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Review: Harley Quinn #52

By Philip Schweier
October 17, 2018 - 04:24

I must admit I have grown a wee bit weary of Harley Quinn. I don’t a week has gone by in recent memory without her being featured either in her own title, or some sort of special, or guest-starring in another DC book. Yes, she’s everyone’s favorite anti-hero, wacky as they come, but a little goes a long way, and just when I believed she was being over-exposed (not in an adult way), she digs up Captain Triumph from the Golden Age.

I love the old characters, who have been largely forgotten in this age of mutants and re-imagined/recycled/regurgitated replacements for classic Silver Age super-heroes. There is a gold mine of material waiting to be discovered, if only today’s comic book people (fans AND creators) are willing to sift through it. Thus we are presented with the resurrection of Captain Triumph, a blend of the original Superman and Doc Savage.

Harley’s hallucinations involving her self-awareness – as well as continuity cop Jonni DC – further convince me that everything Harley sees and experiences is filtered through her own dementia. That’s why she is the hero of the title, while in others she appears, at best, an interfering menace; at worst, a homicidal maniac.

If DC Comics (or any comic book publisher, for that matter) were to choose to resurrect any of the classic Golden age characters, they could do a lot worse than hiring Sami Basri to illustrate same. Basri’s fine lines and smooth textures fit the streamlined era of the 1930s and ’40 so very well.

Rating: 8/10

Last Updated: August 31, 2023 - 08:12