Harley Quinn #31 Review and **SPOILERS**

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Blundered Deal at the Wonder Wheel

Writers: Amanda Conner & Jimmy Palmiotti 

Artist: John Timms 

Colors: Hi-Fi 

Letters: Dave Sharpe 

Cover: Amanda Conner & Alex Sinclair 

Cover Price: $2.99 

On Sale Date: November 8, 2017

**NON SPOILERS AND SCORE AT THE BOTTOM**

By the time you read this review, Election Day will have come and gone in America. So you can measure the real world up to this comic book and let me know which one you think is more bananas. My money is on the Third Dimension, these days! Have a gander at my review of Harley Quinn #31 while you mull it over!

Explain It!

I don’t think I have ever seen a generation as aware of and involved with the Democratic process as those termed “millennials.” My generation had “Rock the Vote,” my parents had…whatever blend of apathy and activism defined their generation, but the newest batch of adults seem able to mobilize and effect more than many before them. The results of this have not entirely been what was expected, or necessarily wanted by some. Yet setting aside personal prejudices, there’s a more global worldview and interconnectedness with the New Class than there ever was with mine, the Shoegazers.

And there might have been a good examination of that, in Harley Quinn’s current story arc, or maybe a satire of elections past, or perhaps some kind of strong democracy-based content in a yarn titled “Vote 4 Harley.” But since she was made to drop out of the race when Mayor DePerdo kidnapped her boyfriend and extorted her, it’s just like any ol’ issue of Harley Quinn. Sure, there’s an anthropomorphic egg in a robotic chassis and a superhero from the future with a penchant for speaking in hardware, but when all efforts turn to Operation Save Mason Macabre, the election takes a backseat and all of the previously built tension over whether Harley will or will not be mayor of New York City is drained entirely from the story.

Mason is being held on Fire Island, and after talking to pretty much everyone she’s ever met in the history of this series, Harleys Quinn and Sinn make their way over to the Long Island summering spot, only to be immediately captured by some of Mayor DePerto’s goons. They’re trussed and brought to Mason, who sits tied to a chair looking battered and bruised. After some monologuing, the mayor threatens to increase Harley’s suffering by shooting Mason in the head—and then he does it! How about that? I was so used to politicians’ empty promises, I never thought he’d go through with it.

Here’s a phenomenally bland and unnecessary episode of Harley Quinn’s wacky life. What could have taken a few pages in another comic book is given over to an entire issue. Clearly, the mayor is going to be that third guy at the debates, the one whose name I forget, only highlighting how little this election has come to effect this story. What the heck happened? It’s like the bottom dropped out of it or something.

Bits and Pieces:

Now we can no longer "Vote 4 Harley," I wonder what this story is supposed to be about? Harley faces a grave tragedy that will probably result in some comical ultra-violence next issue, but this one falls very flat.

6/10