Professor Incredulous was once the biggest draw at Coney Island. But could he actually travel in time? Your Major Spoilers review of Multiversity: Harley Screws Up The DCU #1 from DC Comics awaits!

MULTIVERSITY: HARLEY SCREWS UP THE DCU #1

Writer: Frank Tieri
Artist: Logan Faerber
Colorist: Logan Faerber
Letterer: Ferran Delgado
Editor: Ben Meares
Publisher: DC Comics
Cover Price: $4.99
Release Date: March 14, 2023

Previously in Multiversity: Harley Screws Up The DCU #1: Harley’s back in Coney for a long-overdue reunion with old friends, old haunts, and… an old time machine? You heard right! A mysterious benefactor has left Harley a time machine, and after giving it about a half second of thought, she decides to take it for a joyride. What could go wrong, right? Turns out a quick trip through time can screw up a few things…

Namely, the entire DC Universe!

GETTING THE GANG BACK TOGETHER?

Having returned to Coney Island for the first time in a while, Harley Quinn is enjoying a reunion with her friends in the Gang of Harleys, a group she assembled to… I dunno, make fun of Geoff Johns creating a rainbow of everybody? Regardless, they’re hanging out and grabbing Harley’s behind when she gets her delayed mail, including a letter from one Professor Incredulous. The Professor, whoever he or she is, has left her an inheritance, which she has to travel to an abandoned warehouse to find. Amid the old-timey magical gear and posters of times past, she finds a wooden crate with a hand-painted legend: The Way Back Booth. Faced with the possibility of a time machine, no matter how ridiculous, sends Harley into paroxysms of joy, and she leaps at the chance to see what happens, pushing the BIG RED BUTTON labeled, “Push Here, Stupid!”

That’s when things get weird. Well, weirder...

NOT FEELIN’ THE ART

The revelations that follow are shocking (and a little bit like The Suicide Squad movie), but the final page reveal is a strong one, as is the revelation that, somehow, Harley broke the universe, but doesn’t remember it. Obviously, since she has a time machine, she hasn’t broken it YET, but the setup and reveal of her mysterious protector make me want to know what comes next. I’m less thrilled about the art in these pages, though, as Faerber’s work combines the wild eyes of Gary Frank, the unusual proportions of Riley Rossmo, and the fiddly, sketchy lines of Mark Silvestri into a hard-to-follow style that I’m just not enamored of. Scene transitions are very difficult throughout the book, and the high-speed flight from Starro the Conqueror that makes up the last third of the issue is nonsensical storytelling that focuses on expressions over a coherent series of events.

BOTTOM LINE: INTERESTING STORY, OFFPUTTING ART

Even with my concerns about the art, Multiversity: Harley Screws Up The DCU #1 has some big things in its favor, with a compelling protagonist, a successful shock ending, and some charming dialogue at odds with the art, earning a right-down-the-middle 2.5 out of 5 stars overall. I’m definitely interested in seeing where this goes, with the caveat that I hope that issue two’s art works out some of the more difficult kinks.

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