Will Harley Find an Artist?
This review was originally posted on my website Imagination Centre (here).
This is a series that I've been looking forward to for some time now and the delay just made me even more excited for it's release, as Harley Quinn has really needed to feature in a good series for a while now, as although she's been used decently, the stories she's been in have been rather poor.
Plot
Harley Quinn searches for the right artist for her new series.
Review
This was a brilliant issue and one of the most unique zero issues that I've ever read. Due to this my review will be very short as most of what I can talk about is to do with the artists. As for the writers Amanda Conner and Jimmy Palmiotti did a terrific job of giving us a quirky and exciting zero issue which was very fun and crazy, taking the Harley Quinn tone to another level. The only small problem I have with this is that it doesn't give too much of a look into what the series may be, unless it's just going to become a completely crazy series, with random stuff happening. In saying that I haven't enjoyed a zero issue quite as much as I enjoyed this and if Conner and Palmiotti keep this style throughout the series it could very well become one of my favourites.
The artwork on this issue would be done by many different artists with writer Amanda Conner doing the first couple of pages with an array of artists doing the rest including, Becky Cloonan, Tony Daniel, Stéphane Roux, Dan Panosian, Walter Simonson, Jim Lee, Bruce Timm, Charlie Adlard, Adam Hughes, Art Baltazar, Tradd Moore, Dave Johnson, Jeremy Roberts, Sam Kieth, Darwyn Cooke, as well as the regular slated artist Chad Hardin. Now usually I'd have a problem with the class of styles, but due to the way the story would see Harley looking for the best artist it made the story very unique and interesting. Now artist wise I really enjoyed Lee and Hughes' artwork the most, and the fact that Harley's co-creator Bruce Timm featured was an other bonus. I was however not a huge fan on Baltazar, Kieth or Cooke's art feeling that it didn't suit Harley, and if it wan't for the story I would have probably enjoyed it less.
The other key feature of this issue would see Harley breaking the fourth wall and talking to the writers of the series knowing that this is a comic book (much like Deadpool used to do and sometimes still does). Now I loved this as it would give us something very unique, and the fact that Conner and Palmiotti would feature as characters would also make this even more entertaining. Now it would be revealed that the series wouldn't continue to break the fourth wall, and although I enjoyed this issue that is probably a good thing as it allows us to get some properly plotted stories from now on. Also if it continued like this issue it'd no longer be very unique and would soon become mundane.
Final Verdict
One of the most unique zero issues that I've ever read this was a brilliant introduction for new fans of Harley Quinn as well as a brilliant story for old fans. It would have an array of wonderful artists all vying for the job of drawing Harley on a regular basis with the tone being simply perfect for her character. Due to all this I'd highly recommend this issue and if the series continues with this tone it's bound to become a hit.
