There’s humanity and villainy. Even the darkest soul just wants to be loved. A certain psycho clown girl on the reform discovers this in Harley Quinn #54, written by Sam Humphries with art by Lucas Werneck. Color comes courtesy of Gabe Eltaeb.

Harley Quinn bounces back from an online video so embarrassing that it threatens her universal popularity. Her new nemesis, Minor Threat, seems to have claimed victory with the embarrassing video until her plans backfire. Her father, Major Threat, shows up, and ultimately registers his disappointment with her. Harley has little difficulty getting revenge, but quickly finds her victory over Minor Threat to be a hollow one. Feeling sorry for the aspiring supervillain, Harley must work to reverse the damage she has done.

It may seem like a clever turnaround on the traditional hero/villain relationship. It’s not. It’s an issue that doesn’t do much to advance the evolution of the character of Harley, and the story itself isn’t terribly interesting either. This is not to say that the issue is entirely without interest. The humanity of Harley continues to be reasonably appealing in Sam Humphries’ latest chapter. The author has spent considerably more time developing the story of Minor Threat, however, so the villain ends up coming across as being much more interesting than Harley in this particular issue. The life and crimes of Minor Threat wrap-up their origin in an otherwise dull issue.

The story of Minor Threat might not have been nearly as interesting if it were not for very emotionally endearing art by Lucas Werneck. Without exaggerating  the dramatic intensity of the young woman’s father issues, Werneck delivers a very sophisticated emotional presence for a character who really isn’t giving much to work with from the script. He’s able to make Minor Threat and her quest for love and acceptance feel very authentic.

Humphries seems to be centering the story a bit less on the title character. This being said, Harley is trying to figure out who she really is. As she searches for her own identity after supervillainy, there’s added depth in Humphries’ focus on the lives of others she comes into contact with.

Grade: B-