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| Countdown tie-in Dec 2007 Writer: Paul Dini Pencils: Don Kramer Inker: Wayne Faucher |
Hot off the heels of Harley's previous release from Arkham incarceration is Detective Comics #837!
We open on the Riddler lamenting being a bit on the poor side since going legitimate but still loving the thrill of the investigation/lifestyle. The thing I like about Dini's writing is that - as well as being witty and entertaining - he genuinely seems to care for the characters he writes.
Riddler going legitimate could have been the corniest shit from the cob in anyone else's hands but here you are invested. You *want* him to do well as you see him struggling yet resisting the obvious pull back into the criminal lifestyle.
You can say the same for Harley. Dini is the best writer for her, apart from perhaps the Injustice guy. In this one book, she deals with going legitimate as well, finding her own way solo, running a team and taking down the bad guys.. and she does it with humour and without losing any of the charm that made us all Harley Quinn fans. Best of all, you get her accent without being drowned in a vat of marble mouthed exaggerations of English.
Bruce Wayne offers Riddler a gig which he readily accepts. It's to find a missing employee who seems to have absconded with a new drug that affects stamina and cellular regeneration. This gig leads him out of Gotham and into Metropolis and into the Athenian Women's Help shelter... from which he readily gets kicked out of courtesy of everyone's favourite reformed jester.
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| Told you. |
Yep, like the last Detective Comics issue I reviewed (here) it's another villain cross-over/team up, only this time they're both reformed.
Harley still has her trademark pigtails but has traded in her jumpsuit and prison trackies for an Amazonian stola/robe. She hasn't quite got a hang on the peaceful Amazon way though.
