Harley Quinn and Poison Ivy #3 (of 6): A Disturbance in The Green

While Harley Quinn and Poison Ivy #3 may not necessarily be a mid-season slump, it does lose some momentum with a story that is less about the dynamic duo and more about the Mad Hatter, a villain that struggles to inspire your imagination outside of witty takes on cheesy cliches.

This doesn’t mean Harley Quinn and Poison Ivy #3 is a bad issue. It’s actually quite fun and features some spectacular artwork during the intense action sequences. The writing is certainly polished, just like the visuals, but the emotional core that the first two issues have built up seems to take a backseat to the scheming Mad Hatter.

It makes for an issue that reads like something you have seen before in the past, when it could have gone deeper into the relationship of Harley and Poison Ivy. The balance between how much heart it has and the necessary superhero steps that must be taken creates a tedious situation from a reader’s perspective. While just being fun isn’t bad at all, there was and still is potential for so much more with these characters.

Fans of these two will most likely have a good time, it’s difficult not to enjoy Poison Ivy finding her way as someone other than a wholehearted villain. I’m hoping her consequence for the Mad Hatter makes a curious return at some point before the series concludes! It isn’t an issue that will blow you away, but it could fit within the series more comfortably when the its collected in trade format.

Ultimately, Harley Quinn and Poison Ivy #3 is a book that can be summed up as just fun. There are more than a few stunning pages of artwork to make it worth your money, but hopefully the series finds its way back to the heart of the previous issues.