Posted By Dan Greenfield on Dec 2, 2023 | 2 comments

The modern master was born 52 years ago, on Dec. 2, 1971…

By PETER BOSCH

Thank goodness for Frank Cho. I say “thank goodness” because he had a career choice to make when he was younger — nursing or drawing comics. And while nursing is a noble field (I even did a column here saluting nurses of the world) I can’t think of one who can make me laugh as Frank Cho can.

One of the things I appreciate most about his work is how clean his art is, not muddied with exhaustingly overcrowded backgrounds that plague so many covers by other artists over the past few decades. (See any of his collected works, such as Frank Cho: Pencil and Ink.) While his artistic output includes spectacular dramatic work for Dynamite, Dark Horse and Marvel, I love his humorous Harley Quinn variant covers for DC the best.

Going to my favorite comics store, House of Secrets in Burbank, California, I would get downhearted by just how serious comics have become — but then I’d spot a Harley Quinn cover by Cho and my spirits would rise. Not only would it bring out a smile and a laugh from me, it would also bring out my wallet.

Cho’s work on the Harley Quinn covers (Issues #8-56, #60-65, and #67-75, between 2017 and 2020) contained some of his best gag work, very much in line with his comic strip Liberty Meadows, plus he also provided beautiful black-and-white line drawings reminiscent of Franklin Booth, a prominent illustrator of the early 1900s.

Here are 13 of those wonderful Harley Quinn variant covers.

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Combined covers of Harley Quinn #41 and #42 (both June 2018). Colors by Sabine Rich.

Harley Quinn #50 (Nov. 2018). Colors by Sabine Rich.

Harley Quinn #30 (Dec. 2017). Colors by Sabine Rich.

Harley Quinn #61 (July 2019). Colors by Sabine Rich.

Harley Quinn #44 (Aug. 2018). Colors by Sabine Rich.

Harley Quinn #68 (Feb. 2020). Colors by Sabine Rich.

Harley Quinn #18 (June 2017). Colors by Sabine Rich.

Harley Quinn #15 (Early May 2017). Colors by Laura Martin.

Harley Quinn #26 (Oct. 2017). Colors by Sabine Rich.

Harley Quinn #23 (Early Sept. 2017). Colors by Sabine Rich.

Harley Quinn #29 (Early Dec. 2017). Colors by Sabine Rich.

Harley Quinn #47 (Early Oct. 2018)

Combined covers of Harley Quinn #24 (Sept. 2017) and #25 (Early Oct. 2017). Colors by Sabine Rich.

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MORE

— 13 COVERS: A VETERANS DAY Salute With MADEMOISELLE MARIE. Click here.

— Dig the FIRST 13 BATMAN NEWSPAPER STRIPS: An 80th Anniversary Celebration. Click here.

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13th Dimension contributor-at-large PETER BOSCH’s first book, American TV Comic Books: 1940s-1980s – From the Small Screen to the Printed Page, was published by TwoMorrows. He is currently at work on a sequel, about movie comics. Peter has written articles and conducted celebrity interviews for various magazines and newspapers. He lives in Hollywood.