Harley Quinn vol. 1: Hot in the City by Amanda Conner and Jimmy Palmiotti

I'll be honest, I'm not sure what to think about the New 52 run of DC comics. I really liked Harley Quinn: Night and Day and it seemed like a very abrupt transition to this new set. Presumably, this is all part and parcel of reading comic books.

This volume includes Harley Quinn 0-8 and sees our favorite piebald psycho coming into a huge amount of money, spending it recklessly, making new friends, becoming a landlord, and joining a roller derby team just for kicks. Mayhem, death, and destruction follow, naturally.

The opening comic is a fun little jaunt through about a dozen different art styles as Harley tries to find her voice in a bit of fourth-wall breaking that would make Deadpool proud. I think writers Conner and Palmiotti mostly succeed in capturing the chaotic good tone of the character, never really delving too deeply into her obsession with the Joker, which could have bogged down the opening narrative. This is a nice, light opening salvo that introduces the new world and Harley's place in it. I'm going to give vol. 2 a shot and see where they go from here. Hopefully, in later issues the team will have some meatier story arcs.

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