Harley Quinn #2 – Review

By: Amanda Conner & Jimmy Palmiotti (story), Chad Hardin & Stephane Roux (art), Alex Sinclair (colors)

The Story: Harley makes it clear that pet control will not be part of her landlady duties.

The Review: Does anyone remember Animaniacs?  Much as I didn’t care for Yakko, Wakko, and Dot, I loved pretty much every other segment and character on that show, and one of my favorites was “Good Idea, Bad Idea,” a recurring sketch that envisioned the hapless Mr. Skull carrying out the various good ideas (“Drinking fresh milk from the carton.”) and bad ideas (“Drinking fresh milk from the cow.”).  It was a weekly lesson on the value of execution.

I bring this up because Harley Quinn can really stand to take that lesson a little more to heart.  While almost everything that happens in this issue may have started out as a good idea in Conner-Palmiotti’s head, what ends up on the page is almost invariably a bad idea.  Let’s start with an easy one: Bernie, Harley’s charbroiled beaver.  Besides just being weird for no other reason than to be weird—and maybe to get the juvenile pleasure of having Harley talk about her beaver all the time—Bernie also has confusing implications for Harley’s mental stability.  Most writers see the source of her crimes as coming from a highly skewed perspective on life, not unlike her mentor and soulmate.  Talking to Bernie places her squarely into Crazytown.

Zatanna #12 – Review

By: Matthew Sturges (writer), Stephane Roux (artist), John Kalisz (colorist)

The Story: We all know Zatanna’s a wordplay geek, but this takes it to a whole new level.

The Review: Zatanna’s backwards talk is an essential part of her character, and one of the most appealing, and yet it’s also probably the least understood.  Grant Morrison once had her describe her own magic as “one of the most complicated” of the mystic arts, but most writers use it as a gimmick: if it can be said backwards, it can be done.

Sturges makes an effort to touch the question in a rather unexpected way, though in hindsight, it makes some sense: vocabulary flash cards.  In a way, this dumbs down her magic to the confines of the English language (I, for one, would like to see her use backwards Spanish talk), but as you’ll see later in the issue, having the words themselves determine the results of the spell can produce some hilarious effects.

Since she faces a time-reversing thug, Zatanna has to revise her backwards talk on the fly to be effective.  With her choice of words limited to those that can work no matter which direction time is flowing, her spells actually become more spectacular (“Ogre flog a golfer, go!” is particularly winning).  It’s a clever idea, and Sturges executes it well, but it’s an idea that won’t be used again, most likely; it’s the kind of thing best suited for one story, and this is it.

Besides Zee’s new set of spells, Sturges offers more imaginative ideas in the magical department: fairies, ghosts, and mermaids skinny-dipping in San Francisco’s Sutro baths.  Choosing San Fran as Zee’s base of operations hasn’t really paid off until now, as Sturges inserts magical secrets in all the city’s real-life nooks and crannies (a dragon chained beneath the Transamerica pyramid—we need to see this).  Her flight over the metropolis also reminds you just how expansive her powers can be, something we need to see much more often in this title.

Zatanna #2 – Review

by Paul Dini (writer), Stephane Roux (pencils & inks), Karl Story (inks), John Kalisz (colors), and Pat Brosseau (letters)

The Story: Zatanna battles Fuseli in the realms of nightmare and Brother Night makes Detective Colton an offer he can’t refuse.

What’s Good: Stephane Roux’s artwork in this issue is awesome.  He takes his game up to totally new levels for this issue.  A good part of it is due to much of the issue taking place in Zatanna’s dreams, which allows Roux to really cut loose with his lay-outs, allowing him to go wild with a couple of awesome splash pages or create pages that feel like organic collages while John Kalisz goes wild with the psychedelic colors.   Zatanna’s facial expressions are also really well done, instantly making her very likable.  Villains Brother Night and Fuseli look great as well; Brother Night’s barely changing sinister grin is creepy as hell and Fuseli reminded me of Gollum of LOTR fame.

Dini’s Zatanna continues to grow on me.  Her trademark sassiness is ever present and it was nice surprise to see her be completely unfazed Fuseli’s nightmares.  Instead going through the typical traumatic struggle with her past, Zatanna quickly interrupts Fuseli and starts kicking ass in the nightmare realm.  It was a total about-face from what I was expecting.  Dini also adds plenty of human touches to the character.  In constantly wanting a good night’s rest, Zatanna is instantly more sympathetic and vulnerable, which is in complete juxtaposition to her composure when battling Fuseli’s conjurations.  It’s really rather neat as Zatanna shows no vulnerability under stress, when we’d expect her to, but instantly becomes human outside of that stress.  If that’s not the mark of a superhero, I’m not sure what is.

Dini is also very effectively building up Brother Night.  Everything he does is subtle and minimal, just enough to hint at his power without ever pulling back the curtain.  There’s a demonstration of his power this issue that is really awesome in this respect; it suggests the sheer depth of his power without breaking out any pyrotechnics.

I also liked Dini’s depiction of Fuseli’s dream manipulation.  Instead of going with standard nightmares for his victims of falling or monsters or what have you, Fuseli’s constructions are realistic and close to life.  It’s far more effective and it makes a lot more sense.

Zatanna #1 – Review

by Paul Dini (writer), Stephane Roux (pencils), Karl Story (inks), John Kalisz (colors), and Pat Brosseau (letters)

The Story: Brother Night, crime boss of the mystic realm, looks to expand his empire into the human world, forcing Zatanna to lay down the gauntlet.

What’s Good: It’s clear relatively early on that this book feels a hole in DC’s line-up.  The very fact that this is a mystic title makes it feel different and greatly missed.  This is only heightened whenever the action leaves the human realm; when Zatanna confronts Brother Night in his lair or when Night tries to gain an ally in Fuseli, a demon of nightmares, it’s hard not to have flashbacks to great books like Sandman or Swamp Thing.

Given Dini’s much documented love for the character, there’s no surprise that Zatanna is expertly shown as a strong protagonist.  She’s a badass, pure and simple.  An enterprising, confident, and sassy female lead is always an easy sell, and that’s no different here.  Dini also begins an effort to mark Zatanna with an adversity to the idea of destiny as a defining feature.   I hope he sticks with this, as it could lead to intriguing stories in the future.  I actually feel that Zatanna’s openness and bluntness about this aspect of her beliefs serves better than subtlety; surprisingly, it makes the “I forge my own path” schtick feel less clichéd.

What I appreciate most about Dini’s work here, however, is how quickly he leaps into the action.  There’s only a bare minimum of set-up and next to no exposition.  We’re plunged headfirst into the first story-arc and conflict more or less immediately.  This leads to a quick, energetic read that almost fools you into believing that Zatanna has a large and well established back-story, or that Brother Night and his rogue’s gallery have been around forever when, of course, this is their debut.  It makes the book an engaging read and, more importantly, gives it a sort of confidence.