Welcome to Ink Spots, a quirky little corner of DC.com devoted entirely to all of our favorite Young Adult comics and fiction. In this new Book Breakdown, Jules Chin Greene is transformed along with Harley Quinn in her latest YA adventure.
Harley Quinn contains multitudes. Whether it’s her training as a gymnast, her expertise as a psychiatrist, or her fondness for giant melee weapons, Ms. Harleen has a lot going on. Her vast array of hobbies and interests is part of what makes her feel so human. We all have that one friend who seems to spawn new talents completely out of the blue. Now, a new YA graphic novel, The Strange Case of Harleen and Harley by Melissa Marr and Jenn St-Onge, celebrates both Harleen and Harley Quinn in all of their glory.
Cover Crackdown:
That cover by Jenn St-Onge is absolutely stunning, isn’t it? It hints at the transformation that Harleen undergoes into Harley over the course of the graphic novel, capturing the wide-eyed confusion of Harleen with the brash, punk-inspired look of Harley. One detail that I love about it is that Harley has a diamond-shaped pupil in her eye, while Harleen has a standard circular pupil.
As you might guess based on the cover, this version of Harleen is much younger than the one we typically see in comics, TV and movies. She’s a teenager worried about getting into college, who doesn’t want to draw too much attention to herself. Like so many of us, she’s a little anxious, evident in her chipped nail polish.
Tell Me a Story:
The Strange Case picks up with Harleen Quinzel after she moves to a new, perfectly boring town outside of Gotham City called Edenville with her family. The move was against her wishes, because it would mean that she would no longer be going to school with her redheaded girlfriend, Pamela Isley. But even though the two lovebirds are now attending school separately, that doesn’t stop Harleen from taking time to go back into Gotham to visit Pamela.
The move out of Gotham City comes with another huge bummer: Harleen won’t be able to continue training in gymnastics with her coach. Since her parents won’t pay for her to get another coach in Edenville, Harleen hatches a plan with Pamela to raise the funds by participating in a pharmaceutical trial. Little does Harleen know that the trial will transform her beyond her wildest dreams.
Let’s Talk Art:
The Strange Case of Harleen and Harley doesn’t shy away from addressing heavy topics, and Jenn St-Onge represents both the roses and thorns of Harleen and Pamela’s lives with a sunny and smart approach. There’s a whimsical way that St-Onge draws Pamela and Harleen’s relationship as it quite literally blossoms onto the page, matching their energy and devotion towards each other. When you’re a teenager, anything is possible, and St-Onge’s art is committed to representing this positive outlook no matter how dark Harleen and Pamela’s struggles get.
Dialog Discussion:
Melissa Marr’s script for The Strange Case captures Harleen and Harley’s personalities like a seasoned hunter. As Harleen transforms into Harley as a result of the pharmaceutical trial, Harley isn’t afraid to tell off people she thinks are messing with her. A great example of this is when she visits a friend in prison. When she reaches towards him, a prison guard snaps, “No touching!” to which Harley sassily replies, “Wasn’t!” Later, after Harley brings up the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders in casual conversation with her friend, he replies with a grin, “I miss you. No one else really talked to me about smart stuff.”
And that’s why we all love Harley! She isn’t afraid to pull out the deep knowledge she has, but she does so without ever talking down to people.
One Perfect Page:
There is truly One Perfect Page in this story: when Harley and Ivy step into their new nicknames for each other. Even though Ivy isn’t actively creating flowers to surround them on the page (or is she?), the plants enveloping them reflect the love they have for each other. They look like they’re in their own musical theater production. The composition here has a very strong Art Nouveau look to it, with its decorative frame around the panels. It was very pleasing to me as a fan of Alphonse Mucha! I would love to see an entire story about Ivy drawn in a style like this one. Wouldn’t you? (And if you say no, I don’t believe you.)
Voted Most Likely:
If this book was a high school senior, it would be voted Most Changed Since Freshman Year. Harleen’s transformation into Harley from the anxiety medical trial is pretty astounding, so much so that her dialogue balloons as Harley are a completely different color than her plain white balloons as Harleen. This is also matched by her change in personality as Harley, where she’s much more risk-taking and audacious.
Perfect Food Pairing:
At the beginning of the second part of the book, Harleen’s family prepares a shabbat dinner. On the page you can see shabbat dinner staples like a roasted chicken and a pickled cucumber salad, alongside challah bread. I instantly got hungry when I saw the page. A year ago, I got diagnosed with celiac disease and can’t eat gluten anymore. So, dear reader, if you aren’t also celiac, please eat some challah bread for me when you read this book. I miss it so much!
The Strange Case of Harleen and Harley by Melissa Marr and Jenn St-Onge is now available in bookstores, comic shops, libraries and as a digital graphic novel.
On more than one occasion, Jules Chin Greene has had to stop himself from yelling at the top of his lungs while explaining his love for Orion of the New Gods. When he's not tampering his unbridled Fourth World enthusiasm, Jules loves getting lost in the worlds of Ngozi Ukazu, Claudia Gray and James Tynion IV. Find him on Twitter at @JulesChinGreene and Instagram at @infinitevibes.
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NOTE: The views and opinions expressed in this feature are solely those of Jules Chin Greene and do not necessarily reflect those of DC or Warner Bros. Discovery, nor should they be read as confirmation or denial of future DC plans.
