Posted in: Comics | Tagged: Comics, dc, harley quinn, jim lee, larry young

Understanding Harley Quinn Comics With Jim Lee … And Larry Young!

Published Sun, 08 Sep 2013 12:00:26 -0500

Last updated Mon, 09 Sep 2013 11:01:00 -0500

So, there was a bit of fuss that the page that fans were being asked to draw, the winner appearing in Harley Quinn #0 featured Harley naked in a bathtub looking as if she's about to commit suicide in a jokey fashion. The week before Suicide Prevention Week.

Jim Lee decided it was all about context and tweeted a lesson. Over many tweets. Here are just a few.

As a micro-example of this, let's imagine a small 3 panel story using the following images: A,B and C pic.twitter.com/m3fWm8X03E

— Jim Lee (@JimLee) September 7, 2013

We can infer what the story is without dialogue. Kid gets up off floor, open fridge and drinks a vial of Venom which makes his body morph!

— Jim Lee (@JimLee) September 7, 2013

That said, we can also deduce other kinds of narratives based on new arrangements of the 3 panels A, B and C.

— Jim Lee (@JimLee) September 7, 2013

ACB give us perhaps a dream sequence or nightmare– pic.twitter.com/vOLoYXHMJO

— Jim Lee (@JimLee) September 7, 2013

In A, the kid thinks if I don't take my meds, then I will lose control over my body as seen in C

— Jim Lee (@JimLee) September 7, 2013

So Panel C becomes a vision he sees in his head. It is a visual bit of story which shows us the reader what his internal fears may be.

— Jim Lee (@JimLee) September 7, 2013

So he summarily does his body good and looks for his meds in panel B.

— Jim Lee (@JimLee) September 7, 2013

Less clear but still a valid arrangement would be C, B, A as we get a different "story" pic.twitter.com/ywbUlI1I9n

— Jim Lee (@JimLee) September 7, 2013

Perhaps our hero comes in as his powers are wearing off…famished he heads to the fridge. Then collapses as he is exhausted.

— Jim Lee (@JimLee) September 7, 2013

Or maybe he dies in A unable to find the antidote in B. #awfulendingIknow #tragicexample

— Jim Lee (@JimLee) September 7, 2013

So you see how our understanding of each panel is profoundly affected by the panel which precedes it and the one that follows.

— Jim Lee (@JimLee) September 7, 2013

And the same applies to an entire single page within a story of 20 pages.

— Jim Lee (@JimLee) September 7, 2013

For instance (pls forgive my dialogue–a writer, clearly I am not): pic.twitter.com/0MuW3355X7

— Jim Lee (@JimLee) September 7, 2013

or this (#notToddKlein either)… pic.twitter.com/W93NFf0wIN

— Jim Lee (@JimLee) September 7, 2013

So w/o the context of the dialogue or preceding or following imgs, it is near impossible to glean what a description of a scene is "naked"

— Jim Lee (@JimLee) September 7, 2013

Asking an aspiring artist to draw a female character taking a bath carries with a lot of baggage. Fully unintended btw.

— Jim Lee (@JimLee) September 7, 2013

I know Amanda&Jimmy who wrote the HarleyQuinn tryout pg & I know their intent was 2break the 4th wall & poke some fun at their own expense

— Jim Lee (@JimLee) September 7, 2013

It was not to "sexualize suicide" or even create a story about suicide.

— Jim Lee (@JimLee) September 7, 2013

Are these memes about suicide or are they about the extremes of frustration we all face in our daily lives? pic.twitter.com/15s1sWezZR

— Jim Lee (@JimLee) September 7, 2013

It was not to "sexualize suicide" or even create a story about suicide.

— Jim Lee (@JimLee) September 7, 2013

Any talented artist can draw it a hundred ways, none of which are demeaning to women. #ultimategoal

— Jim Lee (@JimLee) September 7, 2013

Read his full twitter feed for the whole lesson and explanation. But publisher/writer Larry Young wanted to letter his own version of Jim's example and sent it in…