She looks back on herself with concern but resignation. The narrator’s voice feels more Harleen than Harley, with such a clear connection to the what and why of her life rather than the disconnected, rapid fire looseness that feels more in line with Harley Quinn. The story is smartly told by a Harley/Harleen who has been through it all – the years of normal life, the infatuation with The Joker and her emancipation. Ground level comics have grown to serve a new perspective on what can become highly fantastical stories, but this takes the superless human to a new level by really taking you into the mind of Harleen as she begins to lose her grip on morality and sanity in Gotham. In a city that is fighting a crime war, when you aren’t following The Dark Knight and Boy Wonder from crime scene to cave in luxurious vehicles and armoured suits, you are on the streets where bullets fly. She could easily have been one of his many nameless victims. What makes Stjepan Sejic’s tale, of Dr Harleen Quinzel’s life and what led her into the path of The Joker, so intriguing is almost banality, as if she could have been anyone.

Who was Harleen Quinzel and what led her to become Harley Quinn? If you’ve been wondering about the origins of this unique DC character, who made her debut in Batman: The Animated Series almost 30 years ago, and has now helmed her own movie in Birds Of Prey, then Harleen is an excellent three issue graphic novel to pick up.

Harley quinn stjepan sejic