3. Harley Quinn #3 by Jimmy Palmiotti, Amanda Conner et al. (DC)
Harley Quinn is the landlord of a building in Coney Island housing a freakshow carnival and a museum of serial killers how perfect is that? But someone's put a hit out on her so she's also dodging assassin's bullets and, in this issue, she's made it her mission to liberate a pet adoption centre of its soon-to-be-put-down inmates with the help of her old pal from Gotham City, Poison Ivy. Harley and Ivy, together again! If you ever wondered what Harley Quinn would do in her own series, Jimmy Palmiotti and Amanda Conner are absolutely packing the title with stuff for Harley to get along with. The first issue crammed in her new jobs as landlord and part-time psychologist, her new hobby as a roller-derby player, AND her new cast of oddball characters, as she fought assassins left and right. Phew! But that's not all! In the second issue, Conner/Palmiotti continue to build Harley's new world with the help of Poison Ivy. After they liberate the adoption centre and round up the animals in Harley's place, Ivy creates an indoor park for them so Harley now has a wonderful green environment with a ton of new pets, adding one more element to this already packed-to-the-gills story. That said, it's a really enjoyable series and feels like the creators are having as much fun as Harley is. Ivy's a little more upbeat than she usually is and it's a nice change of pace, with Ivy happily going along with Harley's nutso plan rather than Harley having to wheedle out her cooperation. She also looks to have these awesome plant tats we know cos she stayed the night with Harley. Vroom vroom, did she ride her Harley? The trademark mallet makes an appearance when another assassin pops up to try to off her, Bernie the stuffed beaver continues to be an interesting choice for a sidekick, and there's even a dig at Jeff Lemire's Sweet Tooth character, Gus! Chad Hardin and Stephane Roux's art continues to impress. Harley is by turns lethal and action-girl, others she's comical and cartoony, and yet the style never really changes like in manga where styles change to emphasise the tone of a scene it's an impressively controlled way of drawing. The character designs too are just fantastic and I love how Harley's building is becoming like a projection of her personality with its many layers of craziness. Unfortunately Ivy's work is done-in-one but it was a great cameo nonetheless and Harley Quinn #2 is a more delightful comic for having her in. I always thought a Harley series would be good but in Conner/Palmiotti's hands, it's truly awesome. Harley Quinn is simply one of DC's best titles the company is publishing at the moment check it out!