Written by Melissa Marr

Art by Jenn St-Onge

Color by Jeremy Lawson

Letters by Lucas Gattoni

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“Harleen Quinzel is many things, a gymnast, anxious, broke—but is it possible there is something else inside her? Something… evil?

When Harleen signs up to participate in a clinical research trial with her girlfriend, Pamela, the most she can hope for is extra cash in her wallet and a chance to get her anxiety under control. But what she gets instead are increasingly larger gaps in her memory and stolen mementos from some guy named Jack she’s never met. Soon, Harleen discovers she’s sharing her life with Harley—a take-no-prisoners, who-cares-about attendance, maybe-we-oughtta-save-the-bunnies kind of girl. She is the opposite of Harleen in many ways. She is anarchy in a cute dress. And in this Jekyll and Hyde story, Harleen discovers that maybe evil ain’t so bad—as long as she doesn’t get caught.“

The Strange Case of Harleen and Harley is a new origin story for our beloved Harley Quinn, tackling a similar approach in inspiration from The Strange Case of Doctor Jekyll and Mr. Hyde – and considering Harley’s eventual PhD and the start contrast from the reserved Dr. Quinzel vs the Maiden of Mischief Harley Quinn, it fits perfectly.

The story tackles some heavy topics gracefully, with love and reverence for not only the difficult subject matters but also the characters that are being written. While it takes a different approach to Harley’s beginnings, it does hold aspects that fans adore about her and important parts of her beginnings that are vital to her core – her schooling, her gymnastics, her love.

The involvement of her family in her story, her past relationship, the changes to how Harleen becoming Harleen, and an interesting Jack relationship are all noteworthy reasons to read the retelling, even if you think you aren’t interested in another young adult Harley origin. Top that with her Ivy relationship? Trust me, it is worth your time.

Beyond just the writing of the story, the art is absolutely gorgeous. I adore the character designs, especially the Harley outfits. St-Onge absolutely nails the personalities and scenes. For example, the photo above, giving us the opportunity to quite literally watch Harley and Ivy’s love bloom on page. Gattoni’s lettering is stunning, and really ties everything together.

If you haven’t read The Strange Case of Harleen and Harley yet, take this as your sign to read it!