Story: Tini Howard and Grace Ellis
Art: Sweeney Boo and Steve Lieber
Colors: Sweeney Boo and Tamra Bonvillain
Letters: Steve Wands and Hassan Otsmane-Elhaou
Publisher: DC Comics
Price: $4.99
Release Date: November 28th, 2023
Harley’s misadventures in the multiverse continue in Harley Quinn #34. After her counterpart is killed on Earth-26 (Captain Carrot’s Earth), she’s desperately trying to find who the killer is, even as Bud and Lou, her trusty hyenas, have been possessed by two bozos from Earth-48! Yep, Lady Quark is monitoring Harley’s every move, her trigger finger ready to end Earth-Prime for good if Harley can’t fix things. What’s a girl to do when she can’t even trust her hyenas? Cybernetic Harley debuts! Harley travels to Earth-43 (the DC vs. Vampires Earth) and meets that world’s Poison Ivy! And Harley has Lux Kirby, Multiversal Detective reaching for the industrial strength aspirin!
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The Story
Harley has become quite the traveller in the last two years of her book. She’s made more trips across the multiverse than Barry Allen and Wally West combined. The current storyline has someone killing Harleys on multiple Earths. Granted, this storyline was done before not too long ago, but this time around, Lady Quark from Earth-48 is thrown into the mix. A few issues ago, she warned Harley that her multiversal meddling was going to cause another Crisis and if Harley continues, Lady Quark is going to wipe out Earth-Prime and her to protect the rest of the multiverse. Since then, Lady Quark has backed off a bit, but in Harley Quinn #34, she’s still determined to monitor (no pun intended) Harley’s every move.
“Possessing” Harley’s hyenas Bud and Lou with two of her agents, Harley caught on to it and forced them out of her beloved pets. But wait until you see who Lady Quark replaces them with! I’m really feeling sorry for Harley in these recent issues. She finally got her life together, getting a job teaching psychology at a local college, getting closer with Ivy and even doing good as an anti-hero and occasional member of the Bat Family. Then out of nowhere she develops weird powers that impact other Earths, putting her in Lady Quark’s sights. Harley’s a bit like Mr. Magoo this issue, going about her day while cosmic forces keep dropping misfortune on her. It’s strange seeing Harley, who usually uses her charm and street smarts to keep things under control, be dragged into one disaster after another.
Lux Kirby continues being a fascinating character and I like that they’re appearing pretty heavily in the book. Kirby’s character design is fantastic, a great combination of the sinister and bizarre, much like Spider-Man’s villain Mysterio. In fact, I could see Steve Ditko loving Lux Kirby’s design. I hope after this storyline ends, Kirby stays around. One of the other fun things about this storyline is watching Harley jump to other Earths and interact with the people there. This issue, she jumps to Earth-43, the Earth of the DC vs. Vampires books, and spends time with that Earth’s Ivy, who’s much colder than Harley’s main squeeze on Earth-Prime, and as usual, Harley causes chaos there in a simultaneously touching and hilarious scene. A backup story has Harley trapped within a comic book and she tries to escape. It’s a great fourth-wall breaking story reminiscent of John Byrne’s She-Hulk work and a nice end to the issue.
The Art
Sweeney Boo’s art on Harley Quinn #34 makes Harley look lovelier than ever. Sweeney Boo’s use of color makes the issue seem almost psychedelic, which wouldn’t be good for some books but fits Harley perfectly. The art is playful but not so playful that it ruins the tension in some scenes. Steve Lieber’s art on the backup story is equally good, though much different from Sweeney Boo’s style. Lieber’s style looks very much like Mike Allred’s work, and his portrayal of Harley trapped within the pages of a comic book (surrounded by ads and facing off with a picture of one of her statues) is brilliant work.
Final Thoughts
Harley Quinn #34 puts Harley in one bad situation after another, as Lady Quark tightens her grip. Watching Harley take trips to other Earths is always fun and we get a great trip to Earth-43 here, as well as the birth of a new threat and a solid cliffhanger ending.