Review: Harley Quinn Vol. 2- Power Outage

Quick Summary

Pros: A lot of the volume focuses on friends having fun, giving it some Archie-esque appeal. The volume contains some Harley moments that show she is more than just jokes and violence. The volume is packed with humor. The artwork suits the storytelling.

Cons: Not everyone will like the decompressed nature of the storytelling. The humor is highly subjective and many readers may not care for it, or aspects of it.

Overall: This is another polarizing volume for the Harley Quinn series. It has plenty of positives to be found through fun moments, emotional scenes, and plenty of comedy. However, much of the appeal here is subjective and will not work for all types of fans. For readers who enjoy Harley and her unique brand of humor, this is a volume to check out.

Story

Harley Quinn Vol. 2: Power Outage, by Amanda Conner and Jimmy Palmiotti, has a ton of appeal, but this appeal is rather specific and may not be for everyone. The book, as a whole, is decompressed and focuses on fun interactions between characters, rather than pulse-pounding action. This leads to some charming moments between friends and some surprisingly emotional ones centered around Harley. The volume is also heavily focused on Harley’s unique brand of humor, which some readers may love and other readers may hate. However, if you enjoy Harley’s humor and aren’t looking for an action-packed superhero-slug-fest, this book has plenty in store for you.  

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The majority of Power Outage is pretty decompressed and limits the amount of action. There are moments, like when Harley and her teammates decide to go for a swim, that offer little to the narrative but simply showcase a fun moment between people. Though there is still action and drama along the way, especially when Power Girl enters the mix, it doesn’t seem to be the focus of the book. In general, Power Outage feel more like something from Archie Comics, rather than a mainstream “superhero” book.

Structuring the book in this way also gives Harley a chance to demonstrate that she is capable of more than just jokes and violence. The book’s opening chapter has her get willingly kidnapped because she knows she can help the kidnapper make steps to overcome his mental illness. Later on, a flashforward to a potential future shows that she is still struggling over her emotionally damaged obsession with the Joker. These serious moments are often juxtaposed against frivolous moments, which works well in deepening their impact.

However, like its predecessor, the linchpin requirement for enjoying this volume is enjoying the humor. Power Outage is filled with over-the-top jokes of all types. I really enjoyed the meta commentary about the comic book industry, specifically in shots taken at Marvel and DC. However, I didn’t care for the gross out humor or the seemingly endless focus on sexual humor. I finished my read of the volume amused, though not thrilled, with the comedy but can easily see it having a dramatically different impact on other readers.

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Art

The bulk of the artwork in Power Outage comes from John Timms and Chad Hardin and suits the comic well. Most of the wacky and madcap humor plays out in chapters from John Timms. His work on these chapters is bright and bold, in a way that allows the humor to work. Meanwhile, some of the more traditional narratives play out in chapters from Chad Hardin. His work allows drama to build a bit better and suits these chapters.

My only significant gripe is that there are a few places where big and surprising moments are relegated to relatively small and insignificant panels. It makes a huge explosion in one chapter feel like an afterthought and dilutes its impact. This isn’t a huge problem, but it is disappointing to see that an already good-looking volume could have looked even better.

Continuity

Harley Quinn Vol. 2: Power Outage continues the story started in Harley Quinn Vol. 1: Hot in the City (Review).

The story here continues in Harley Quinn Vol. 3: Kiss Kiss Bang Stab (Review).

This volume also references other comic books, detailed below:

• The Harley Quin and Power Girl miniseries takes place in between the pages of Harley Quinn #12.
• Harley’s interest in Batman Adventures #12, collected in Batman Adventures Vol. 2, is due to the fact that this issue featured the first ever print appearance of Harley Quinn.
• Harley’s interest in Paul Dini and Bruce Timm is due to the fact that these two created Harley Quinn in the Batman: The Animated Series episode “Joker’s Favor”.