I always felt a lot of Batman's characters were sympathetic and understandable. It doesn't mean they aren't bad or shouldn't be punished-- They should. What is human is you understand their mind and what their intentions are for better or for worse. I liked the phycology of going deep into the mind of criminals. After all, a criminal isn't born, they are made, especially a murderer. Batman, for this and many more reasons, is my favorite DC comic universe, and any story that connects solely to Batman's world.
When I depicted this image, I really wanted it to be personal. I wanted the image to be melancholy and beautiful yet dark and nightmarish. The peace felt in the piece is an illusion. I wanted to show the humanity and delicate madness each of the characters have.
For those who know little of Batman, the characters portrayed in this piece are Poison Ivy, Harley Quinn, and the Joker.
Poison Ivy, also known as Pamela Isley was a botanist. She was a strong activist for plant life and nature and it lead her to bitter anger at society for not being more green conscious. It pushed her to be an extremist ecoterrorist. Anyone could see her cause as good, it just went too far into insanity. Good intentions paved to a road to Hell.
She was a human turned practically plant by her formal scientist and lover, who manipulated and abused her in many regards. In some ways, she could relate to Harley and the Joker, just in a lesser mad fashion and more cold calculation on Woodrue's end. They were mirror image to a degree. Her with crazy plant scientist. Harley with a crazy murdering clown. What a pair!
After a point, Ivy despised most of humanity with the few random spurts of humanitarian action. She was quite the misanthropic gal until she met some orphans and Harley during an earthquake .
Whether one can say Poison Ivy loves Harley as a friend or something more is debatable. It's one sided if its romantic love because Ivy won't ever be #1 to Harley Quinn.
Harley Quinn, otherwise known as formal Dr. Harleen Frances Quinzel. A young psychiatrist enthralled by the dark jester prince of crime(Joker) and became his most loyal minion. Unlike Poison Ivy, she can't see the true nature of the one she loves. She is blinded by her obsession and sees him as a misunderstood creature in the harsh world of society.
In reality, the Joker is a mad raging sociopath wanting to inflict pain to cause a person to react, particularly Batman. He craves anarchy. His killing doesn't necessarily have rhyme or reason. It only has to entertain him, and be funny to his standards. He's clinically insane and dangerous, and through him, Harley becomes more deranged and dangerous as the years go by.
I always wondered what would happen when she finally realized what a monster he is. What a monster she is becoming. I always wondered when she would stop taking the abuse and truly see him. What sort of reaction would she pull? Could she live with it? If she could live, how? Who do you turn to when you kill your shining beacon? Where do you go when you're ideal salvation and freedom is gone? What the Hell do you do? How do you feel? Where is your mind when the pain stops? When the mad laughter is silenced? When the insanity stops and nothing is quite funny like it use to be? What do you do? Who is there for you at the end of it all? I can imagine all this and more could go through someone's mind when their personal system they depended on crumbles. Thus, I created this mock cover thinking 'what if' Harley killed the Joker.
In Harley's case, I could see her going to her best pal, 'Red' for advice as a potential path. I could see her wanting comfort from the second person she trust the most. Hell, I'm sure 'Red' wouldn't have minded helping her choke the Joker for all the blonde suffered. In some ways, Harley and Joker's relationship is personal to Ivy in a mad sort of way. She can relate. She had her own 'Mistah J' in some regards through Woodrue, her formal lover.
This image is an aftermath to 'what if' Harley killed Joker to end her delusion and suffering. What if Harley gave up pining over the clown prince and moved on? What if she wanted to open her eyes and whisper with a hollow tone,'(I) ...Had enough'?
BANG!
'The jokes on you, Mistah J.' Empty hollow cries ensue from Harley's lips.
It's always been a thought lingering. A part of me always hated the fact that behind the humorous storytelling... Behind the humor the audience is suppose to laugh at, Harley is in pain. She is still abused. It doesn't change the facts. She is still violently beaten and so tightly wound around Joker's finger. If she never met him, she'd still be a doctor, but then again we'd never love this crazy jester.
The relationships between the Joker, Harley, and Ivy always intrigued me. I could see the mad twisted fandom of Joker and Harley and the madness between Harley and Ivy. There really isn't a happy story with either shipping. I just think Ivy wouldn't intentionally hurt her all the time like Joker did. However... Even if those two girls loved, it be a delicate spiral to madness. It doesn't take much to kill in their world. It's a vicious cycle of 'mad love'. I could be wrong, but it seems that way to me.
COPYRIGHT: Illustration belongs to J.S. Choi (c) DO NOT USE!
Copyright of Harley Quinn, Poison Ivy, and Joker belongs to DC(C).
Harley's creators are Bruce Timm and Paul Dini.
Ivy's creators are Robert Kanigher and Sheldon Moldoff.
Joker's creators Jerry Robinson, Bill Finger, and Bob Kane.
Media: Graphite & Photoshop
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