Harley Quinn #6: Purrr

I’ve been really interested in the outsider found-family themes Stephanie Phillips has moved forward in the first arc of this Harley Quinn run, and in how they have grown wings with Riley Rossmo’s bombastic, over-the-top visuals. And, while said visuals are in the fantastic cover of this issue, the rest of it shifts and makes a little stop in Harley’s trip to meet none other than Selina Kyle, shifting artists as well to the more realistic, classics, 90s style Laura Braga. And, I have to say, this sort of special issue absolutely rocks it, to the point where we have two guest stars in it: the Cat and the artist.

Braga’s art couldn’t fit better in this issue, as the sexual innuendos between Harley and Selina (more on Harley’s side, well, for most of it! and definitely in a way that we get their undoubtful chemistry, even if they’re clearly two friends joke-flirting) get their due with body lines, face expressions and dynamic fights that I can only describe as complex while appearing careless, expressive and intimate while really cartoonish and exaggerated, just all around pretty, fun and sexy. Prianto’s metallic, ever-changing colors that darken and lighten the mood, the humor, the punch of each scene absolutely kill it, and those bombastic FX effects in the lettering make the pages flow deliciously. And the story it has to tell is as apparently careless but taking advantage of every little thing in its favor as the art, in what I can only describe as perfect synch. We get to see the flirty, the rugged, the nonchalant, the nostalgic and the sweet of this dynamic duo, and it’s a feast for the eyes and an assured laugh.