Scratch and sniff invades the pages of Harley Quinn for her annual edition. As Harley rushes off to rescue her damsel in distress Poison Ivy, the two find themselves in an accidental hallucinogenic joy ride to get out of Arkham Asylum. But was a giant Egg just another mind dream or the real villain within these flavored pages.
Congratulations go out to the genius duo of Jimmy Palmiotti and Amanda Conner. The writing for this comic is pure gold from the little peanut gallery explanations on the scratch and sniff panels to the trippy hallucination comments, the entire issue was pure perfection. I’m a huge fan of the Ivy and Harley pairing and this Annual sealed the deal for me. Both writers have taken such care of this relationship that they had to bring it back in the bizarre way Harley gets herself caught yet again running to her one and only lady. Everything about all the characters in this issue was just a joy to read and had me smiling each time I turned the page, plus I was lucky enough to receive the US edition and yep the page actually smells like weed!
Various artists poured into the issue with John Timms and Paul Mounts at the top of the leader board. So many hallucination scenarios created, these alternative worlds needed their own style of artwork for each story that they moved into. Ivy was absolutely gorgeous in each panel and I loved that we got to see so many different scenarios of the two ladies drawn. It seems to be a theme for the Harley Quinn comics to introduce other artists for these specials and I hope they keep doing this a wonderful treat to her die-hard fans.
Positives
Can I say almost everything? The best point about the comic is definitely the scratch and sniff. I think this was the most epic marketing gag that DC has pulled and it really enhances the whole comic tenfold. It’s something new and unique and would only work for a Harley comic so I’m glad they saved it for the annual. Aside from the awesome smelly tricks, the story is once again hilarious with Harley getting up to mischief alongside the no good influence of Poison Ivy. These two ladies are a terrific pairing and each time they get together for an issue its pure magic. This is a wonderful little side story of the Harley and Ivy arc and I’m really glad that they managed to fit this in it was too good not to sniff!
Negatives
There was one of the hallucinations that I didn’t really think fit with the others but then again anyone that high would be seeing random stuff like this. The return of Hurl Girl and Harley turning into a cat lacked the fluidity into the rest of the story and the art slightly took a stranger approach. Though it worked for the hallucination, I wasn’t a fan of that scenario.
Verdict
Hands down Harley Quinn Annual #1 absolutely takes the cake on what lengths that crazy woman goes to saving her “best” friend. Creating more bizarre roommates for her apartment block, Harley really does try to make the best out of every situation in her own clown-like style. I recommend everyone pick up multiple copies so you can scratch and sniff to your heart’s content!
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