quinn

Stephanie Phillips: Writer

Riley Rossmo: Art

Ivan Plascencia: Colors

Deron Bennett: Letters

Riley Rossmo: Cover

Derrick Chew: Variant Cover

DC: Publisher

This story is flippin fantastic! I love this Harley Quinn run so far. I know we are only two issues in, but this story is different and it has so much incredible energy to it that I am consistently blown away by how good this story is. The story picks up where the last one left off. Hugo Strange is back in Gotham but “apparently” is on the side of “reforming” clowns since the Joker War. He has full funding from the city to do this and his group is tracking down clowns. While Harley and Kevin are trying to reform clowns on their own. We also find out a little more about Kevin in this issue and his character is a great new character. Reminds me kind of Crawley, the demon from Good Omens, not so much of a bad guy who fell but a guy who was around the wrong people and just slowly sauntered downward. 

Let’s talk about the overall story for a moment. Stephanie Phillips had my curiosity with the first issue but now she completely has my attention. Harley Quinn two really sets up the rest of the story and we have some really funny parts in this issue but we also have some really moving and touching parts in it too. Not to mention, a little superhero action in there. Harley needs her coffee (much the same as this reviewer!) and Kevin really needs a friend to help him and Harley is that certified friend. It isn’t so bad to have a friend with several degrees, even an expensive Ph.D., in psychology. Even if she can’t practice. Phillips has done a tremendous job in making these characters relatable. Do we all want to be known by the worst things we’ve ever done? Do we want to be remembered for having a bad day? Or do we want people to remember holistically about who we are? That is an aspect that Phillips is exploring in this issue and I feel like, in this series. 

The art by Rossmo and colors by Plascencia adds so much to this story. We really see the goings on through the eyes of Harley. Everything is bright and colorful and in some ways reminiscent of cotton candy. But, this is Gotham and everything always has this dark undertone to it. But, those colors absolutely pop off the page. Art style is a little crazy, much like Harley, and the colors add to that effect. I’m so glad that we have the art team that we do on this book. The pages that don’t feature Harley in them do have a slightly different tone artistically to them but it is not drastic by any means. Just a few subtle changes that let the reader know that there has been a little shift in the story and other characters are going to take center stage for a moment. 

I also want to talk about the covers for this issue right fast. The main cover by Rossmo certainly fits into this story overall and gives you a great first impression of the book as a whole. If you like covers that give you that feel, you can’t go wrong with this one. But, if variants are what you like, the Chew cover is absolutely beautiful! I have since gone in and pre-ordered all of his variants for this book for the next several months. I love the art style and how detailed those are. While it doesn’t give you a lot going on about the story, they are just beautiful pieces of art on their own. I don’t go for variants too often, but I really dig these.

Overall, this story is one of the best coming out from DC Comics right now. I highly recommend you get this book and dive in.