Harley & Ivy: Life & Crimes #3 is written and illustrated by Erica Henderson and published by DC Comics. Colours and letters are also handled by Henderson. Main cover art (left) is by Erica Henderson.
Harley & Ivy: Life & Crimes #3 is available from today in comic book stores and on digital platforms where all good comic books are sold. Grab your physical copy from Forbidden Planet, or pick it up digitally via Amazon Comixology UK.
Synopsis
CLOWN/OFF! Harley Quinn and Poison Ivy come face to face with their ultimate problem: the Joker. As the two-woman revenge squad closes in on their quarry, romantic tensions rise and the first arc barrels toward its climax — with knives, kisses, and chaos in equal measure.
Review
Every bad relationship has that one relapse — Harley Quinn’s just happens to wear purple and green and refuse to stay dead.
That relapse comes crashing into Harley and Ivy’s relationship in the form of the Joker. Yes, the Clown Prince of Gotham is back (back, back again), rekindling his toxic flame with Harley and throwing everything she and Ivy have built into immediate turmoil.
What makes his return especially chilling is the Joker’s design. Following his dip in the vat of acid at Ace Chemicals, he now sports a Hannibal Lecter–esque appearance that’s genuinely unsettling. It’s the kind of dark, inventive visual you’d expect from a Matt Reeves project — stripped of camp, heavy on menace — and it works disturbingly well.
The first two issues of this series made it clear that Harley was done with the Joker, peeling back the clownish veneer to expose the abusive, sinister reality beneath. Issue #3 complicates that progress in the most honest way possible. Because escaping that kind of hold is never clean or linear, and this comic understands that.
That emotional clarity is why Erica Henderson’s writer/artist pairing is such a knockout. This book pops because her vision is precise and deeply personal — every page feels intentional. She knows exactly what story she’s telling, and she executes it with total confidence.
We also get another “passing of time” sequence, echoing the brilliant midpoint montage from issue #2. It’s simple, elegant, and quietly devastating in how much it communicates without a word. I’m obsessed.
And finally, it’s the small touches that really seal it. Henderson’s eye for detail — like the blink-and-you’ll-miss-it “Black Label book” joke — adds texture and personality throughout. You’ll know it when you see it.
Verdict
Harley & Ivy: Life & Crimes #3 is a sharp, unsettling, and emotionally resonant capstone to its first arc. Erica Henderson delivers a masterclass in character-driven storytelling, proving once again that no one understands these characters — or their scars — better than she does.
⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
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