If you’ve ever played any of Square Enix’s mainline entries to Final Fantasy, then you’ve seen Yoshitaka Amano’s artwork. His style is iconic, instantly recognized by fans everywhere, and if you’re a fan of both Final Fantasy and DC then his Harley Quinn cover art is an absolute delight.
The Final Fantasy artist began his journey with Square Enix in the late ’80s where he first worked on the original Final Fantasy. He has credits with every mainline entry, but he worked heavily on 1-6 by contributing to more enemy artwork and characters. Some of the most iconic entries on the PlayStation 1 boast incredible illustrations from Amano too, with the Final Fantasy 9 artbook featuring a ton of his designs for the worlds, characters, and bosses. Perhaps his most familiar work though is in the Final Fantasy logos themselves, which he has crafted for every mainline entry and even several spin-off titles.
In a very cool surprise, Harley Quinn writer Stephanie Phillips tweeted out that Amano had actually contributed cover art for issue #1 of her upcoming DC series. And of course, like any Amano design, it’s instantly recognizable who is behind the piece.
She looks like she could easily blend into a Final Fantasy artbook now. Even for folks not into comics, classic Final Fantasy fans can easily enjoy her familiar style. The longer you look at it, the more you can pinpoint tiny little details that relate to Harley and her universe above and beyond just her style. He’s often done the same thing in Final Fantasy designs, and some of his Final Fantasy 9 drawings in the artbook feature little nods to story details. In Harley’s case, she has that adorable Superman springing up from a pipe.
This isn’t the first time we’ve seen Amano venture into other territories, as he’s made gorgeous contributions to things like Magic the Gathering and Neil Gaiman’s Sandman. But if you’re a Final Fantasy diehard looking to grab this Harley Quinn cover, you should be able to pick it up sometime in March of 2021.
