''Harlequin Valentine'' is a bloody and romantic

short story A short story is a piece of prose fiction. It can typically be read in a single sitting and focuses on a self-contained incident or series of linked incidents, with the intent of evoking a single effect or mood. The short story is one of the old ...

(1999) and

graphic novel A graphic novel is a self-contained, book-length form of sequential art. The term ''graphic novel'' is often applied broadly, including fiction, non-fiction, and Anthology, anthologized work, though this practice is highly contested by comics sc ...

(2001) based on the old

Commedia dell'arte Commedia dell'arte was an early form of professional theatre, originating from Theatre of Italy, Italian theatre, that was popular throughout Europe between the 16th and 18th centuries. It was formerly called Italian comedy in English and is a ...

and

Harlequinade ''Harlequinade'' is an English comic theatrical genre, defined by the ''Oxford English Dictionary'' as "that part of a pantomime in which the harlequin and clown play the principal parts". It developed in England between the 17th and mid-19th ce ...

pantomime. Both the short story and the graphic novel were written by

Neil Gaiman Neil Richard MacKinnon Gaiman (; born Neil Richard Gaiman; 10 November 1960) is an English author of short fiction, novels, comic books, audio theatre, and screenplays. His works include the comic series ''The Sandman (comic book), The Sandma ...

. The latter was drawn by

John Bolton John Robert Bolton (born November 20, 1948) is an American attorney, diplomat, Republican Party (United States), Republican consultant, and political commentator. He served as the 25th United States ambassador to the United Nations from 2005 to ...

, and published by

Dark Horse A dark horse is a previously lesser-known person, team or thing that emerges to prominence in a situation, especially in a competition involving multiple rivals, that is unlikely to succeed but has a fighting chance, unlike the underdog who is exp ...

Books. The short story has been republished in ''

Fragile Things ''Fragile Things: Short Fictions and Wonders'' is a collection of short stories and poetry by English author Neil Gaiman. It was published in the US and UK in 2006 by HarperCollins and Headline Review. Most of the stories in this book are repr ...

''.

Overview

The story takes place on February 14 with the

harlequin Harlequin (, , ; , ) is the best-known of the comic servant characters (Zanni) from the Italian commedia dell'arte, associated with the city of Bergamo. The role is traditionally believed to have been introduced by the Italian actor-manager Zan ...

giving Missy his heart, literally, by nailing it to her door. The story follows the unflappable Missy as she tries to discover who gave her this gift, and what she does with it. The merry harlequin follows her the whole time, wondering what this ''

Columbina Columbine (Italian language, Italian: Colombina; French language, French: Colombine; ) is a stock character in the commedia dell'arte. She is Harlequin's mistress, a comic servant playing the tricky slave type, and wife of Pierrot. Rudlin and C ...

'', as he calls his various loves he has given his heart to, will do with it. True to his classic

trickster In mythology and the study of folklore and religion, a trickster is a character in a story (god, goddess, spirit, human or anthropomorphisation) who exhibits a great degree of intellect or secret knowledge and uses it to play tricks or otherw ...

ways, in the same vein as Puck, he's constantly meddling with other people's lives and causing mischief as he goes, which often get blamed on

Pierrot Pierrot ( , ; ), a stock character of pantomime and commedia dell'arte, has his origins in the late 17th-century Italian troupe of players performing in Paris and known as the Comédie-Italienne. The name is a hypocorism, diminutive of ''Pierr ...

. The story concludes with Missy eating the raw heart (with a side of hash browns and ketchup) at a diner; she is transformed into a new harlequin, while the old harlequin is transformed into a kitchen helper named Pete, who has no memories of ever being the harlequin. The story includes many of the classic characters from the Harlequinade in modern forms. Most obviously is Harlequin and his sought-after love Columbina, who is named Missy in this modern version. Pantaloon, the third person in the love triangle, also exists here in full. The artwork is a mixture of digitally enhanced photographs overlaid with painting. This serves the story very well as the fantastic Harlequin follows and interacts with the sensible Missy in her normal world. The backgrounds are made very drab, compared to the colorful characters which almost vibrate on top of them. At the back of the book is Gaiman's essay, "Notes on a Harlequinade", which tells us a little about the old harlequin stories of the Italian Commedia dell'arte and the English Harlequinade.

Stage adaptation

A stage adaptation of this graphic novel has been produced by

Metatron Metatron (Mishnaic Hebrew: ''Meṭāṭrōn''), or Matatron (), is an angel in Judaism, Gnosticism, and Islam. Metatron is mentioned three times in the Talmud, in a few brief passages in the Aggadah, the Targum, and in mystical kabbalah, Kabba ...

's Men () group made of members of Śląski Klub Fantastyki (Polish: ''

Silesia Silesia (see names #Etymology, below) is a historical region of Central Europe that lies mostly within Poland, with small parts in the Czech Silesia, Czech Republic and Germany. Its area is approximately , and the population is estimated at 8, ...

n Science Fiction Club''), starring Jakub Ćwiek as the harlequin and Klaudia Heintze as Missy.

External links

A Rare Gift: ''Harlequin Valentine'' by Neil Gaiman and John Bolton
- review by Erin Donahoe

- review by Mary Harvey {{Neil Gaiman Comics by Neil Gaiman 2001 graphic novels Dark Horse Comics graphic novels Fantasy short stories Comics based on fiction Short stories by Neil Gaiman 1999 short stories Harlequin

Overview

Stage adaptation

See also

External links