By Travis Johnson
CARTOON SUPERSTAR
Now a world-beating iconic character in her own right, Harley Quinn began as little more than a walk-on role in a 1992 episode of Batman: The Animated Series, “The Joker’s Favor”, voiced by Aileen Sorkin. Initially meant for just one scene (producer and artist Paul Dini needed someone to jump out of a cake as part of an ambush, an act he found too silly for The Joker or a standard issue goon), Harley’s striking look – a skintight, stylized jester’s outfit and chalk-white makeup) and idiosyncratic Noo Yawk accent proved popular. She soon began featuring regularly, either as the Joker’s trusty right hand gal/lover, or frequently teaming up with fellow Gotham femme fatale, Poison Ivy. Harley was notable for her happy-go-lucky demeanour, her undying love for The Joker (her “puddin'”) and a willingness to mix it up with anyone she perceived as threatening their happiness. Harley went on to make numerous appearances in subsequent series in the DC Animated Universe, including The New Batman Adventures, Justice League Unlimited, and even Static Shock.
COMIC SIDEKICK
Harley first made the jump to comics in the 1994 graphic novel Mad Love, by Paul Dini and Bruce Timm, which finally told the story of her origin. Harley was originally Dr Harleen Quinzel, an Arkham Asylum staffer who fell in love with The Joker and transformed herself into her Harley persona to both please and rescue him. Crucially, the comic balanced Harley’s delusional view of her relationship with the Joker as an idealised romance with the more obvious truth that she’s dealing with a world-beating case of Stockholm Syndrome, a move which acknowledged her viewpoint while still dealing with the deeply problematic roots of H+J. The story originally was deemed too dark for a cartoon, but did eventually get adapted for a 1999 episode of The New Batman Adventures.
Harley made her mainstream DC Universe debut in the one shot Harely Quinn #1, a tie-in with the multi-title Batman: No Man’s Land crossover event. The comic told essentially the same origin as Mad Love, throwing in some super strength and agility courtesy of a serum administered by Poison Ivy for good measure. Going forward, Harley cropped up in a number of DC titles, most of them Batman related, and starred in her own self-titled ongoing series for 38 issues. There, Harley broke completely away from the Joker, pursued a romantic relationship with Poison Ivy (something that was alluded to in earlier media and was eventually confirmed by later series writers Amanda Conner and Jimmy Palmiotti). Although the spectre of the Joker always hung over her during this period (she even, at one point, busted him out of Arkham and helped him try to take over the city) this is pretty much Harley Quinn on her own, forging her own destiny.
REBELLIOUS REBOOT
In 2001 DC Comics rebooted their entire line of superhero books under the umbrella title of The New 52. A total of 52 comics were launched, each renumbered from issue one, and among them was Suicide Squad, a title which had been defunct for a number of years. It was here that the new-look Harley Quinn made her debut – gone was the jester-inspired jumpsuit, replaced with bi-coloured pigtails, corsetry, torn stockings and stripper heels. The same look was used in the hugely popular Batman: Arkham series of video games, further cementing it in the popular consciousness. The change did not go down well with many fans, nor did the darker, more violent take on her character (the early days of the New 52 are notable for a marked upswing in the sex and violence stakes, often to the detriment of DC’s female characters). Things improved in a new self-titled series by the aforementioned Palmiotti and Conner, which saw Harley take up new digs in Coney Island and split her spare time between roller derby and vigilantism. This series was really the beginning of Harley-as-antihero, rather than Harley-as-arm-candy or Harley-as-solo-villain, and marks the high water mark of the character as a positive icon rather than a villain’s accessory.
SCREEN QUEEN
Harley’s first live action appearance was actually back in 2002, in the largely forgotten and completely lamentable Birds of Prey series, which saw Dr Harleen Quinzel (Mia Sara of Ferris Bueller’s Day Off) menace the titular trio of heroines (Ashley Scott’s Huntress, Dinah Myer’s Oracle and Rachel Skarsten’s Black Canary) for a mere eight episodes before being consigned to the scrapheap of TV history. Of course, now she’s in the limelight again, as portrayed by Australian actress Margot Robbie in Suicide Squad. Robbie gives a game performance and her look as the character is certainly somewhat faithful to one interpretation (early New 52), however the ensemble nature of the movie doesn’t really give her room to breathe, despite her prominence. The character is definitely in the early stages of her development, still smitten with The Joker, still more an accessory than a fully realised individual. Still, news that DC/Warner are developing a feature centered on Harley and other prominent female DC characters, in which Robbie will not only appear but also act as producer, gives us hope that the more interesting elements of this iconic figure will be better explored going forward.
Suicide Squad is out on August 4. You can read our review here.
