Harleen
By Stepan Sejic
So, this review wasn't really planned but when my roommate left this graphic novel in my room with a note that stated “review this.” Well, I have a policy of not upsetting the people who know where I sleep, and with good reason! (Imagine if your pissed-off roommate was the Pinhead from Hellraiser, and you’ve just opened The Box. That’s what we’re dealing with. Maybe that’s something you’re into, but Our Reviewer is certainly not.) In all honesty, it helped that I was interested in the book. Stepan Sejic, a Croatian-born comic artist and writer, has been reviewed by me a couple times, although it's been five years since I looked at his work in this review series. I reviewed his Death Vigil graphic novel, which I loved, and his Ravine graphic novels, which I really didn't like. He's done other work such as the erotic romantic comedy Sunstone and erotic Supernatural story Fine Print for example (Hm. I see a theme.). His wife Linda is also an artist and writer with works like Plunderworld, a retelling of the Hades-Persephone story; as well as Blood Stain, the story of a mad scientist's new assistant. Honestly, I do recommend Death Vigil and Plunderworld to everyone and I'm gonna admit I haven't read any of the erotic stuff, that said I have confidence in Stepan's skills.
Harleen was a mini-series run under the DC Black Label that was released in 3 issues in 2019 and 2020. The graphic novel itself was also released in 2020. Now the DC Black Label is an imprint meant to allow creators to tell their own stories about characters in the DC universe without getting bogged down in canon. This honestly seems like a good compromise, keep the canon universe running for people who want it but allow stories that might not entirely fit to be told. It also seems to be taking up the duties of the discontinued imprint Vertigo, which is where DC printed its more adult content. Now let's look at the story itself.
Harleen is Mr. Sejic's retelling of the origin of Harley Quinn and her fall from Dr. Harleen Quinzel, to Joker's abused and battered head-minion. Created by Bruce Timm and Paul Dini for the Batman animated series, she was originally supposed to be a one-shot character but she proved popular enough with audiences that they brought her back, making her one of the bigger recurring characters in the show. She also migrated over to the comics. She proved incredibly popular not just with comic book readers but also with the general public. Today Harley Quinn is an antihero who broke free of her toxic relationship with the Joker and is often compared to Marvel's Deadpool (She even has her own animated series, which is all kinds of adorable and based, for my communist variety of based. Totally-Not-Pharma-Bro got kneecapped in the first two minutes and it was glorious.). To be honest, I kinda like the character too, although I prefer her original outfit to the modern hotpants version.
Now, one recurring problem is that some writers simply don't take Harley seriously, or romanticize her or worse her relationship with the Joker(Which is, you know, a problem. Don’t romanticize abuse, kids.). Mr. Sejic however, takes Dr. Quinzel seriously but refuses to romanticize or whitewash either her or her relationship. Instead, he seeks to show us how an intelligent woman could be brought into the thrall of an abusive monster and end up with blood-stained hands herself. Let's make no mistake here, the Joker is an abuser and a monster, and Harley when under his influence did awful things.
Mr. Sejic does this by presenting us with a very intelligent but isolated woman. She was academically gifted but because she was taken advantage of by one of her professors (look when you're a professor the correct reaction to one of your students saying she enjoys spending time with you is not to reach for the zipper of your pants(Can confirm. It’s fine going out for drinks or something, but that relationship dynamic between a graduate student and their mentors is and should remain a kind of strange hybrid between collegiate and parental. Mine even went out for a pack of smokes and didn’t come back, it’s amazing I earned my Ph.D.)). She is dogged by rumors of sleeping her way to a Ph.D. Which I'll be blunt isn't possible (Can confirm. Even if you are fucking your advisor, you still have to defend your dissertation and get four other people to agree that you earned your Ph.D. If you’re gonna bone your way to a Ph.D. you have to be successful with all of them.). This isn't helped by the fact that Dr. Quinzel is very self-sabotaging and prone to bouts of self-doubt. What she doesn't doubt though is her theory that the collapse of empathy and remorse is the result of a brain malfunction due to being in continuously stressful situations. We're actually shown some of the groundwork for this theory through her work with soldiers convicted of war crimes (It is also true to a certain extent. Constant exposure to cortisol, especially in childhood and during puberty through the early 20s, leads to atrophy between the connections linking the prefrontal cortex with the rest of the brain, decreasing the ability of a person to self-regulate their behavior along multiple avenues, from being able to defer gratification, to controlling violent or sexual impulses. Please please please, if you have a hard time controlling those, at least don’t combine them. Being slutty is okay, being a bit agro is sub-optimal, but being rapey is NOT OKAY.).
It's a theory that very few people take seriously, and everyone from Harvey Dent to Hugo Strange is telling her to drop it and get out of Gotham. However, with a generous grant from the Wayne Foundation, which seems to be funding any research it can find to attempt to cure super villains. As well as access to the patients of Arkham Asylum, Dr. Quinzel is sure if she can just find one patient who fits her model she can work out a treatment to rebuild empathy and reform even a supervillain. As she interviews one after another, she finally finds someone who will fit, she thinks. The clown prince himself, the Joker. (See, I’d start with normal criminals first, lay the groundwork with a big sample-size, and then try it out at Arkham… But there’s that self-sabotage…{Actually in this case it’s because Dent keeps her out of Blackgate, the prison with the normal criminals. Ironically he does it because he’s worried that she would get hurt or worse get used and then get hurt} Wait. In what universe do district attorneys have a say in the administration of prisons? Also: way to go Harv…{The one where Joker just keeps getting sent to the same Aslyum that never shows any progress in his treatment and he keeps breaking out of})
As she desperately tries to make herself believe that there's more than a monster under that clown's white skin, Dr. Quinzel finds herself emotionally invested in the Joker who draws her deeper and deeper into a relationship that breaks every damn rule of psychotherapy. It's a voyage of the damned in a lot of ways as we watch Dr. Quinzel justify and rationalize her every step into hell. She willfully blinds herself to all the red flags on the way. Worse, she is smart enough to know what she is doing but is so lonely and desperate for not just validation but simple human acknowledgment that she can't help herself. Driven by a combination of PTSD, unhealthy attachment, and vulnerability, she is played like a violin and we're taken along for the ride. (Actually, while we’re here, unhealthy attachment is a really common problem in real human relationships, even without abuse. I’d recommend reading another book. Attached, by Levine and Heller. While we’re on the subject of abuse inside romantic relationships, I also want to make something clear. If you find yourself in a relationship with an abusive partner: It isn’t your fault, you deserve better, and you have people who will help you escape. You don’t have to be stuck in that terrible place.)
This would be a difficult story to tell and a lot of people wouldn't be able to tell it without going over the line and robbing the story of the weight and thought it deserves; because when you strip out the clown makeup and fistfights with men dressed up as a bat, it's the story of how a predator finds and takes down his mark. Told from the victim's viewpoint. Now we don't see any physical abuse here, because this story is about the recruitment and the fall. That said we see rampant emotional manipulation, gas-lighting, and disturbing mental images. I would honestly recommend that if you've been in an abusive relationship maybe give this book a pass. It might stir up memories for you. Because Mr. Stejic doesn't glamorize anything but he doesn't pull his punches either. Which is the kind of Harley story I think we need and deserve honestly.
It also helps that it is very well written and the art is amazing. As always I'm a big fan of Mr. Stejic's art style, he continues to be very good at drawing facial expressions allowing him to communicate volumes. His dialogue and pacing are really well done as well and his characterization is just damn good. This frankly should be the origin story for Harley Quinn. Harleen by Stepan Sejic gets an A from me.
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Red text is your editor Dr. Ben Allen
Black Text is your reviewer Garvin Anders
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