Harley Quinn Vol. 4 A Call To Arms

by Amanda Conner

[Quirky Cat]

A Call to Arms is probably not the strongest Harley Quinn comic out there, but it’s at least one of the funnier ones. So if you’re looking for some light (but slightly violent) and humorous reading, then this is the graphic novel for you!



First and foremost I have to confess that I’m not a huge fan of murdering Harley. Yes, I know even classic Harley caused deaths, but look at how they happened. Nine times out of ten it was because she wasn’t thinking about the consequences of her actions. Not because she actively thought “I wanna kill this guy!” I love chaotic Harley, the Harley that acts before she thinks, that bounces all over the place, the one that drives Batman crazy because he can’t predict her moves. That’s the Harley I love. That rant out of the way, I do enjoy this more violent Harley, just not to the same extent.
In this volume Harley decides if she’s going to take on all the bad guys of New York, she’s going to need a bit of help. And thus forms Harley and her Gang of Harleys. She pulls them from all roads of life, and them gives them new names (for their family’s safety, of course). Most of the names aren’t terribly creative (the only guy is named Harvey Quinn for example) but they’ve learned to accept that.
Unfortunately they quickly rack up more in hospital bills than earnings, forcing them to take more and more jobs just to stay afloat. However, I’m sure it’ll work out in the end, even if they did end up losing five of the team members (not to death – turns out they were minors pretending to be adults. Womp womp).
Ivy makes a couple of appearances, allowing me to continue to hold out my hope of her getting her own comic (the way I see it, the more she appears in any comic, the more likely that is to happen). I know it isn’t terribly likely, but a girl can dream, right? There’s also a quick Dead Shot cameo, but I’ll leave that one for you to read about (though I will say it’s a funny one!).
The last issue in this volume is a special, titled Harley Quinn Road Trip Special. It’s a funny, quick read including Ivy and Selina. Despite the cameos it wasn’t my favorite, I just found myself struggling to get into it.
I can’t wait to see what chaos Harley is going to get into in volume five, The Joker’s Last Laugh (because with a title like that, one has to be anxious about the outcome!).


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