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restart a franchise theatrical role ’s comic series from scratch can be a daunting project , especially for one as darling asDC Comics’Harley Quinn , but for the Clownstress of Crime ’s newest serial , author Stephanie Phillips , along with artist Riley Rossmo and company , have draw off up a roadmap to success which is paying off in spades . With their first story - arc coming to a close in issue # 5 , andHarley ’s first villain Hugo Strangehaving been soundly exhaust , Phillips and Rossmo have prove to be a force to be reckoned with , reinvigorate a innovative , classical fictional character while navigate a difficult , nuanced path in the delivery .
Harley ’s new serial publication recoil off in the wake of the crosswalk eventJoker War , which saw Quinn take a tour to the side of the angels in their fight against her opprobrious ex - boyfriend the Joker . With Phillipstaking over Harley Quinn ’s composition dutiesfrom the democratic Sam Humphries , there was a high-pitched bar mark not only in terms of the quality of the serial but also in the evolve status of Harley ’s overall seat in the much wider Batman mythos . When the serial began in businesslike in March during DC’sInfinite Frontierevent ( survey a two - issue intermezzo in the alternate timelineFuture State ) , lover were treated to a radically different take on the humans of Gotham through the art of Riley Rossmo , whose style incorporated influences as varied as classic ‘ 50sMad MagazinetoBatman : The Animated Seriesto contemporary anime . flux with Phillips ’ capricious yet psychologically intensive take on Harley , the pairing had auspicious voltage from their inception .
While their running game is only five issues in , it ’s clear that Phillips and Rossmo ’s nuanced take on the character hits the bullseye , provide a novel and wild template for the character get forward . adequate division derange and determined , this originative team has prove in a very short time just how open they are of walk the fine balance between catastrophe and drollery thecharacter of Harley Quinn evokesin their tale of Harley ’s seeking to " bring around " Gotham with her ( more or less confutable ) training in clinical psychological science . Phillips ’ ability to interweave lurid social comment together with slapstick superhero antic satisfy Rossmo ’s sublimely off - kilter , fever dream / animated cartoon to raise a vision of Gotham that feels both right at home and bizarrely alien all at once . Never a boring second in these panels .
The final property of the series which countersink it all into post , aside from colorist Ivan Plascencia ’s off - center , yet gleaming color palette , would be Phillips ’ embracement of the totality of Harley ’s character , flaws included . Invented as a sidekick / dupe of The Joker only to be partially pay off and cast as an anti - heroine due to her perhaps slimly misguided popularity , Phillips takes the offbeat , if not slightly unsettling traditional undertones of the lineament and , dig deep into the psychology screen background of the character , turns her journeying into a true word of whether or not aviolent criminal like Harley Quinncanbe redeemed . That is to say , whether society even has the mental ability to allow someone who has been hold a threat the opportunity to find redemption , even if they are a former psychotic buffoon .
Rough plot of land , and lose battles apart , Phillips , Rossmo , and company seem to be affirmative on the aspect of Harley Quinn saving the solar day , no matter how outre or just how spoilt her plan is , nor how much collateral damage she generate . Harley Quinn#5is on sale now wherever risible books are sold .
Next : Review : Harley Quinn is Her Own Worst Enemy in New Solo Comic
