Harley Quinn: Breaking Glass, New comics

New comics!

Iron Cat 2

Some great backstory setting up Tamara, Felicia’s former partner in crime and love.  Black Cat continues to be Jed MacKay’s muse.  He definitely does his best work with her.

Variants 2

Sigh, more Purple Man stuff.  Gail Simone, there really wasn’t enough story with the variant Jessica Joneses alone to fill five issues?  Give me more of that!

Harley Quinn: Breaking Glass

As with all of these DC YA graphic novels, this offering from Mariko Tamaki and Steve Pugh is a nice reinterpretation of an established character.  This Harley isn’t evil, or even insane.  Her motivations are easy to empathize with, and if her actions lean towards the criminal, it’s hard to really find too much fault with her decisions.  

Tamaki backs Harley up with a great supporting cast, between an adopted family of drag queens and an activist (not poison) Ivy.

The thing is, though, I don’t see myself pulling this off the shelf just because I want to read it again.  It doesn’t quite hit that level.  (Maybe I need to re-evaluate my “Would buy again” definition.)

Regret buying: No

Would buy again: Yes

Would read again: Yes

Rating: Nice

Harley Quinn: Breaking Glass, New Comics

Nothing but new comics today!  Alas, it’s a poor week for the single issues.

Runaways 25

It feels like these kids haven’t had a real win in a while, and things continue to go downhill for them here.  They’re driven out of their home, and Chase’s despondency is achingly depicted by Andres Genolet. On top of that, the new Doc Justice interests me not at all.  I predict that the kids will forget their “trust no adults” mantra, and it’ll turn out poorly.  

As they’re forced to start over again, I’m left wondering if this is a good stopping point for me with this title, as much as I’ve enjoyed it over the past two years.

Lois Lane 4

A complete waste of time.  Greg Rucka jumps around three plotlines, advancing none of them and boring me at the same time.  Total clunker.  

Superman: Up In the Sky 4

The third misfire this week.  It’s really disappointing. Tom King’s narration fails him here, and Andy Kubert’s art doesn’t do anything to help him out.    

Harley Quinn: Breaking Glass

I gave this Mariko Tamaki work a shot because she killed it with Supergirl: Being Super.  This is an Elseworlds where Harley Quinn’s a high school student and Poison Ivy is basically Zendaya’s MJ.  

I love Steve Pugh from his work on Preacher and Hitman, but I don’t understand how he reached this beautiful, refined level of art from this:

It’s not better, it’s just a totally different style.  Exquisite.  

The story’s pretty good, too.  Tamaki writes a Harley that I’d like to read more of.