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Harley Quinn (2016) #10
Harley Quinn, Vol. 4: The Final Trial
"Year of the Villain" arrives in Harley Quinn, even if Harley is doing her best to avoid it! Lex Luthor has an "offer" for Harley, and he won't take no for an answer-so get ready for Harley-er Quinn! And Harley asks the inevitable question-who is DC's "Villain of the Year"? It's an award-show like no other, as DC's best of the worst celebrate themselves in the Hall of Doom, with the winners picked by the fans!
Collects Harley Quinn #64-69 and Harley Quinn: Villain of the Year #1, including alternate pages.
Collects Harley Quinn #64-69 and Harley Quinn: Villain of the Year #1, including alternate pages.
208 pages, Paperback
First published January 28, 2020
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158 people want to read
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Displaying 1 - 23 of 23 reviews
April 21, 2020
Sam Humphries brings in the feels as Harley loses her mother. It's an odd dichotomy of melancholy and laughter as Harley mourns her mother while Humphries constantly skewers DC's big event Year of the Villain along with crossovers in general. I love how Lex Luther constantly harasses Harley to join them in their Doom nonsense. Harley also goes back in time to keep Crisis on Infinite Earths from starting all the big event hoopla in comics. If you at all know DC history, you are going to enjoy this. Sami Basri's art is clean and spot on. I really dig it.
Mark Russell then writes the last two issues and shows us how great a Mark Russell penned Harley Quinn book would be. I want this to happen so badly now! In his first issue, the Hamburgler gets out of prison after 30 years for embezzlement from McDonalds. It's hilarious. Then, Russell takes the Year of the Villain special issue seriously having Harley host a Villain of the Year awards show. Readers actually got to vote on who would win each award so Mike Norton drew pages for each of the villains winning each award. Those are all included as well.
Mark Russell then writes the last two issues and shows us how great a Mark Russell penned Harley Quinn book would be. I want this to happen so badly now! In his first issue, the Hamburgler gets out of prison after 30 years for embezzlement from McDonalds. It's hilarious. Then, Russell takes the Year of the Villain special issue seriously having Harley host a Villain of the Year awards show. Readers actually got to vote on who would win each award so Mike Norton drew pages for each of the villains winning each award. Those are all included as well.
Want to read
June 5, 2025
Review to come...
November 20, 2020
This book just keeps getting weirder and weirder, but I'm starting to enjoy it more. The fourth wall gets obliterated here, and we have a hilarious but really odd Supervillain Award Ceremony issue. There's still some serious drama related to Quinn's mother, but overall this the best way to describe this volume is "wacky."
December 31, 2020
Really fun volume of Harley Quinn comics. Definitely recommend.
February 8, 2021
Good book. Touches on death and dying well.
October 20, 2020
The absolute irreverence contained in this Volume alone should make you want to read Harley Quinn's titles for the rest of time. I laughed so hard at so many of these jokes, I'm still a bit bubbly as I write this review. Highlights:
- First issue picks up with Harley's mom in the hospital being treated for cancer. You would think that this would be a somber moment with lots of tears, but instead Harley uses it to shatter the 4th wall and read her family (while hospital bedside) a comic book version of Apex Lex approaching her to be part of Doom (given upgrades - see Year of the Villain if you don't know)
- Second issue, post-Mom's death (yes it happened anyway), picks up with the "Trials of Harley Quinn" storyline from the previous Volume. She passes the final test, "Bravery in the face of grief" and is taken to Lord Chaos and Lord Order to receive her cosmic powers
- Third: After speaking with her mom's spirit, Harley gives her new cosmic abilities to Mirand'r, newly restored to life after helping Harley
- As the Doom sigil appears in the sky, Harley is convinced she will not let a DC crossover ruin her book, so with the help of Booster Gold, she goes back in time to stop the first huge crossover "Crisis on Infinite Earths" from happening. (This issue is hilarious, seeing Harley interact with previous versions of our heroes.)
- Harley tries to bring her family back together with a Thanksgiving meal, then a misadventure in the Christmas Hamlet. (So many holiday jokes and puns here...)
- As if your sides weren't hurting already... we then get an issue where Harley tries to help an old man who got released from prison and gets drawn into a crime story using knock-off McDonald's characters. (so silly...)
- We end with Harley's Villain of the Year special issue, which is written like a Villain awards show.
See? Hilarity at every corner. Bravo Sam Humphries... you've proven this book is still hilarious and needed.
Strong recommend.
- First issue picks up with Harley's mom in the hospital being treated for cancer. You would think that this would be a somber moment with lots of tears, but instead Harley uses it to shatter the 4th wall and read her family (while hospital bedside) a comic book version of Apex Lex approaching her to be part of Doom (given upgrades - see Year of the Villain if you don't know)
- Second issue, post-Mom's death (yes it happened anyway), picks up with the "Trials of Harley Quinn" storyline from the previous Volume. She passes the final test, "Bravery in the face of grief" and is taken to Lord Chaos and Lord Order to receive her cosmic powers
- Third: After speaking with her mom's spirit, Harley gives her new cosmic abilities to Mirand'r, newly restored to life after helping Harley
- As the Doom sigil appears in the sky, Harley is convinced she will not let a DC crossover ruin her book, so with the help of Booster Gold, she goes back in time to stop the first huge crossover "Crisis on Infinite Earths" from happening. (This issue is hilarious, seeing Harley interact with previous versions of our heroes.)
- Harley tries to bring her family back together with a Thanksgiving meal, then a misadventure in the Christmas Hamlet. (So many holiday jokes and puns here...)
- As if your sides weren't hurting already... we then get an issue where Harley tries to help an old man who got released from prison and gets drawn into a crime story using knock-off McDonald's characters. (so silly...)
- We end with Harley's Villain of the Year special issue, which is written like a Villain awards show.
See? Hilarity at every corner. Bravo Sam Humphries... you've proven this book is still hilarious and needed.
Strong recommend.
August 17, 2020
This volume is better than the previous one, but is overall a mixed bag of good ideas mixed with ho-hum story telling.
Okay, I will admit that I am not found of the sappy Harley Quinn losing her mother to cancer story line. It is better in this book than the previous one, but it is still a drag to read. I want my Harley stories to be silly, funny, and demented. However, the stories with Harley trying to figure out ways to get through the holidays without her recently departed mother is insightful and shows that underneath the crazy outward appearance she has normal human emotions after all.
The inclusion of past comic book story plots here and there as a way to relate to the current story is awkward and could have been handled much better. Especially, with Harley trying to go back in time to stop cross-overs and the crisis story lines. This needs to be done again, but in a longer trade or graphic novel style. The humor and inside jokes could be excellent.
The parody story with the McDonald's characters and the bonus pages at the end about what if someone else would have one the Villain Awards ends this trade on a fun and hopeful tone that the next book will be better.
Okay, I will admit that I am not found of the sappy Harley Quinn losing her mother to cancer story line. It is better in this book than the previous one, but it is still a drag to read. I want my Harley stories to be silly, funny, and demented. However, the stories with Harley trying to figure out ways to get through the holidays without her recently departed mother is insightful and shows that underneath the crazy outward appearance she has normal human emotions after all.
The inclusion of past comic book story plots here and there as a way to relate to the current story is awkward and could have been handled much better. Especially, with Harley trying to go back in time to stop cross-overs and the crisis story lines. This needs to be done again, but in a longer trade or graphic novel style. The humor and inside jokes could be excellent.
The parody story with the McDonald's characters and the bonus pages at the end about what if someone else would have one the Villain Awards ends this trade on a fun and hopeful tone that the next book will be better.
August 24, 2021
Traditionally I'm into DC continuity and the more serious books... I've only drifted into Harley Quinn series from the New52 era... it wasn't bad but definitely wasn't inspired either...
But I'm always willing to grab issues or trades of newer stuff as it comes along.
I picked this cause its within the last couple years and it was sort of a center point.
I can go backwards and read older stuff but there is also new volumes to check out...
I did not expect much or to particularly like this. But DAMN if this wasn't super meta, fourth wall smashing, heartfelt fun. The stories are all over and only loosely strung together. Doesn't matter! I'm totally in. The last time I enjoyed a ridiculous satirical comedic DC book like this was Major Bummer, my all time favorite reluctant hero...
Harley Quinn and the string of guest as well as a journey down DC event history is a great big sledgehammer smashing hit.
If you like wild and crazy mayhem with a heart, check this volume out!
But I'm always willing to grab issues or trades of newer stuff as it comes along.
I picked this cause its within the last couple years and it was sort of a center point.
I can go backwards and read older stuff but there is also new volumes to check out...
I did not expect much or to particularly like this. But DAMN if this wasn't super meta, fourth wall smashing, heartfelt fun. The stories are all over and only loosely strung together. Doesn't matter! I'm totally in. The last time I enjoyed a ridiculous satirical comedic DC book like this was Major Bummer, my all time favorite reluctant hero...
Harley Quinn and the string of guest as well as a journey down DC event history is a great big sledgehammer smashing hit.
If you like wild and crazy mayhem with a heart, check this volume out!
May 6, 2020
Another collection that's a little hit-and-miss as Humphries again overdoes the fourth-wall-breaking. The main story arc of the first few issues is the better part, contrasting the craziness with Harley facing a personal tragedy. The comic pokes fun at crossover events, here focussing on The Year of the Villain and, to a lesser extent, Event Leviathan, then culminating in Harley trying to undo Crisis on Infinite Earths. Plus a brief crossover with Justice League Dark and . After that we get Thanksgiving and Christmas issues that mostly work, a spoof on McDonald's that's just a bit too silly, and a mock award ceremony for DC's villains that's honestly rather dull.
December 26, 2025
I should have hated this book. It's the usual fare for a book that ends a run or series. A stew of one-off issues and hurried endings. But I didn't feel any of that with this book. The humor was not only wacky but also irreverent and pure Harley. The last Chapter, involving an awards ceremony for DC's villains, was inspired and probably better than it had a right to be. There is also a swipe at McDonald's and - in a change of tone and pace - Harley and her kin dealing with the death of their mother. This book was fun and crazy and heavy with emotion. All at the same time. And the artwork was perfect throughout. This is the best Harley art I've seen since her reimagining. The Queen of Mayhem certainly delivered with this one.
August 15, 2020
Public library copy.
This wouldn't ever be a title I'd purchase or revisit, the artwork was fine and better than the book cover, however comedy and inside jokes about DC and their crossovers aside, there's not a whole lot here to make the reading experience memorable or stand out above other titles.
This wouldn't ever be a title I'd purchase or revisit, the artwork was fine and better than the book cover, however comedy and inside jokes about DC and their crossovers aside, there's not a whole lot here to make the reading experience memorable or stand out above other titles.
March 24, 2021
A more mature Harley Quinn. Better for it? Well, better than the more banal writings but not the Harley Quinn we tend to look for. A good read (no pun intended) but may not be what you are looking for.
April 21, 2024
I've posted my review of Harley Quinn, Vol. 4: The Final Trial on my blog (link here). It would be great if you checked it out!
July 22, 2024
An emotional rollercoaster for Harley as she deals with the depression of losing her Mom. This isn't a sad issue though. It's actually really funny as Harley gets herself into and out of trouble in Haley Quinn fashion.
April 13, 2020
A strange holiday special mishmash. But the first issues were actually heartfelt before Harley rushes off on her grief-journey.
April 21, 2020
As a devoted Harley fan, it’s always lovely to jump back into her adventures.
5/5 stars
5/5 stars
February 14, 2021
1.5 stars. Once again, some great art in this one but the story was just not for me.
January 28, 2023
It's sad and sweet. I really recommend it
October 12, 2023
4.5
rip mama UGH i thought Harley would use the powers to bring her back but i get it... And i loved the villain awards at the end lmao
rip mama UGH i thought Harley would use the powers to bring her back but i get it... And i loved the villain awards at the end lmao
June 30, 2024
Well, I cried my way through this whole volume save for issue 69. So thanks Humphries.
July 20, 2025
I was not expecting this exploration of grief from a Harley Quinn comic but man it got to me <3
February 23, 2023
64, The Offer, ☆☆☆☆
65-67, Trials of Harley Quinn Finale, ☆☆☆
68, Escape from Christmas Hamlet, ☆☆☆☆
Villain of the Year, ☆☆
69, The Fast and the Foodious, ☆☆☆
65-67, Trials of Harley Quinn Finale, ☆☆☆
68, Escape from Christmas Hamlet, ☆☆☆☆
Villain of the Year, ☆☆
69, The Fast and the Foodious, ☆☆☆
Displaying 1 - 23 of 23 reviews