Judge not, lest ye be judged #12 – Harleen November 18, 2021 – Posted in: Books
"The road to Hell is paved with good intentions... On that road I saw a pale man... and he smiled at me."
Spyros Andrianos writes
No one expected, not even her creators (Paul Dini and Bruce Timm), the success her character would have Harley Quinn, when he first appeared in an episode of the legendary series Bat Man the Animated series. The public's growing interest in this new character appearing alongside the Joker (as a sidekick-mistress-groupie) made Dini write the character's origin, in the one shot issue The Batman Adventures: Mad Love which was released in February 1994. In it readers finally had the opportunity to read about the events that led the rising psychiatrist Harleen Quinzel who worked at Arkham Asylum, to fall victim to the Joker's "charm" on a journey to madness…
The Croatian creator will also be based on this origin Stjepan Šejić (Witchblade, Aquaman, X-Men: Endangered Species ) to present in one of the best - if not the best - series of DC's Black Label, the Harleen, his own modern version of the story through the point of view of the protagonist herself. The author takes the reader along with her Harleen it takes him on the dark roads that lead to madness and paranoia.. After all, he himself Joker in the masterpiece The Killing Joke had stated that it only takes one bad day to drive a normal person into absolute madness... Let alone a psychiatrist who will spend hours with him, studying him..
THE Harleen Quinzel trying to survive in a mostly male-dominated industry, trying to shed a past that has stigmatized her in her work, she believes that there can be salvation for every mental patient and wants to prove her theory in practice by contacting and to hold sessions with Arkham's most dangerous inmates… When he comes into contact with Joker (with whom she had a brief encounter at some point during his battle with Bat-Man) will feel a strange attraction and soon become attracted to what he tells her…
Because his greatest weapon Joker it is not the crowbar with which he will kill Robin, but the ability to enter like a virus into people's minds and souls... In the way he enters their minds himself, how he completely corrupts it and like a cancerous parasite begins to consume it little by little... And as time goes by, she will sink into the dark world of madness and paranoia that is the everyday life of the crime lord...
"Smiles...and I make the worst mistake of my life...I smile at him too..."
The story has its own narrator Harley of today. Which recognizes that by letting it invade her mind and soul o Joker she basically destroyed her own life, yet she has not regretted her decision...
A game of cat and mouse where the roles are reversed and it is not clear who is reasonable and who is not. A new version of the Clarice Starling-Hannibal Leckter relationship as we saw it in Silence of the Lambs, but without fully understanding whether Joker he truly responds to her love Harleen or if he uses it as he usually does with any person he comes into contact with...
THE Stjepan Šejić masterfully presents us with a terrifying and extremely creepy psychological thriller, which manages to give the reader shivers not so much because of what he sees, but because of what he knows will follow... And the success of a thriller is, after all, this: not to give you the fear ready or fear, but that lurks throughout the reading.. Along with a bittersweet taste that leaves the reader, knowing from the beginning that there was no salvation even for him Joker. completely different perspective, that of madness...
THE Stjepan Šejić here is a man orchestra, since he designs-inks and writes the script of the story, delivering one of his most amazing and mature works, in a design and - especially - color feast that will enchant even the most demanding reader. Lifelike expressiveness of faces and beautiful design of body proportions. With a European BD air, but also elements from manga-influenced artists (Madureira), Šejić manages to combine the romantic element (even the Joker he is beautiful, even through her eyes Harleen) with the gloom and darkness that exists within the lonely road to the hell of madness... Perhaps one of the best origin stories ever (re)told for a comic book character, who even though you know he's not on the side of “good” sympathies for him….
The comic recently released and always of high quality OXY publications in a very good translation by Savvas Argyros and an incredible price of 18 euros, a luxurious edition that should be in every self-respecting comic book library. And the specific publications with their consecutive releases and quality of their prints, show in turn that they respect their readers.
