Reviews with content warning for Mental illness - Harlin

My friend gave me this book to read because she loves Harley and knows how much I love the Batman universe. That being said she’s not one of my favorite character's and I’m so over the Joker. He is so over used and over analyzed that I find him incredibly boring. However, the art work is stunning and the dialogue is great. It’s a solid graphic novel.

I needed a minute to come up with my review because I’m so familiar with these Characters. I love BTAS, which is where Harley was first introduced. If this came out closer to when that aired I would find it a bit more truer to pieces of their characters. Over the past 30 plus years their characters have changed so much that I had to almost look at this book like an AU. With the more current adaptation of the Joker I find it almost impossible to believe he would have ever had this kind if dialogue with another character. His obsession with Batman makes it unbelievable.

I don’t dislike Harley. I really love the antihero she’s become. I feel like this gave a more thorough origin story for her that’s never really been written before. I never could figure out how anyone could fall for the Joker. With the exception of the very cartoonish “Mad Love” plot. This novel makes a very reasonable and realistic case for it. I’m still grossed out by it. 😅

Content Warnings

mrpointy's review against another edition

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dark emotional reflective fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

This was a really interesting character focused story about Harley. I will say I can tell a man wrote it but it does a good job of showing the joker as a manipulative abuser

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pagepattern's review against another edition

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adventurous dark emotional tense medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? It's complicated
Loveable characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

Content Warnings

archfeyofchaos's review against another edition

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dark emotional funny sad fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

Beautiful artwork and beautiful story! Loved how the whole thing was told from Harley’s perspective.

Content Warnings

michaelmac316's review against another edition

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dark emotional funny reflective sad tense medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.75

Great writing, excellent art.

Content Warnings

indeedithappens's review against another edition

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challenging dark reflective sad tense medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

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lolajh's review against another edition

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dark emotional slow-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.75

Wowowowowowowow. This was a really good interpretation of Harley’s story. Like really. Building up the character of Harleen Quinzel right until

the very end,

made this story so much more tragic, because she starts off as someone with dreams and someone to root for and

I knew what was going to happen but I had hope that it wouldn’t anyway.

I love Harley so much more now, though every time I see her as Harley Quinn from now on I will be even more sad about her backstory and how she got there, how Batman was right:

the Joker did use her and it’s not all her fault.

Content Warnings

raynestorm's review against another edition

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challenging dark emotional mysterious medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

A stunningly illustrated 2-part series from Stjepan Šejic. The art is beautiful, and the story is incredible.

A beautiful, nuanced take on Harley Quinn and the Joker, from her perspective. I deeply appreciate that this really lets us see the woman who just wanted to help.

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