Review: Harley Quinn And The Birds Of Prey #3

"Gotham Town Smackdown"

Writers: Amanda Conner and Jimmy Palmiotti
Artist: Amanda Conner
Color Artist: Alex Sinclair
Letterer: John J. Hill

Review by Kendra Hale

Harley Quinn and The Birds Of Prey #3 is finally here, and oh was the wait HARD! After all the action and twists of issue #2, Montoya may have definitely changed her mind about Harley staying in Gotham. If the saying is true that all actions have consequences, then Harley and the gang are about to get their just rewards. Let’s dive right into the fray and see what lies in store!

Have You Seen My Beaver?

Harley’s stepped in it… and that is putting it lightly. After not only stealing from Joker’s personal stash – which happened to be a stockpile of several other villains prizes as well – she served her ex up on a platter to Renee and the BOP. Waking in Wayne Manor and putting Alfred in a number of compromising situations, Harley publicizes her stolen… goods on the news, and gives what she took from the stash back to the rightful owners.

Needless to say not only are the villains angry at Joker, but now Harley has a price on her head from several angles, and there may not be a way to remove this target. Harley doesn’t seem to be fazed by the danger, and is ready to stand her ground. The BOP are on her side, but is even their might enough to take on all comers? Maybe with a little help from a familiar face with a tool fetish. In all this chaos, however… where is Joker?

Went Grocery Shopping, Brought Home A Body

I always seem to say that a specific issue is my favorite, but here’s the truth. When a story flows to where I literally could not tell where a cut in should be, and the flow continues on like there never was a break… that’s the best. Amanda Conner and Jimmy Palmiotti have fully achieved that with these last three issues. As a reader, you get this experience of just following along, and even though there are breaks, it feels like stepping right back into the story without any pause, or that you even set the book down and waited for a month, or more.

It’s the same feeling I get with the art as well, so huge kudos to Amanda Conner, Alex Sinclair, and John J. Hill. Honestly, my favorite moment from this issue was when we “heard” Harley’s drunk calls to Ivy, and they go through the actions that Ivy’s talking while listening to Harley’s voicemail messages. The scene that most got a chuckle was when Ivy went grocery shopping, for just for herself, but also for her plant Frank. It was a hilarious sequence.

Conclusion

I have a feeling that, while Harley Quinn and The Birds Of Prey #3 gave us many moments of action involving all of our ladies, it all still feels like the tip of the iceberg. Given everything that we got with the story moving forward, and certain players taking their respective spotlights, it’s hard to not see this one as the issue where the ah-ha lights go on, but it is hard to say just what will happen next.

For a Harley story, those are the best ones! I’ve seen nothing to detract away from my way of scoring so this one slides right back in with a perfect score, and leaves me hungry for the next chapter!

Images Courtesy Of DC Entertainment