Review: Harley Quinn #13

Overview: In Harley Quinn #13, a new arc begins as Harley Quinn is framed(?!) for mass homicide by a new villain while some characters from her past emerge as well.

Synopsis (spoilers ahead): Harley Quinn #13 begins in Gotham City at the Hungry Heart Bar & Grill, as Frankie Peterson is celebrating his birthday. Peterson is formerly affiliated with the Falcone family, and, we are told by the narrator, has killed eight people in the last week alone. Someone delivers a cake out of which a figure dressed as Harley emerges and starts blasting away with two handguns.  The Harley-figure methodically cuts down the entire crew, finishing off a helpless Frankie with an ice cream scoop. Verdict has found them all guilty.

Elsewhere, our hero is on roller skates awaiting a delivery truck carrying unused food products from some of Gotham’s finest restaurants. The truck rushes off with Harley following. She apprehends the driver and assures him that she is merely commandeering his truck in her best Robin Hood impression. She drives off to meet Kevin and begin distribution (with an assist from Waffle the wonder canine!).

Back at the homicide scene, a new police officer named Jaylin Shaw is noisily vomiting while plainclothes detective “Issac” is trying to help. An investigator provides the security camera recording, and the Gotham Police Department set off to apprehend Harley.

Harley and Kevin arrive at her apartment. It is an absolute state, and Kevin is concerned the mess may have something to do with her breakup with Poison Ivy. Harley confesses that she misses Ivy. Their hug is interrupted by the sound of black helicopters in the sky. Officer Show arrests Harley, and she is headed to Blackgate, where a number of its residents eagerly await her.

Analysis: Harley Quinn # 13 clearly is a transitional issue connecting the previous Keepsake/Dr. Hugo arc to a new story featuring a new rogue known as Verdict. I am hopeful about this new arc. While I love what writer Stephanie Phillips is doing with the book, at times Harley’s zaniness and wild energy seem to shade the representation of the rogues a bit too much. As Phillips herself makes plain early on in the run, Keepsake was never worthy of Harley’s talents and indeed was easily bested on multiple occasions (before being unceremoniously assassinated by Dr. Hugo). Verdict seems both more effective and more sadistic, which may permit Phillips to explore some of the darker corners of Harley’s psyche and (more importantly) her past.

Harley’s redemption narrative is well-plotted and well-sequenced thus far, but it is hard to see how Harley can ever fully outrun the demons in her past. Indeed, Mico Suayan and Rex Lokus’ ratio variant covers highlight this point in an astonishing portrayal. In the classic triangular orientation, we see a dangling Harley grinning in a full Harlequin costume. The villainous color tones of red, black, green, and purple are all present. We sense Joker even before the eye travels to the top vertice, which features a portrait (within a portrait, as it were) of a leering Joker in the horror style of Guillem March. At the foot of her armchair are her trusty mallet and either Bud or Lou wearing a wild expression.

Like many of the most compelling figures in the Batman Universe, the deep darkness in Harley’s past remains a critical part of her efforts to be and do good. Indeed, this is a core part of the Batman narrative in general.

Editor’s Note: DC Comics provided TBU with a copy of this comic for review purposes. You can find this comic and help support TBU in the process by purchasing this issue digitally on Comixology through Amazon or a physical copy of the title through Things From Another World.