Reviewer: Tim Stevens
Story Title: Harvest
Written by: Gail Simone
Pencilled by: Tom Derenick
Inked by: Bob Petrecca
Colored by: Hi-Fi
Lettered by: Jared K. Fletcher
Editor: Joan Hilty
Publisher: DC Comics
It’s part two of the Birds of Prey North American Tour and this time they are off to Kansas, which is considered a Great Plain State,for those of you who didn’t know. They have been drawn to a small town by a series of ritualistic murders that seem to be connected only by the victim having gone unpunished for past sins. This vigilante or monster goes by the name of Harvest and is the subject of much fear and, much like Freddy Krueger before her, a children’s nursery rhyme (“Letters of red, better off dead.”). As part of Barbara’s new “we’ll stop heroes who kill” initiative, the Birds are planning on collaring this ghoul and bringing her to justice.
I would not have known it until this issue, but Simone can write a mean horror comic. The scene which opens the book, an idyllic fishing trip among friends that quickly becomes sinister, is as well set up and executed as any horror film I have seen as of late. The initial banter, the ensuing panic, and the reveal of the killer are all expertly done. Tension is a difficult thing to build in the four-color world of comics, but Simone delivers it here. The scene at the conclusion of the book where Harvest makes her second appearance, bookends the issue on a similar note of growing unease.
The only negative here is the art, and only at points. Derenick’s work on men and the heavily clocked Harvest delivers. Harvest’s first appearance is so effective at least, in part, because of Derenick’s penciling. However, his depiction of the women in this book is…off. He seems to be trying to adapt to Benes’s almost cheesecake style, but the results are not quite right. The women are clearly women, yes, but there is something almost man-ish about the way they hold themselves. I am not even sure if that is exactly what it is or what I mean to say, but there is something there that weakens the book. Additionally, when Harvest throws back her ropes towards the end of the issue she looks very much like a Scarecrow knockoff. The mood is not lost entirely due to this, but what should be one of the spookiest moments in the book is undercut because her cloaked appearance is much more frightening than the Scarecrow-lite garb beneath.
Overall, however, this is another good issue. Simone has a great feel for the distinctive voice of her characters and gives them each a moment to shine. The ongoing subplot of Barbara not being quite right after her encounter with Brainac is being allowed to percolate on the back burner. It has not been forgotten, but Simone is also in no rush to resolve it and move on. She balances the subplot and the main plot very well.
