Originally published on Patreon
The final part of the current, weekly Harley Quinn story is here, and it honestly doesn't feel like anything really special. The other annuals I've read so far this week weren't great, but felt different. The Flash took a step away from the main story to do something else, and the Wonder Girl one was special because there is no Wonder Girl book at the moment. But this? This is just another, regular issue of Harley Quinn that has a small back-up story tacked onto the end to bump up it's length.
The bulk of this issue is the conclusion to the 'Task Force XX' story that's been going on all month, with the team having come together, gotten some new weapons, and beginning their assault on the alien menace. This fight takes them to Blackgate Prison, where the alien has taken over the prisoners and staff. The team fight their way through them, and Killer Frost uses her powers to suck the life force out of the alien, saving the day.
And that's about it. The issue is heavy on the action and light on characterisation, and there's not a huge amount here. There's so little to be given to the characters that it actually starts to get a little confusing, as Verdict seems absolutely fine working alongside Harley, taking orders from her, and even puts herself in danger to save her and buy her time. And last issue she still hated her. Where did this turn come from? I get that she's probably putting her feelings about Harley to one side to win the day, but there's no explanation given for this.
And yet again, Harley feels relegated to being a side character in her own title, as she spends much of the issue shouting nonsense, drawing on downed enemies, and acting like she's the leader. She's honestly quite annoying here, and this story seems to be highlighting some of the worst aspects of Harley. It's like the writer is trying to make her the DC equivalent of Deadpool, and it just makes for a shallow, annoying, uninteresting character. She's been the best this series when there's been some real depth to her, but that's absolutely lacking here.
The back-up story feels incredibly tacked on too, and if anything it feels like the first dozen or so pages from the start of the next story arc thrown in here. The book feels like the annual is just the final issue of the 'Task Force XX' story with the opening scenes of the next issue stuck together to make the desired page length. It doesn't feel like an annual at all. Annuals have to feel like something special, this really doesn't.
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