Harley Quinn has a new prequel GN covering her backstory before becoming the infamous villainess turned heroine we currently know her as. Harley Quinn: Breaking Glass adapts the past of the iconic character’s life right before she becomes a “therapist” & dawn’s her jester style costume and just as a street wise teen trying to survive. With only a knapsack and $5 in her pocket (as Harleen describes herself) the future hero tries to save her home from gentrification while choosing sides between her best friend Ivy and her new comrade The Joker.

Harley Quinn: Breaking Glass is a 2019 coming of age, prequel graphic novel, it is written by Mariko Tamaki and illustrated by Steve Pugh. It is available in comic shops on August 26, 2019 and book shelves everywhere September 3, 2019.

Editor’s Note: An advanced review copy of Harley Quinn: Breaking Glass was provided by DC Comics in support of this review. Spoilers for Breaking Glass and general DC Comics lore may be present within this review.

Giveaway: DC Comics is also helping us give away two physical copies of Harley Quinn: Breaking Glass, to enter simply give us your name and address to giveaways @ otakudome.com (no space) and we’ll pick the winners on Monday September 30, 2019.

Initially making her debut in Batman: the Animated Series (yes, really), Harley Quinn has become a staple part of both the Batman canon and overall DC Comics lore. It’s actually rather astonishing that a non-canonical character became so popular that it sort of forced DC’s hands to include her into the original source for it’s comic universe. With her own set of solo stories delving deep into the character as The Joker’s lover and her own lone wolf journey to find herself, the Harley Quinn character has been explored nearly from top to bottom. However, the duo of Tamaki & Pugh have decided to take the story of Quinn a bit further by giving us an ideal look into her life as a normal teenager as well as her budding relationship with longtime acquaintances Ivy and Joker.

THE GOOD: Harley Quinn: Breaking Glass’ first 20ish pages takes us into Harleen’s first move to Gotham, it provides a very Quinn-esque description of what Gotham is like both from a perspective of reality and the imagination of people on the outside looking in. It’s also here where we’re introduced to our first original character in “Mama”; a man who overtook her grandmother’s home after her passing. He takes an instant liking to Harleen and allows her to live at the place knowing her grandmother paid for an advanced stay prior to her death. We then move on to Harleen’s first day of high school where she meets and befriends Ivy almost immediately upon their initial meeting. Much like the plant advocate we know her as, this version of Ivy is very liberal and full of respect for the individual rights of others. This Ivy being more on the left side of politics fits right into her character, and we quickly learn that she gets that from her mother who’s a city councilor. The Joker in this version is basically the same character template in most versions, the only difference is this Joker is for the most part pretty sane. 

Pugh’s unique use of color palates on the surface appears to be nothing more than an indication of night and day, but in actuality he uses these colors to fit the current mood swing of the story. It’s a nice touch to indicate the ever shifting balance on Harley’s current mindset & psyche between hero and villain. There’s also some solid themes present within ‘Breaking Glass’ such as corporate America vs community & small business ownership, gentrification, racism, homosexuality in modern society etc. You’d think Harley would give into her darker side here more often, but she main;y stays on the road of heroism thanks to guidance from Mama, Ivy, and her own mother. 

THE BAD: Harley Quinn: Breaking Glass isn’t as action packed as one would come to expect of a Batman title, much less one starring Quinn. However, considering it’s focused more on her upbringing into Gotham’s criminal underworld and life in general the lack of action in this case can be forgiven.

OVERALL THOUGHTS: Harley Quinn: Breaking Glass won’t be for everyone, but more backstory into the fan-favorite character’s past never hurt anyone. That being the case, it goes without saying that ‘Breaking Glass’ isn’t canon. It’s an adaptation of the titular character’s upbringing, though certain aspects given to Quinn’s story and Ivy’s for that matter fits enough to the point where the core DC staff could implement them into the characters for extra depth if need be and most hardcore Batman fans would like consider it a nonissue. Otaku Dome gives Harley Quinn: Breaking Glass an 85 out of 100