Warning! Spoilers ahead for The Notebook and DC’s Love is a Battlefield #1
Harley Quinn and Poison Ivy will forever be one of the greatest romantically involved couples in all of comics and possibly beyond. Aside from this scientifically known fact, a new love story highlighting the most endearing and comical moments of DC’s most celebrated power couple is written in such glorious fashion that, within the space of a few short pages, it outshines one of the most beloved romantic dramas of all time, The Notebook.
In The Notebook, a 2004 film based on a novel by Nicholas Sparks, an old Noah Calhoun recounts the struggles that both he and his beloved Allison “Allie” Hamilton faced as star-crossed lovers to an Allie who now suffers from dementia. His hope is that him telling their story (complete with the most romantic quotes there could ever be in a movie) will help Allie remember their lives together. Unfortunately, her memories are ever-elusive, and she only manages to ward off the effects of her dementia for a few minutes. Worst of all, upon Allie succumbing to her illness, she is stricken with such immense fear that she must always be sedated. What makes the story so touching is that the two die together holding each others’ hands.
The popular film has a lot in common with a story focusing on Harley and Ivy in the recently released DC Love is a Battlefield #1 comic. The two love stories follow the same basic structure, where the main events do not take place in the present. They are stories told by either an older couple to each other or an older lover to their loved one about their respective relationships. In both cases, one of the lovers is sick in the hospital while the other stays by their side. However, both the film and the comic end very differently, though each tug at the readers’ heartstrings with a tenacity that few can rival.
Harley and Ivy’s short story is one of many tales in the Valentine’s Day special compilation DC Love is a Battlefield #1. Written by Tim Seeley with art by Rebekah Isaacs, both lovers are able to reminisce together, from the time they first planted the seeds of their relationship and recounted how it grew from a tiny sapling before eventually blossoming into a beautiful romance. The problem is that Harley is sick. But Ivy has pills that will allow them to become plants, so they can be reborn, again and again. The catch is that, because they’re not animal cells, they won’t be able to retain their memories. So although they’ll live again, they won’t remember anything from their former lives.
On the surface, The Notebook‘s bittersweet ending stands out because the two lovers were blessed to have died together with both of their memories intact. The likelihood that this could have happened is quite low since Allie usually only remembered who she was for no longer than five minutes, so it’s nothing short of a miracle. And yet, their story is now over. There’s nothing to build upon.
In the case of Harley and Ivy, they have a much longer and possibly rockier road ahead of them. Even though they will live forever as plants, it is still implied that Harley will die first, leaving Poison Ivy alone. Additionally, there’s still the chance that, as plants, they may never connect like they did as humans, damning themselves to countless lives apart. But, of course, there’s the belief that love conquers all. And when coupled with Harley Quinn‘s final comment about how she wants to find “Ives” much sooner in life, there’s hope. And that’s why the ending of their story outshines The Notebook‘s: Hope.
