Harley Quinn #7 // Review
Harley Quinn #7 is written by Stephanie Phillips, drawn by Riley Rossmo, colored by Ivan Plasencia, and lettered by Deron Bennett. Harley Quinn #7 is the first issue taking place during Fear State.
Keepsake’s plan, really Hugo Strange’s plan he’s convinced Keepsake is his idea, involves fear toxin stolen from Scarecrow. By distributing the toxin throughout Gotham, people will experience their worst nightmares come to life, and the city will fall apart. With chaos taking control, the citizens of Gotham will be looking for someone, anyone, to help them feel safe again.
Keepsake believes that person will be him. With his group of generic brand villains (Blane, Fellow Frigid, etc.), Keepsake plans to rule Gotham. But he’s far from the criminal mastermind he believes he is. In reality, Strange is using him as a pawn.
In addition to Keepsake, Strange is still attempting to use Harley- this time, to help him find Poison Ivy, whom he believes is the key to controlling the city. And with Harley desperate to reunite with Ivy, the odds are in his favor that she’ll unintentionally help him out.
Harley Quinn #7 falters in its pacing. With the POV splitting between Keepsake, Hugo Strange, and Harley, Phillips doesn’t have enough time to make all three parts interesting. Or perhaps it’s just that Keepsake is like the rest of the Caucus of Corruption- a hopelessly mediocre villain. He lacks something to make him feel unique.
Fortunately, Harley’s storyline is significantly more interesting. Harley’s on a retreat with Kevin and the support group she created. Getting out of Gotham helps her gain perspective on her relationships, current and past, and the role she has to take in being responsible for her actions. Her relationships aren’t going smoothly. She argues with Kevin, and once again, laments the loss of her relationship with Poison Ivy.
At this point, it feels like Poison Ivy’s return has been teased for too long; with this much build-up, it will be disappointing if Harley and Ivy’s reunion is anything less than spectacular.
The art is what keeps Harley Quinn #7 entertaining. They’re only briefly seen, but the villains in the Caucus of Corruption have great designs. They’re so obviously meant to look like the actual well-known villains (Bane, Mr. Freeze, etc.), but things are slightly off. Rossmo has them looking like they bought unlicensed costumes from a store. It’s clever and hilarious.
As in previous issues, Harley sports another new outfit, this is a fun detail, and I love that she’s always wearing new things. And even though she keeps her classic black and red color palette, Plasencia uses different shades of these colors to keep things from blending together too much.
Another strength of the art is the creative panel layout and use of space. Rossmo’s art has a great flow to it, and it feels like the panels follow the art rather than the art being made to fit the panels.
Bennett’s lettering stands out in this issue. With the panel structure being less rigid, the layout of the speech bubbles and text boxes is essential to being able to follow the dialogue. And Bennett does a great job of keeping things easy to follow. In addition, there are multiple opportunities for Bennett to make use of sound effects that provide another interesting visual element to the page.
It’s not necessary to keep up with all of the other Fear State titles to understand the events of this issue. Harley Quinn #7 stands on its own as a story focused on Harley. As a Harley story, it’s solid, but it’s nothing special.
