Die Psychologin Dr. Harleen Quinzel ist dem Joker verfallen, dem gefährlichsten Insassen der Irrenanstalt Arkham Asylum. Harleen beschützt den eingesperrten Killerclown sogar vor Batman. Doch dann plant der irre Harvey Dent einen Überfall auf Arkham, und Harleen und der Joker müssen zeigen, wie weit sie für ihre verbotene Liebe zu gehen bereit sind …
In der Tradition von BATMAN: THE KILLING JOKE schaffen Top-Künstler unter dem Black Label grandiose eigenständige Comics für Kenner, Neueinsteiger und Gelegenheitsleser. In HARLEEN präsentiert Ausnahmekünstler Stjepan Šejic die Herkunftsgeschichte der Kultfigur Harley Quinn völlig neu.
Stjepan Šejić is a Croatian comic book writer and artist, known for his work on the series Witchblade, Aphrodite IX, Sunstone, and The Darkness among others.
Harleen is exquisite and I loved it. It would make for a great Hollywood movie should the right people read it.
Šejić's art is beautiful and the story keeps you hooked right until the end. My only complaint is that there are only 3 issues for Harleen. I would have needed more.
There’s a small part of me that wants to wake up. The dream has lasted quite a while. A long time in the dark.
I mean, even the darkest night must end...
...right?
What I’ve really enjoyed about this series is Harleen’s slow progression into Harley Quinn, to the point where you can understand her thinking, but also see the Joker’s manipulation of her. But as Alfred said towards the end; she made her choices.
And I think that’s the major dilemma with Harley. How much Joker’s influence, her own declining mental health, and the decisions that she made, caused her actions. Caused her to kill. You could argue either way, but one path would never have all the answers.
My one qualm with this final in the series (which kept it from a 5 star rating) is the giant skip in time. After the events at Arkham, the story skips 4 years. But what happened to Harley straight afterwards? How did she take on the moniker of Harley Quinn, and what adjustments did she have to make? How did she struggle with Joker after she named herself his sidekick? We saw her cross the line, but why did she stay there?
The last image was very poignant though, with the ‘full moon’ shining over Gotham. Perhaps that’s how Harley has been explaining all her decisions; that she is in a dream. Throughout, she has dreams where she tries to explore her feelings, her actions, why should now be any different.
This was a great series, although the last seems a little rushed, and I feel there is more of Harley’s story to tell. Her origin is often explored/changed, but her time after she ‘turns’ is still ignored. I wish this series would have been given another book or two. Then it would have been perfect.
This was pretty great. The final piece for Harleen to become a sadistic killer with the joker. It's almost flawless in the transformation and the art is truly amazing. Full review of the entire series coming when the graphic novel does (I'll be buying it for sure!)
This Sejic guy is dangerous, he even made harley hot in that silly costume. and he made joker hot of all people. don't allow him to draw super villains again lol its really tough, to understand the joker, you know nothing is what it seems. its easy to understand harley and how she was manipulated by him, was she?! but him you can't tell if he loves her or not at that particular point. we know from other works that he stopped loving her or maybe never did. but at this particular point that this graphic novel portrays, its really tough to grasp it, he is such a slimey bastard, nothing is what it seems, where does the lies end and the truth peaks through no one knows, and that's what is amazing about the character of the joker, its why he is interesting. harley was always prone to do what is wrong what is forbidden, so sleeping with a patient in the joker, was not something outlandish or unexpected, at one point you need to put your foot down and say this is my limit, sleeping with a professor knowing it could get him expelled, you can't even be a friend of your patient outside of your appointments together, its not what psychiatrists should do and for a good reason.
It's been a very long time since I actually enjoyed a DC comic, and they used to be my favourites, especially in the Batman franchise. This series felt like a breath of fresh air, which I didn't think possible, considering how used (and abused) the dynamic between the Joker and Harley has been - like for real, I think I read/watched more versions of the Joker's backstories than any other comic book character ever. It might just me being a girly girl, but honestly I cannot really love a book if there's no good romance in it, and the romance in this one was *chef's kiss*. I'm not the romancing the serial k!ller kind of girl, but hey. This one was pretty good. Loved the art style too!
This here should be the canon story for Harleen. It isn't about a woman that goes crazy for a man, but about how a woman - anyone - gets lures into an abusive relationship. And stay there. Harleen doesn't tell the story of how she falls in love with a crazy man, but how she falls in love with the kindness underneath. How she desperatly thinks that she can change him, cure him, all for those kind moments, those "real" moments. Then how do I explain her becoming the Harley we know? If this story isn't about the crazy? Well, look at any cult there ever was, look at America's current president. Cult-leaders and Drump all sow seeds of something, and our minds are made to see patterns, and then those patterns fit the world the mad person has been telling you about. Then, throwing in a feeling as strong as love/hate, it's easy to convert. For this entire story starts with fear and hate, but as they say, there's a fine line, and oh how well Sejic writes that line.
This album was so intense, do beautiful, so wrong, so crazy, and I loved any second of it. I hardly even have words.
One of the things that drew me to Sejic in the first place, was how human his characters were, and he used that in this comic as well. Even the Joker is pictured as human, even Killer Crock, and it all just made the story so much stronger. When the Joker-movie was released, I thought I didn't want to see it because I didn't want anyone to make the Joker less of a villain. Sejic did that, but in a way that only evolved his madness, streangthened the view we have of him, and at the same time made me want to delve into his mind even more.
I'm really looking forward to getting my hands on the collection of these albums and giving it all a re-read. It's just an amazingly told story of the human psyche.
И финалната трета част е без забележка. Хърватинът е уловил трескавия пулс на историята по възможно най-добрия начин, а умението му да борави с думи и образи е впечатляващо. Дано видя още негови работи преведени на български. На нови неща от DC Black Label също няма да се разсърдя.
Harley Quinn has never done anything wrong in her life.
Copypasted from my review of issue #1, because it applies:
"An intensely cinematic art style makes this feel more like a movie than a comic. Narration, deliberation, and a touch of noir. A beautiful, dark story that held my attention.
Still, I always hope for more from stories about Harley Quinn. There's a lot of unexplored territory in the way women are socialized to seek male approoval that could come into play in her twisted "love" story. Some things did intrigue me about Sejic's Harleen. She's deferential in a way that comes from fear. She's very afraid. But she's ambitious.
Enjoying this series and curious to see where it goes. Shelved as lgbtq because Harley is canonically bisexual, though that is not mentioned in this book."
I have but one qualm with this book. It is the conclusion of the origin story, but of the Stjepan story, it is only the first half. I want to read the second half where Harleen goes and breaks up with the Joker and talks about it with Pamela. I just hope they allow him to publish it someday. Now for this one. It is a story fit for the Nolan Verse or the Arkham games. I guess inspired by both and it's on equal equally amazingly written and drawn. I felt the pain and felt empathy for the sick relationship of both Harley and the Joker. I simply want more of this story and version of the DC universe.
Okay, so I LOVED the first two installments of this series, but the third felt a bit lacking. Just a tiny bit. It was still amazing, of course, but I was hoping we'd get to see a bit more of Harley with the Joker, like when she fell into the acid (I think the artist was working on that panel). Also, the end itself was beautifully done, really outstanding, but it did feel too rushed. I would LOVE to see a follow up to this series detailing Harley's emancipation from the Joker, for example.
"Das finale Album", Abschlussband von Sejics Trilogie - der Höhepunkt? Für meinen Geschmack nicht, eher schon das Gegenteil. Sejics Artwork überrascht nicht, wenn man bereits mit ihr vertraut ist. Im dritten Teil war der vorherrschender Eindruck, dass die Panels doch alle sehr "geleckt" auf mich wirken, sehr sauber, fast ein wenig seelenlos. Die Handlung nimmt ihren vorherbestimmten Gang, ohne dass Harley Quinn an Tiefe oder Kontur gewinnt. Vielleicht fällt mein Bewertung etwas harscher aus, weil die Erwartungen einfach h��her waren, schließlich ist Sejics HARLEEN beim Black Label erschienen und von den Lesern überwiegend abgefeiert worden. Meine Prognose: In ein paar Jahren wird sich kaum noch jemand an diesen Run erinnern. Eher schon wird Sean Murphy mit seinem WHITE KNIGHT in Erinnerung bleiben.
This was better than book 2, but it didn't reach the awesomeness of the first volume. Special shoutout to Poison Ivy's design and outfit! It was gorgeous and I'd love to read more about her (especially together with Harley, hehe)!
Diese Comic-Reihe habe ich geliebt. Der Zeichenstil ist einmalig schön. Die Vorgeschichte von Harleen Quinzel beschreibt den Weg wie sie durch den immer enger werdenden Kontakt zum Joker schlussendlich zur Harley Quinn wird. Grandios!
Mit dem 3.Band geht eine grandiose Comic Reihe zu Ende. Auch der letzte Band hat mir unglaublich gut gefallen. Die Entwicklung von Harleen Quinzel zu Harley Quinn wurde hier einfach so gut geschrieben, ihre Ängste,ihre Liebe zu Joker und wie der Joker sie manipuliert. Obwohl man die Geschichte kennt und weiß wie es endet, zieht es einen in seinen Bann und lässt ein mitfühlen. Auch wie Harvey Dent hier in die Geschichte mit eingebracht wurde, hat mir sehr gefallen. Und dieser Zeichenstil war wieder der reine Wahnsinn. So wunderschön und ich könnte mir den Comic stundenlang ansehen.
Финалът на „Харлийн“ – увлекателната нова интерпретация на произхода на небезизвестната Харли Куин вече е тук, благодарение на “Artline Studios”. Подобаващ завършек ли е обаче това? Накратко…да. Прочетете ревюто на "Книжни Криле": https://knijnikrile.wordpress.com/202...
Finalmente chegamos à derradeira edição da minissérie em três partes que investiga com detalhes a origem da palhacinha do crime, a Arlequina. Se a segunda edição tinha tirado um pouco minha vontade de continuar lendo esta coleção, esta terceira edição veio para dizer: "não, não, Guilherme, você estava errado, olha o que eu vou fazer aqui, olha só". Eu olhei e foi legal. Claro que a arte encantadora do croata Stjepan Seijic tem o seu brilhantismo e sedução à parte, é possível perceber que ele quer enredar o leitor também no seu roteiro, altamente psicológico, mas que nessa edição também acaba ficando recheado com boas doses de ação também. Claro, eu gostaria que o roteiro desta edição fosse ainda mais psicológico, mas eu sei que a convenção de "como deve ser um quadrinho de super-herói" não permite tais profundidades e que exige que sempre tenha pelo menos uma cena de lutinha entre o bem e o mal para fazer jus ao gênero. Então preciso avaliar dentro das expectativas que foram forjadas para o gênero e não sob aquelas que eu gostaria. Nesse quesito, então, a HQ se sai muito bem. Vale a pena.
I kolejna odsłona. Jako origin story Harley Quinn wypada to bardzo przekonująco. Znacząco różni się od solowych serii Harley. Przypomina trochę narrację czarnego kryminału, z tym podejściem do walki w przegranej sprawie w mieście bezprawia i pogrążaniu się w szaleństwie.
Komiks nie jest subtelny i na końcu wyłuszcza dosadnie swoje przesłanie, sama Harley praktycznie robi wykład z paraleli życia Denta i swojego. Ale to pasuje i kupuję taką narrację.
Now that's an amazing art style! It's our good old Harley Quinn origin but a detailed and better version! (best?) We got a detailed glimpse of the main character's head and also Joker's narrative in this version which is missing in other books. Great character voice and all. Also, we got a really hot Joker too!
The ending seemed a bit rushed I would have most definitely loved to see more of Harley and Joker. 1 more issue would have been heaven but hey, we don't always get what we want. This series was:
Omg joker the master manipulator. All the pieces just clicked in my mind and all i have to say is woooowwwww that wasssss something. I mean the end though. Ooooofffff