DC Pride 2022: Harley Quinn and Poison Ivy in “The Hunt”

Fear of abandonment, fear of everything horrible that we believe about ourselves being true, sequels after trauma and abuse, those things aren’t easy to let go. They haunt us and make our lives a living hell. But there’s always a chance for growth and overcoming them, though that’s never solely on our own. The importance of healing love, and particularly healing sapphic love, is the center of Dani Fernandez’s story around Harley Quinn and Poison Ivy, DC’s most infamous power couple. Surrounded by sexy jokes and the wit that is usual for Harlivy, the heart of this story beautifully reflects into the page with Zoe Thorogood’s sensual, dynamic, flowing art that catches your eye at every turn, sweetened by Jeremy Lawson’s pastel pink & purple coloring and the hard-hitting, contrasted, delicated when needed letters by Aditya Bidikar. Everyone on this creative team seems at synchronicity with each other, pulling out what I can only describe as magic, magic that hits the heart.

Because it’s not only that this short story manages to show many of Harley and Pamela’s past insecurities (the Joker’s abuse, Pamela’s struggle for an identity of her own) and make them hit hard within the reader’s own (I honestly saw too many of myself reflected on both of their struggles, and I think that’s more on the execution of the story than on over-projection), but the resolution is one where you can feel their love and the extent to what that love is helping them progress away from the trauma. And it manages to be sexy at every turn! (love the bottom jokes) As with last year’s also incredible Harlivy story, I continue to have my issues with their non monogamous relationship being pushed to the side, cause here it is not shining or hinted at in any way (and, let’s be real, there’s tons of romantic love ideas to unpack in the fact that they literally save each other from their worst fears), but overall I can’t help but feel my heart filled with the love they express and the way it’s conveyed into the page. It might not be a story that reaches all nuances, but it’s a story that reaches deep within the heart, and we definitely need more sapphic love stories that go there, and pulled us out of darkness into what it means to be loved.