Written by Katana Collins
Art by Matteo Scalera
Published by DC Comics
Both previous volumes of Sean Murphy’s White Knight series are nothing short of a masterpiece. If that’s not enough praise, the spin-off book Von Freeze is one of the best comics of 2019.
Now, we’re treated to a spin-off mini-series featuring Harley Quinn. One might be nervous to see someone not named Sean Murphy as the writer.
However, Murphy tagged in Amazon bestselling author Katana Collins – who happens to be his wife.
Two years have passed since the events of Curse of the White Knight.
Batman is in prison, The Joker is dead, crime is low, and Harley Quinn is a new mom. Harley’s struggling motherhood is where things begin.
Meanwhile, Gotham gets its first significant crime involving a killer targeting movie stars from Hollywood’s golden age. The GTO tries to recruit Harley for the assist, but she wants no part of it. She feels that part of her life is over.
Collins does a great job of conveying Harley’s strife.
Everyone has moved on in one form or another while she’s floundering raising two kids. She misses Jack Napier, and the only other person she has a deep connection with is behind bars. It’s well-written sorrow with a critical choice hanging over Harley.
She wants to lock down the mom thing.
However, can she sit by and watch a city she sacrificed so much for dive back into darkness?
It’s an easy decision for everyone else but a hard choice for Harley, which is the story’s strength.
Matteo Scalera’s illustrations hold up their end of the bargain.
Detailed visuals bring the right feeling at the right time. The most potent image shows Harley Quinn and Bruce Wayne holding up their hands to one another with prison plexiglass in between them. It’s a romance that can never be, which haunts Harley. Not in a Romeo & Juliet way. It resonates on a different level because the only person that gets Harley is so close but so far away.
Katana Collins’s initial entry into the Murphy-Verse is not customary to what someone might expect. It’s more of a nuanced story with a singular focus as opposed to many characters to utilize.
It’s the weakest offering of the White Knight series ,but manages to justify its existence as a horse of a different color.
Rating: B-
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