Review: Batman: White Knight Presents Harley Quinn #5
[Editor’s Note: This review may contain spoilers]
Writer: Katana Collins, Sean Murphy
Artist: Matteo Scalera
Letters: AndWorld Design
Colors: Dave Stewart
Reviewed by: Carl Bryan
Summary
“You might not know this Harley. But I love you too. Maybe more than Jack. Because I love the dark and light sides of you!” – Joker/Jack to Harley Quinn
Positives
Matteo Scalera and Katana Collins… so many poignant moments in this book. First, the second act of The Producer puts Harley at a cross roads. She is really really good as a detective.
Using her skills for good is quite a departure from the “looney” side of Harley we are used to. Within the Murphyverse, Harley is at a cross roads that lends itself to an emotional flashback with Jack/Joker.
Scalera and Collins provide a poignant moment where Harley and Jack/Joker begin their relationship on an entire different level. That playing card… one of the most well written scenes in comics.
But just when Scalera and Collins zig, they zag! Ivy visits and while we are looking for a confrontation if not a renewal of one of the most interesting relationships in the DC universe, Ivy has the best written lines. “Who are you kidding? You became that (Harley) because you thought it was the only way to keep Jack. We all have different versions of ourselves. Different personalities. The only way to survive them is to combine them.” Pure gold…
Positives 2.0
Bruce is over the top. His escape and his moral thermometer. The risk of going back to prison as the plot crescendos. For once Batman takes a back seat in this particular story. His background presence props up the story, but make no mistake. This book is pure Harley!
Spoiler Alert…you will cry. I’m not kidding. I won’t reveal the reason why. But you will cry.
Negatives
The only negative here is that I don’t have my hands on the next issue. What a cliff hanger ending again as I am wiping tears away!
Verdict
Sean Murphy, Matteo Scalera, and Katana Collins are hitting all the bases in the series. With every turn of the page, you get Easter Eggs, homages, but better yet…the Harley this character has always needed to be. DC should be praised for allowing Sean Murphy to not only expand the Batman Universe, but to allow other artists and writers play in this Murphyverse sandbox.
However, this issue had some many layers to it. Harley is a pearl strung together with Ivy, Joker/Jack, Bruce, her children….and her original children. You’ll cry!!!
