Harley Quinn #10 - DC Comics

HARLEY QUINN No. 10, February 2022

Set some time shortly after the “multi-story DC Comics event taking place from August 2021 - December 2021”, and predominantly focusing upon a tete-a-tete involving the titular character and Poison Ivy, Stephanie Phillip’s plot for Issue Ten of “Harley Quinn” probably made many of this ongoing series’ readers yearn for the comic’s earlier tales, back when the trained psychiatrist was simply humorously hammering low-level lawbreakers with her baseball bat and cheeky banter. For whilst “Thorns” contains a modicum of action, most notably Professor Hugo Strange cold-bloodedly ridding himself of the incredibly annoying Eli Kaufmman atop Gotham City’s disconcertingly-named Lovers’ Bridge, its central thread concerning Pamela Isley's ill-devised attempt to steal the Rose Diamond from the Museum of Art is arguably rather a lack-lustre affair.

To begin with, it takes the American author a somewhat staggering four pages of soliloquy-lead self-reflection and friendly chit-chat, to simply depict Quinzel getting herself ready for her supposedly “romantic date night with Ivy”. This word-heavy scene is then followed by an even longer dialogue-driven sequence in which the colourfully-garbed vigilante demonstrates just how her over-the-top enthusiasm can actually be off-putting to those around her, and perturbingly make her a rather unlikeable person; “So Sam… tell me everything. Where are you from? What’s your favourite food? Did you play any sports growing up? What’s your favourite shark?”

Such penmanship sadly smacks of Phillips desperately attempting to pad out this publication, having realised that its central thread of Ivy robbing the historical institution lamentably doesn’t last very long. Perhaps however this narrative’s biggest flaw lies in the indignant shock felt by Harley when she sees Pamela attempt to kill a couple of security guards for shooting their pistols at the super-villain. The green-skinned terrorist is one of Batman’s greatest adversaries, so it’s unclear just what the Joker’s ex-squeeze thought the criminally-inclined botanist would do when confronting armed opposition..?

Just as perturbing as this book’s writing is debatably Editor Ben Abernathy’s decision to utilise the prodigious pencilling skills of Laura Braga for this particular comic. The GLAAD Media Award-nominee can clearly draw to an incredibly high standard, yet the Italian’s clean-lined style seems badly at odds with the quirky nature of the storytelling, and makes such individuals as Keepsake appear utterly unconvincing in their choice of outlandish costume.

Writer: Stephanie Phillips, Artist: Laura Braga, and Colors: Arif Prianto