The new issue of DC Black Label’s Harley Quinn and the Birds of Prey, issue 3, picks up the merry pace and carries on.

For those new to this book, Harley’s home in Coney Island was burned to the ground when she missed months of payments to her shifty money-lender. But Gotham has money, loads of it, so Harley plans a break-in. BUT the break-in is to a place where The Joker and his pals have all their valuables stashed! Much chaos ensues, with the Birds of Prey in close pursuit.

Amanda Conner and Jimmy Palmiotti cowrite this madcap adventure, giving us a lot of fun and outrageous laughs at the expense of just about everyone. It’s, as the authors themselves mention, a bit of “Keystone Cops”, referring to those 1920s silent movie slapstick police characters, bumbling and bumping their heads on things. The dialogue is a bit risqué, a bit ribald. There is a LOT of talking in this one, and the dialogue is story-advancing, character-revealing, and going somewhere great.

Amanda Conner illustrates the issue too, bringing her characteristically strong rendering style, a gift for pantomime and silhouette. The pages are filled with small panels, splash pages, well-choreographed physical gags and confrontations.

Alex Sinclair provides avid colour, richly distributed but still tasteful. The colours remain lush, not greyed, or muted. This book is a rainbow of radiance, and reads with all the charm and bluster its pages can pack!

DC, Black Label, Harley Quinn and the Birds of Prey #3, $5.99 for 36 pages of Mature Content.

By Alan Spinney

After a career of graphic design, art direction and copywriting, I still have a passion for words and pictures. I love it when a comic book comes together; the story is tight, and the drawings lead me forward. Art with words... the toughest storytelling technique to get right. Was this comic book worth your money? Let's see!!

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