CREDIT: DC Comics
Rating: 4.5/5 – A Self-Referential Romp of Psycho-Sexy Fun.
by guest reviewer Kevyn Knox.
I must admit that I pretty much like anything that involves Harley Quinn. I mean, she’s my kinda woman. Sexy, psychotic, but with a real love for the down-trodden. I am currently loving her New 52 series written by husband and wife team, Amanda Conner and Jimmy Palmiotti. So far that series, much in the same vein as Marvel’s current Deadpool run, has been a fun and thoroughly batshitcrazy, fourth wall breaking romp of a comic book. Now here we are at San Diego Comic Con (officially named Comic-Con International San Diego, thus the title of this comic), and the overzealous antihero-cum-psycho killer is wanting in on the fun – and she’s brought there by Conner, Palmiotti and a large cast of artists for an oh-so-wacky, no-holds-barred adventure.
Harley Quinn Invades Comic-Con International: San Diego 2014 #1 (now there’s a title for ya) has the same fun and flair that the regular series has going for it. While I have never had the pleasure of attending San Diego Comic-Con, I have been to other cons throughout the years, and therefore can only imagine what goes on at the biggest Comic Con of them all. So, I have decided to imagine it as being just like Conner and Palmiotti describe it within the pages of this overstuffed comic book adventure. We get to see Harley go all gaga over all the big name stars walking around the convention, getting into all kinds of inappropriate, but wholly expected fisticuffs, and rubbing pretty much everyone the wrong way, all the while trying desperately to get any kind of editor to look at her portfolio, so she can become a big comic book star.
Sure, this may not be the next coming of Watchmen or The Dark Knight, but Connor and Palmiotti (along with guest artists, such as Paul Pope, John Timms, Damion Scott, and many others, taking a page or two each) make this funny book (as my grandmother used to call them) a silly take on a fun-filled event. This is a fun book full of sight gags and sly, winking cameos (Conner did used to write for Mad Magazine after all), as well as witty meta humour on the world of modern comics, including nods and shrugs to Harley’s origins. Hell, we even get a shot at DC’s own TV universe. Harley Quinn, a character I find strangely sweet, is all kinds of psycho kitty fun here, and the roomful of Jokers scene is worth the price of admission alone.
Reviewed by: Kevyn Knox
(kevynknox@gmail.com) www.allthingskevyn.com
ComicSpectrum Comic Reviews 