The Evolution of Ms. Quinn
With DC’s reboot, most eyes are on the big dogs: Batman, Superman, Green Lantern, etc. But the Harley Quinn revamp is just as exciting. There’s just nothing like a gun-toting, Brooklyn-accented, madly-in-love crazy woman, amirite?Harley Quinn is a bad mama-jama, plain and simple. I’ve loved her since seeing her appearance on the “Joker’s Favor” episode of Batman: the Animated Series (which also teaches children that road rage leads to nothing but trouble). She’s not a great role model, but it was refreshing to see a woman kicking tail and looking hot without having to show any skin. (Not that I’m judging the White Queen, but a bra and cape does not a merry woman make.) And by golly that lady is loyal.
A little background for those not in the know: the original harlequin characters (which her name is a play on) were emissaries of the devil, and while being dim-witted, were fast and acrobatic. Granted, Dr. Harleen Quinzel was a smart cookie, but love can do incredible things. (I know loads of women who went a little nuts because of a guy.) In a retcon storyline (The Batman Adventures: Mad Love) her creators noted that she was originally a psychiatrist at Arkham Asylum who was fascinated by the green-haired Batman foe. While analyzing Mista J, she fell in love and became his lieutenant and top cheerleader.
In her own words, “I found The Joker’s psyche disturbing, his dementia alarming – and his charm irrisistible! What can I tell ya? The guy just did it for me.”
In the past, she’s gone from goofy cartoon lunatic, to primetime in the live-action “Birds of Prey,” to bad ass in the Batman video games. The most fun incantations are the Lego and the Crisis on Two Earths monkey, since they’re so completely different from any other artists’ renderings. Of course, all of these incantations are distinct in costume, but the heart and loyalty of the character have stayed true.
So what’s next for our favorite jester? DC has her leading the pack of the rebooted Suicide Squad series (on sale September 14, 2011), which looks incredibly promising. It’s great to see her out from the Joker’s boot heel and able to flourish on her own. Adam Glass and Marco Rudy will hopefully also pull in her 2 best girlfriends, Catwoman and Poison Ivy, for a bit of emotional support (her line of work can’t be easy). It rocks that she’s front and center on the cover, and in pre-release chatter, it sounds like that will hold true in the stories. It’s fantastic that they took such a unique character and made sure she had a home in the new universe, and I’m excited to see what’s next for our puddin’.
(I’m also stoked to see how they explain that corset staying on while she does her acrobatics. Super glue is the only solution that comes to mind, but maybe there’s some polymer that Batman designed and she got hold of it. Or maybe it’s a full-body suit that looks like skin. The cape has to connect to something, right?)