Disclosure: As an Amazon Associate, I earn from qualifying purchases. Some of the links below are affiliate links. This means that, at zero cost to you, I will earn an affiliate commission if you click through the link and finalize a purchase.
Star Rating:
The Harley Quinn 30th Anniversary Special is a collection of one-shots and issues from other Harley Quinn stories written and illustrated by various authors and artists. There are 10 different stories, and none of them are related to one another. Rather than going into specifics on each issue, I’ll do a more general, broad review of the special.
First of all, there are 14 different variant covers for this special. Mine apparently glows in the dark, but I have yet to try it to see if it really does. Having 14 different covers seems excessive to me, but a few of them look pretty good. Some of them are more appealing to me than others.
The quality of the stories varies. There are a few decent and enjoyable stories. A few stories are just okay, a couple are boring, and some should not be included in this special. I preferred the one-shots over those that continued in subsequent issues. I understand the promotional purpose, but as a “special” for her 30th anniversary, the one-shots seemed more fitting.
Some writers are better than others at writing Harley Quinn. The character has a distinct feel depending on who is writing her. I personally believe that many of the current Harley Quinn writers have lost some of her Harlequin. Recent versions make her appear more like an angry nutcase who simply wants to hit everything with a bat and eat, rather than a charming, witty, whimsical nutcase who likes to flip around and have fun. I could tell which story was written by Paul Dini without even looking.
The first story relied far too heavily on attempting to write out her accent, to the point where it became irritating and difficult to understand. A handful of the stories, such as “A Legend is Born” and “Troop Harley Quinn,” feel more oriented toward children than adults, which is surprising given that there are definitely other stories that are very adult. Their plots and even their dialogue seemed more suited to younger audiences.
There was just a really strange choice in the collection of stories for a 30-year special when someone like me, a fan of Harley Quinn since her inception (and thus an adult), would most likely be the target audience. I believe they wasted the opportunity to showcase 30 years of Harley Quinn.
The same holds true for the artwork. Some are better than others, and some I prefer more than others. Again, there are a few visual styles that seem more appropriate for a younger audience. They appear less detailed and more childlike. There’s nothing wrong with that, but it just doesn’t feel right during a Harley Quinn Special aimed mainly at adults. Those styles seem more appropriate for a graphic novel featuring a more tame version of Harley Quinn for children (like in the DC Super Hero Girls cartoon).
Stjepan Sejic is one of my favorite artists in this special. His artwork is absolutely gorgeous, but there are others who did good work as well. I really enjoyed seeing the older Harley costume in the last story. I wish there were more stories with older versions of her, such as using Bruce Timm, who, although a part of her creation, only did a cover variant.
The Harley Quinn 30th Anniversary Special contains a few good stories, but others fall short. It would have been nice to have more stories that demonstrated who she was and has become over the years. I believe this was a missed opportunity to provide Harley Quinn fans (and collectors) with a true “Special” edition of Harley Quinn. Nonetheless, I still found ways to enjoy it by focusing on the good parts and not taking the stories too seriously.
Check out my other Harley Quinn comic review.
What did you think of the Harley Quinn 30th Anniversary Special?