Multiversity: Harley Screws Up the DCU

Multiversity: Harley Screws Up The DCU #1-6

by Frank Tieri, Logan Faerber (Artist), Ferran Delgado (Letterer)

The multiverse would be a much less lively place without the hijinks and shenanigans of the one and only Clown Princess of Crime. But now it's her turn to screw it all up! Harley's been busy getting together all her tools for her heist--she's got everything she glitter, tinsel, duck tape, and more! She's ready to unleash some mayhem!

Genres: Comics, Dc Comics, Graphic Novels, Graphic Novels Comics

144 pages, Hardcover

First published December 12, 2023

Reviews

[Rod Brown · Rating 2 out of 5]

It's sad to see a story aim for madcap wackiness and end up with only a few bad dad-joke level puns.

So Harley Quinn gets her hands on a time machine and manages to undo the origins of the members of the original Justice League of America, allowing the first villain they fought -- Starro the Conqueror -- to mind control the world. Harley immediately developed amnesia about her actions in the past, but now has to go back and undo what she did -- whatever that was. And, boy, is it a boring journey through the past.

Inside jokes for DC fans and the aforementioned puns are what pass for humor. A large number of the characters who appear in the story are not even named, leaving newbies to fend for themselves.

[Anna Quilter · Rating 3 out of 5]

Kind of more cartoony than usual.
Jokes hit and miss..but come along at increasing speed.

[bri 🧸 · Rating 4 out of 5]

the shawshank joke floored me

[Brittany Johnson · Rating 3 out of 5]

Fun concept with beautiful art style. I dislike Harley being characterized as idiotic.

[Kolbrún Matthíasdóttir · Rating 2 out of 5]

It's not good but it's still fun ya know?

[Stacy (Gotham City Librarian) · Rating 2 out of 5]

The overall concept here is fun: Harley finds a time machine and accidentally messes up the origins of all the major heroes. The execution? Lacking. Every once in a while there will be a funny joke or line of dialogue. (I appreciated the one about how not even George Clooney thought he was a good Batman, and I typically roll my eyes at meta humor.) But for the most part, these Harleys, (for this is one of those multiple Harley scenarios), are written in a way that is too try-hard. Of course she's zany and kooky and known to come across as a bit dumb, but good Lord. Anyone who knows the character is aware that deep down, she's capable of sobering up her brain when she really needs to; she just typically would rather have fun instead. But in this storyline the plot relies on her being a complete idiot and the writers took advantage of that. Another problem is that the story is kind of confusing. Time travel can be that way sometimes, but here a lot of the action doesn't make a whole lot of sense. And I know, with Harley it's not always supposed to make sense. But I was confused here and there. The somewhat ugly artwork didn't help. (Really nice covers, though! But they got Amanda Conner and Jimmy Palmiotti for those so of course they were lovely.)

But the worst part of this run, to me, was that it felt like they were taking a beloved character and trying to make her UNLIKABLE. In each scenario, it's supposed to be funny how she accidentally either kills the superhero or prevents them from existing at all. And in some cases it is mildly funny. But her attitude and behavior throughout is so flippant and irresponsible that it just makes her seem like such an asshole. When Harley is written well, (meaning correctly), she can have these traits while also coming across as surprisingly human. Even back in the days of the Animated Series when she was in full on villain mode there were moments when she wore her heart on her sleeve. This run, though, is an example of Harley being played solely for yucks and sex jokes, which in my opinion is just the worst possible take. Whether you like her or not, the fact is there's more to her than that. This storyline had potential but it was a big miss for me. I'm glad I bought the issues separately, at least, because those covers really are nice.

I will say this: The one issue I did enjoy was #5, where the two Harley's go back to fix Batman's origin. It's an interesting moral dilemma, because obviously in order for Bruce to become Batman Harley has to let two parents be murdered in front of a kid. This is the one issue in which the writers got it right, because Harley has a really tough time going through with it and the goodness in her shows through. (Where was that in all the other installments?) Even the dialogue is better in this one. Still a tiny bit grating, but way more story-focused and less obnoxious. And there is great interaction here between the two Harleys. Did it really take five issues to find the formula? Even the overall ending in issue #6 wasn't terrible, but it could've been better. Maybe I was asking for too much. (I don't think so, though.)

[Roman · Rating 1 out of 5]

​​Коли Ґрант Моррісон писав "Multiversity" то однією з його ідей було зробити пісочницю в яку могли приходити інші автори та створювати свої історії. На жаль DC в основному згадували про персонажів з інших земель коли їм було потрібно гарматне м'ясо для криз. Однак недавно в DC таки додумалися зробити з "Multiversity", тож давайте глянемо якою вийшла найновіша лімітка з цього імпринту "Harley Screws Up The DCU".

Сюжет лімітки розповідає про те як Гарлі отримує в спадок машину часу і випадково псує оріджини різних супергероїв через що коли Старро прибуває на Землю то немає героїв які б йому завадили в завоюванні планети. В результаті Гарлі об'єднується з Гарлі з нового таймлайну для того щоб все виправити.

Головним плюсом лімітки є малюнок Лоґана Фарбера. Художник тут видав дуже красиву та яскраву роботу. Також з хорошого ще можу виділити те, що персонажі у нього вийшли дуже експресивними. Загалом малюнок ж головною окрасою лімітки. На жаль на цьому плюси коміксу завершуються.

Оскільки вся ця лімітка є комедійною до найбільша її проблема саме в ньому. Майже весь гумор написаний Френком Тіері зводиться до того що Гарлі робить якусь поп-культурну відсилку або говорить тарабарщину і це майже завжди не смішну, лише інколи може проскочити якийсь смішний жарт. Також вартує поговорити про сюжет який вийшов досить однотипним, майже в кожному номері нам показують як Гарлі зіпсувала оріджин і після чого як вона його виправляє і далі все заново. Плюс не розумію навіщо було обмежуватися тільки оріджинами, все таки у ДС було вдосталь подій до того як вони ввели Гарлі й можна було показати її в незвичних декораціях (Кризі на Нескінченних Землях, Падінні Лицаря або Смерті Супермена).

Взагалі я спочатку хотів ще не розумів про те, чому ця лімітка виходить з лейблом "Multiversity" оскільки сюжет розповідає про Гарлі з основної Землі і відбувається на ній же, але потім відбувся фінальний твіст, який загалом не дуже сильно це виправдовує, але тим не менш. Суть у тому, що машину часу яку отримала наша антигероїня підсунули їй рада Гарлі з різних світів (Інджастіс, Стара Леді, Бомбшел та деякі інші). Також саме вони зв'язалися з нової Гарлі щоб вона допомогла виправити все. А знаєте чому вони взагалі дали Гарлі машину часу? Тому що. Ні. Я серйозно, це буквально їх мотивація.

В результаті "Harley Screws Up The DCU" вийшла абсолютно паршивою ліміткою, яка не заслуговує на такий хороший малюнок. Раджу пропустити її.

[Chad · Rating 2 out of 5]

This is a regression to the Coney Island era of Harley with all of the slapstick and jokes. Tieri actually does a pretty good job of revisiting that but then he also wrote that comic for awhile too. Harley is given a time machine and creates a future where she killed all of the heroes in their infancy allowing Starro to take over the Earth without the Justice League there to stop her. She has to go back in time and fix the timeline, one hero at a time. There's no mention how she knows all of the heroes' secret identities and origin stories.

I didn't really care for Logan Faerber's art. It's overly busy. All of his female characters look like they are drag queens dressed up for a Friday night show. The coloring is really drab and boring for a story that should be colorful. It is a Harley Quin story after all.

[Ross · Rating 3 out of 5]

Did you like/enjoy the 'Coney Island' era Harley? If so, you'll appreciate this.

This is a story of Harley and her gang of Harleys (yes, even Red Tool) ...and how Harley messed up the DCU with time travel shenanigans. You have to really, REALLY like that slapstick, New Yawk, psycho Harley era.

For me, it was a bit much. It feels like a character regression that not even time travel shenanigans can explain away. It has its moments, though. I'd rate it higher if the Harley wasn't SO over the top. This era of Harley was my least favorite. I wonder if they were trying to cash in on the release of the newest season of Harley Quinn: The Animated Series. She's got a similar raunchiness.
---
Bonus: Monkey Urine!
Bonus Bonus: Still can't believe that Harley 'butterfly effects' the whole DCU

[Jacob Shaffer · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5 rounded down because this book leans towards Young Adult humor which is not for me, but then Harley’s also pretty horny in this book so it’s somewhere in between and not sure of what it’s doing

Lots of good DC content for fans, I wanted to say slapping Multiversity on this felt cheap but at the end of the book I’d say it’s fair. It’s just not Morrison’s writing by any means so it feels very different.

Harley vs Starro and his Suicide Squad is fun, Harley’s antics are almost the frustrating part of this book. So is that a good plot device?? Idkkkkk 🤷🏻‍♂️

[Anders · Rating 3 out of 5]

Yeah this was okay. I wasn't wowed by the art, but I think it fit the subject well so I can't complain there. the comic is what you would want from a Harley time travel hijinks story. My fav character was Red Tool the Deadpool parody lol.

[Jaq Greenspon · Rating 2 out of 5]

This is the definition of trying to hard. It also makes no sense. I kept reading out of an ill conceived hope it would pull together in the end.

I was wrong.

[Josh Newhouse · Rating 4 out of 5]

Fun and dumb

[Yasser Maniram · Rating 2 out of 5]

Not a fan of the art style. The coloring wasn't great either. Story and dialogue was much better but the art diminished the enjoyment.

[Green Megs &Ham · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was average... like I expected this was how this would go. Jokes were okay, art style was cool... but I'm not impressed. Maybe Clooney is the best batman?

[Nightwing’s Thiccness · Rating 3 out of 5]

Maybe I just utterly think the gang of Harley’s are the most annoying band of side characters.

[cape cruslayder · Rating 5 out of 5]

so cute , so slay , so fun , devoured in my opinion 👩🏻‍❤️‍💋‍👩🏻

[Jenna · Rating 3 out of 5]

This read better as a single volume versus individual issues but it still felt overly repetitive, if still entertaining.

Nobody remembers Aquaman!

[Will Cooper · Rating 2 out of 5]

I don't know why I keep reading anything with Harley in it. I expected a silly multiverse situation and it was only a little time travel involved.

[A E]

this kind of really sucked, it sounded SO fun in concept but it just wasn’t. there’s a couple good laughs and I’m a fan of the bright, colorful art, but it’s really not worth a read imo

[Angela · Rating 5 out of 5]

So on brand for her and I love seeing the Harley gang again

[Dani · Rating 2 out of 5]

Goofy