Harley Quinn #72: Trust Me I’mma Doctor!

Harley Quinn is back with issue #72, and with the latest news showing that the series will be coming to a close with issue #75, this issue finds itself in a position of increasing importance and handles that significant weight with exceptional tact. It’s an issue packed with intrigue, but there is one particular development that will almost certainly have fans talking.

Does Harley have a crush on Booster Gold?

Before we dive into that complicated and surprising set of emotions, lets dig into the murder mystery unfolding. It’s meant to be a thoughtful detective style story which sees Harley seeking a more classic sense of justice with her own flair (which is basically murdering the murderer), but the deeper we get into it, the more we see this is really just a distraction for Harley, keeping her from confronting herself and the trauma she’s experienced recently. At a point when she really isn’t even 100% certain that her friend was murdered, she’s now putting herself in a position where she wants to murder a suspect with little to no evidence. Is she right in her accusations? Does that even matter right now? Because Booster Gold is right, it DOES feel like she has a death wish.

Harley isn’t the one to do a whole lot of game planning before jumping into a situation like this, so it really isn’t surprising that she is trying to go after pretty much whoever is the obvious target amidst everything. It’s Booster Gold’s presence that really forces the story into unknown waters. Not only is he trying to break through the emotional walls to discover why Harley is up to these antics, he’s also causing Harley to apparently catch some feelings. This throws a twist into the story that I guess isn’t really all that shocking when you think about it, but I have to ask if it’s really all that necessary? What are we doing to accomplish with an introduction of another possible romance for Harley? It has some precedent with the Heroes in Crisis dynamics and what happened to them in that situation, but the timing feels off in this and I’m not sure if three issues is enough to substantiate it.

The artwork is much more difficult to call into question as its simply stunning. Harley’s characterization is spot on in everything from her expressions to the fantastic letters that really only she can pull off. The entire creative team is excelling in a way that makes the issue feel elevated and even more important than the story might let on. It captures the conflicted heart within the circumstance Harley has found herself in, but it also doesn’t lose sight of the sometimes unpredictable events that unravel from her wild behavior.

Humphries has achieved an iconic status with this run on Harley Quinn, and this arc shows that there are emotional ramifications that can continue to be explored long after this series, but Harley Quinn #72 also shows that the story isn’t nearly completed yet. Fans might not quite be on board with the new romantic involvement that Harley may soon be finding herself in, but with just a few issues left in the series, only time will tell if it proves to be a worthwhile investment. For now, Harley has more than enough on her plate with a failed attempt to bring her accused murderer to justice so next issue is bound to be an exciting one!