A review by _mery98_
Joker/Harley: Criminal Sanity (2019-) #3 by Mico Suayan, Francesco Mattina, Annette Kwok, Kami Garcia, Jason Badower
2.0
It’s not like this book is lacking in content – we learn more about John Kelly’s past, we discover more of Harley’s relationship with her mother, a new crime scene, and a criminal profile of the Joker. Considering this book is nine issues long, it’s keeping a relatively consistent pace, and events play out relatively naturally. On paper, this is all fine, but they’re just a sequence of events, you need characters to carry the scenes, and I can’t help but think this is where Criminal Sanity falls apart.
The art fares better, but I can’t say it’s particularly consistent in this issue. Jason Badower filling in for Mike Mayhew ended up being a great call – not only are their styles close enough so as to make the transition easy to digest, but Badower manages to deliver some of the best illustrations of the entire series so far. The cross-hatching on his characters works wonderfully in creating some depth within the pages, and he manages to create an excellent mood whenever he’s able to tackle scenes involving the adult Joker – colorist Annette Kwok is particularly essential in scenes like the opening page with the Joker developing photos, and a later scene with him in a shopping mall.
So, if I’m not finding the characters enthralling, and I’m not finding the art compelling enough to hold me over, what might be the appeal of this book? Well, there’s the analytical aspect: the story is about a criminal profiler, and we do get a rather in-depth file of the Joker at the end of the story.
Overall
I don’t feel great about giving a book a low score, especially considering it’s rather proficient on a technical level. I’ll ask some of my fellow reviewers what they think of it, but to me, it’s a shame that the intriguing premise is marred by generic crime-solving tropes, self-indulgent quotes and a lack of compelling characters, instead of standing out on its own.
The art fares better, but I can’t say it’s particularly consistent in this issue. Jason Badower filling in for Mike Mayhew ended up being a great call – not only are their styles close enough so as to make the transition easy to digest, but Badower manages to deliver some of the best illustrations of the entire series so far. The cross-hatching on his characters works wonderfully in creating some depth within the pages, and he manages to create an excellent mood whenever he’s able to tackle scenes involving the adult Joker – colorist Annette Kwok is particularly essential in scenes like the opening page with the Joker developing photos, and a later scene with him in a shopping mall.
So, if I’m not finding the characters enthralling, and I’m not finding the art compelling enough to hold me over, what might be the appeal of this book? Well, there’s the analytical aspect: the story is about a criminal profiler, and we do get a rather in-depth file of the Joker at the end of the story.
Overall
I don’t feel great about giving a book a low score, especially considering it’s rather proficient on a technical level. I’ll ask some of my fellow reviewers what they think of it, but to me, it’s a shame that the intriguing premise is marred by generic crime-solving tropes, self-indulgent quotes and a lack of compelling characters, instead of standing out on its own.