Harley Quinn and Poison Ivy #1 is published by DC Comics. It is written by Jody Houser with art by Adriana Melo and colors by Hi-Fi.
I know Harley has been the subject of a lot of controversy in recent years, I won’t go on my tangent about what the real Harley Quinn is to me, but I do want to say that I love Harley Quinn and it’s been quite a while since I felt like I actually saw a representation of her that I thought felt the same as Paul Dini’s.
I feel like Jody Houser is on the right track though, especially when it comes to capturing her relationship with Poison Ivy. Also, watching Harley throw a temper tantrum over not getting a mysterious present from Lex Luthor was pretty great.
This mini-series takes places immediately after the events of Heroes in Crisis (which ended in May) but is also taking place during DC’s Year of the Villain event.
Heroes in Crisis Spoiler Alert:
Poison Ivy Died.
But then she came back.
Now in Harley Quinn and Poison Ivy, Ivy is suffering the consequences of dying and being rebirthed…err…re-growthed? She grew back from a flower. Anyway, Ivy is having a hard time keeping her new body together with her weakened state and Harley isn’t sure how to help either. Which is where the mysterious present from Lex Luthor comes in to play.
Luthor pre-emptively sent Harley a box of some kind of altered fertilizer that gave Ivy at least a portion of her powers back. Which would have been just dandy if it didn’t cause a new threat to come literally busting down their door. With plants no less!
I don’t want to spoil the big villain reveal, but I will say, I really like this design.
I also really like the art in general. I love that Harley has her childish cuteness while Ivy looks much more sultry and mature. You know, the way it should be. And the details on Ivy’s not-final-form art great. I mean, she can barely hold a form and the form she can hold is incomplete. She can go as far as structuring her muscles but she can’t make her skin or clothes, so it’s pretty cool to see her walking around with her green muscles showing.
OVERALL SCORE: 8 / 10
Make sure you pick up Harley Quinn and Poison Ivy #1 from your local comic shop, or Comixology!
Happy reading!
