Issue #03 - Harlquinade
Scans and Review by Jim Harvey

Gotham Girls #3
Cover Date - December 2002
Written by Paul Storrie; art by Jennifer Graves and J. Bone; cover by Shane Glines

Harley Quinn gets control of a chemical formula everyone wants, which means that nothing goes as planned — not even for her best pal Poison Ivy. And Detective Reneé Montoya is hot on everyone’s trail…

Review

The writing on this series remains true to the characters. Every character here is exactly how they should be, especially Harley Quinn - the focus of the issue. You just gotta love that opening page! Storrie brings up something that many people seem to forget. While Harley may be insane, she's not stupid. I think some past stories have forgotten this, and portrayed her as a complete idiot. Granted, she may act that way sometimes, but she is not an idiot. She's not brilliant by any means, but she's not stupid, either. I also enjoyed the reference back to 'Mad Love.' I'm surprised at how similar the artwork in this book matches that of the art in the classic one shot. It makes the flashbacks flow much easier.

And as usual, the rest of the characters stay perfectly in character. The character I'm enjoying the most in this series (until issue #4 that is) is Catwoman. I just really love her character and Storrie is doing such a great job with her. She's a backstabber who uses whoever she can to achieve a goal, and we see that quite a few times in this issue. Hell, I think she's the first person to sucker punch Batgirl and knock her out. That scene just personified Catwoman for me in this issue. Just lays her to waste in those panels so she can keep going. She's done with Batgirl so...well..WHOK!

But this issue is more about Harley, so let's look into her for a bit. I just can't help but wonder what's really an act, and when is she being serious. In the 'House of Mirrors' sequence, she expects the store to be a real house of mirrors, and then after that the '7 years' bad luck tale. I'm just curious on whether or not she's serious there. Is she that superstitious. Surely she'd not really believe a silly thing like that so she has to be kidding (Heck, Catwoman mentions it). That, I think, adds to her character. When is she being serious? When is she just playing?

That scene is quickly followed by one which shows her 'little devil' side by switching the vial for on of her little weapons - and nicely done, too. This is the second or third time this has happened in the series so far, right? Is this a kind of running gag?

Getting back to the 'playing/serious' thing, the 'Harlequinade' was a nice nod to her character. Like I said earlier, people tend to classify her as a bumbling idiot when she's actually pretty smart. Granted the scene is sort of played for laughs, but it's a nice little bit for her character.

"I AIN'T STUPID!" has got to be one of the most hilarious lines this character has ever said. Just the contradiction in the sentence itself adds to the hilarity of the scene. The elongated flashback to the events of 'Mad Love' at the end are also a nice choice. I don't know why a few people seem to have a problem with this. It's helping to flesh out her character more for the mini-series and it works nicely. It's adding contest to a simple, quick story. A mad-cap chase after a vial can't fill up a five issues (unless your Chris Claremont) so this look into the characters background is required. It just helps to reader understand each character and their position.

Plus this also builds upon her relationship with Ivy, which is also a bit of an abusive relationship. Not the same as the Joker, but abusive nonetheless. Sadly, it's probably the best relationship she'll ever have.

And the art...dear god...how great is this art? Granted, not as great as the previous two issues, but it's still some great stuff to look at. Some of the art looks like it's from a frame of the cartoon series. The first page is a great shot of Harley. I think that image is so dead on...looks great. Plus, it's dead on for Harley. The art in the series so far seems like storyboard artwork. Not the flimsy kind where it's a few lines scratched her or there, but fully produced artwork, that includes detail. It just flows nicely.

And ya can't beat the coloring. Patricia is up there with Lee Loughridge as one of the best colorists to grace the animated comics. Maybe we'll see some of Patrciai's work on Justice League Adventures soon - a series solely in need of some better coloring. The lettering is also a nice compliment. I'm still a bit disappointed that Tim Harkins isn't doing the series, but Felix is a nice step in.