What can I say I loved this book so much, though I knew I would mainly because I love Harley Quinn. I love reading her stories and couldn't put this one down.

The aspect of Harley Quinn is interesting considering her background. This is what is going to make her characterization in “Suicide Squad” very interesting to say the least. In “Harley Quinn Vol 3: Kiss Kiss Bang Stab” [Amanda Connor & Jimmy Palmiotti/DC Comics/176pgs], there is the necessarily more comical aspects that play in but what is below the surface, sometimes subtly, sometimes not so much, is the essence of her psychological tendencies, her workaholic leanings and her need for love. The great thing is that we don’t get the overwhelming stalkerish element of her obsession with the Joker. Despite her ADD approach and slightly violent tendencies, she comes off as a variation on certain normlaistic mind sets. Her friendship with Poison Iyy, her willingness to help friends (even Eggy) and even the Yodaesque musings of her “beaver” all create a slightly askew world that really works within the anthology. The Christmas stories are not necessarily the most engaging but the Batman/Bruce Wayne date story, her time management arc which evolves into her search for assistants and her dream sequences give this collection a balance of uniqueness despite a few not so cohesive stories. The different mind sets and the different art work they present are interesting as well. Harley’s perception of her dream life with Bruce and the colors that populate it versus Bruce’s dream sequence (which is photo real in certain ways) gives the reader a very interesting insight into the way Harley sees herself, the way that others see herself and the artist’s individual perception. The dialogue reflects this as well as the cadence is the more consistent throughout all the stories with Harley’s self distraction and twisted wistfulness propelling her along in her way. All said, this volume is an interesting read focusing on one of the more animated characters, albeit supporting, that populate this section of the DC Universe.

B

By Tim Wassberg