“Role Players” – Part One
Writer: Sam Humphries
Artist: Otto Schmidt
Letterer: Dave Sharpe
Review by Kendra Hale
Crouton Monsters Attack!
Oh Harley Quinn, the places you will go. Here we are ladies and gents, back in Gotham and boy is this issue a whirlwind! In the vein of Jumanji and Zathura styled theme, we are entering a world of Dungeons and Dragons. The first one quite literally! Let us begin this month’s review of Harley Quinn shall we? You can read last month’s review here.
D20 And Catnip
We come back to Harley this issue as her and Tina are visiting Selina, still recovering from a broken heart, at her apartment in Gotham City. They are playing a game given to Harls by an old lady with red glowing eyes, red flag is more like it. The game is in the style of Dungeons and Dragons mixed with Jumanji. Harley and Tina are fiercely entertained and Selina? She has wine.
Selina suggests doing a jewelry heist, which Harley forlornly has to say no to. She suggests a fantasy heist and as the timer is turned over chaos begins. Our feisty jester Harley Quinn goes into a fantastical medieval themed world in which only she remembers the real world, everyone’s true identity… AND The Enchantress is after her head!
Elements of Tazerface
This issue has a lot going on in and a lot of references and cameos from some of our favorite heroes and villains. It reminds me of the 1995 comic Superman: Kal due simply to the medieval tones but the art work honestly resonates with it a bit too. Kal dealt with a story line in which Superman was sent to us during the Middle Ages instead of the 20th century. It, like this issue of Harley Quinn, had all the mainstay characters, but medieval versions of themselves.
The cameos in this issue are great; my favorite was Lord Edvard, Master of Riddles. There is one though that truly brought forward my inner kid and reminded me of Rocket from Guardians of the Galaxy 2. The scene is with one of the villains and he is naming himself, he chooses Tazerface which leads to many minutes of laughs. Harley gives us the same with Two Face calling himself Deuce Face. I literally lost myself for a few moments and had to compose.
Conclusion
We have a new artist for this one, Otto Schmidt coming in and rocking a brilliantly unique style perfect for the theme of this book. Sam Humphries, as always, gives us this eclectic and gung-ho Harley who is more than happy for this adventure. Once free of the straight jacket of course. Dave Sharpe has some really exquisite moments to show off his skills with some killer gothic style lettering.
This issue was unique, even with reminders of other series; this one is truly in its own league. References and flow were great this issue and getting to see all the different character cameos and styles for the beloved characters were awesome. I am really glad this gets to be more than one part because I loved it but it went by so fast, I wanted more and hey we get it!
What were your thoughts on this issue Readers? Please let us know in the comments below!
Images Courtesy of DC Entertainment
