Harleen #3

[cyberghostface]

As an aside this is pretty out of character for Harvey. The first coin toss should have been enough. He shouldn't be flipping the coin multiple times until he gets the result he wants. (Yes this is an AU but the point still stands.)

Comments

[janegray]

I really hate when they have Harvey keep flipping the coin until he gets the evil side. The whole point of his character is that he is a genuinely tragic victim of mental illness who is torn apart between the desire to do good and the desire to do evil, that he is too deeply unwell to take control of his life and so needs the coin to be in charge for him. Having him go "well, the coin wants me to do X, but I want to do Y instead, so I'll just keep flipping until I get Y" completely destroys the entire point. And it's extra stupid in this story here, that is focused on mental conditions.

[quatoria]

Yeah, agreed. I*really* like portraying Harley's break as being a consequence of her own choices and actions, even though she was manipulated. I like it a hell of a lot more than the "shoved in a tub" origin she often gets, these days, with her broadly antagonistic relationship to the Joker and his abuse. This feels more like the way these kind of relationships work in the real world - the abuser manipulates you into making choices that you're ashamed of, ones that seem irrevocable to you. And I genuinely found the 'good intentions' bit powerful.

[mesmiranda]

So it does bug me how samey every face (and body/physique) Stjepan Sejic draws is...

...but God, do I ever love his art. The way Batman is portrayed from Harley's POV when he arrives to interrogate the Joker--a looming, unsettling shadow with glowing eyes--somehow that moment really got me.

[jeyl]

What we lose in familiarity, we gain with expressions. Characters may look the same, but the way Stjepan expresses them more than makes up for this slight downside. Most who draw the same character over and over again can't draw more than one facial expression.

[zenfrodo]

Wow. Aside from the Harvey Dent OOC thing, this is awesomely scary and unsettling. Nothing beats "But I can chaaaaaaaaaange him! But he looooooooooves me!" as the route to hell.

Unfortunately, Batman and Alfred don't seem to realize that "he looooooooooves me!" is never a way out; it's only a massive padlock on the escape-hatch. You'd think the World's Greatest Detective would know better.

[shadowpsykie]

I LOVE that last page... showing the "Real" Harleen trying to get out.,..

[informationgeek]

This whole story has been nothing but a tragic, uncomfortable, heavy ride... but one that feels not exploitative, but just incredibly written and done just right.

Sejic just gets Harley so well and his artwork is just out of this world. Honestly, this is probably one of the best comics I've read, but not one I can read often. It just hits so damn hard.

I can't wait to buy the hardcover next month.