WHO COUNTS IN COUNTDOWN? Episode #36 By Bruce MacIntosh
If DC's weekly title Countdown drives you batty because you are unfamiliar with some of the characters who drop in from time to time, fear not! The Pulse is here to answer your questions and keep you from going nuts. This week we examine the short but eventful history of Harleen Quinzel, also known as the Joker's Ex, Harley Quinn!
The character of Harley Quinn is one of the very few exceptions to the Rule that characters in superhero appear first in the comics and are subsequently adapted to the cartoons. This Mischievous Merrymaker, however, was originally created for the 1992 Batman: The Animated Series cartoon series. It was not until several years later that her character was adapted to comics and eventually incorporated into DC's official continuity.
From the transcript of an online chat way back in the nascent days of the interweb (1995!), Harley's co-creator Paul Dini explained the impetus for creating a "sidekick" for the Joker in Batman: The Animated Series: "I needed the Joker to have an assistant/moll of some kind in the episode 'Joker's Favor'. The more I worked with the character, the more she seemed to take on a life of her own. Bruce Timm's great design was a big part of it."
In that same online chat, Dini revealed his inspiration for Harley's Personality: "[Harley] was originally a one-shot character, but even then I was still basing her on my pal, Arleen Sorkin, who I've known since college. I saw her playing a clown-like character on Days of Our Lives when she was a regular on that show and that sort of cemented Harley for me. There's a lot of Arleen in Harley."
(On a personal note, I'm surprised and somewhat chagrined that I actually recall Arleen's character from Days of Our Lives, when I, ah saw it once in the mid-1980s. She played Calliope, who was Eugene's girlfriend. To complete the circle, Eugene was played by John DeLancie, who later played Q on Star Trek: The Next Generation.)
Due to the popularity of the character, Dini and Timm adapted Harley's cartoon story to the comics in 1994's Mad Love. That story tells of one Harleen Quinzel - a novice psychologist who slept her way through college and into the profession. She chose as her first big assignment a position counseling the inmates at Arkham Asylum, a prison for the criminally insane which intermittently houses most of The Batman's foes. While at Arkham, Harleen undertook to counsel the Joker, who used his powers of manipulation to affect her mind.
Harleen became a victim of a sort of reverse Stockholm Syndrome. The Stockholm Syndrome is a psychological state in which the victims of a kidnapping - or prisoners - develop a relationship (or obsession) with their captor. This can become real complicity, with prisoners actually helping the captors. But here, Quinn was supposed to be in the position of authority, but inexorably bent to the will of her prisoner The Joker.
After forming an extreme fixation on The Joker, she recreated her personality to that of the clown character Harlequin. To win The Joker's affection, she slightly altered her name to reflect her new persona, and adopted a costume appropriate to the role. In her initial adventure as Harley Quinn she helped The Joker to escape from Arkham Asylum, and has done the same many times since.
In Mad Love and until very recently Harley was devoted to The Joker to the point of self-destruction. She has always believed he also loves her, and has deluded herself into believing he will one day marry her. Due in large part to The Joker's negative reinforcement, Harley believes that the only obstacle to their nuptials is The Batman. That, and her "professional" assessment that the Dark Knight's continued existence is the source of The Joker's insanity, fuels her unflagging desire to destroy The Batman.
In Mad Love, Harley appealed to Batman's softer side and tricked him into thinking she had turned on the Joker. This proved to be the Caped Crusader's undoing, as he was quickly captured, drugged and chained upside-down above a tank of flesh-eating piranha. Without his utility belt, Batman was doomed, and the only thing that could save him was The Joker!
Mad Love served not only to present Harley Quinn's origin story, but also explain The Joker's motivations and relationship with the Batman. As "crazy" as it seems, The Batman is the yin to the Joker's yang, so as long as Bats lives it justifies The Joker's continued existence. Why does the Clown Prince of crime choose to set elaborate traps that deep down he knows Bats will ultimately escape? Why didn't The Joker simply kill him at the first opportunity? Simple: The Batman literally gives The Joker a reason to live!
The graphic novel, Mad Love was critically acclaimed, and won both Harvey and Eisner Awards as best single-issue comic of the year. Looking back, the comic's main contribution was that it served to make the character of Harley Quinn one of the most endearing and enduring in recent comic history. Although Mad Love initially took place in the Animated Adventures universe, it was incorporated into official DC canon in 1999 with the Batman: Harley Quinn comic.
Following that, the character starred in her own eponymous comic series for 38 issues, between December 2000 and January 2004. The series concluded with Harley voluntarily turning herself into Arkham.
Harley was next (briefly) seen as one of the many villains escaping from Arkham in the Villains United Infinite Crisis Special (2005). However, she is knocked unconscious almost immediately, and apparently re-incarcerated because she next appeared briefly in Detective Comics #823 (Nov 2006), again as an Arkham inmate.
Harley has been an active character in several DC titles in 2007. Batman #663 (Apr 2007) featured a predominantly prose story by Grant Morrison (punctuated by painted pieces by John Van Fleet), which was met with mixed reviews from fans. The story focused on the weird symbiotic relationship between The Joker and The Batman (discussed above) and Harley Quinn's tragic and unrequited love for her "Puddin'", Mistah Jay. Harley's part in the story ended when she learned that the henchman that she was supposed to be helping The Joker kill was herself! This apparently pushed her over the edge, as Harley shot The Joker through the shoulder: "'You gotta stop ignoring me, Mistah Jay,' says Harley Quinn in a quavery voice that seems to taste of bitter cordite and cauterized flesh."
Under the care of a different writer, Gail Simone, Harley recovered from her psychotic episode, and her personality returned to the level of wacky and lovable borderline-lunatic. The Fanatical Funnygirl returned in the pages of Birds of Prey (#105 - #108, Jun - Sep 2007), as the new sixth member of the Secret Six. As they flee Russia in Issue #108, Oracle broadcasts to the radio in the team's getaway car that she has video of Deadshot murdering the Six's Russian employer who has double-crossed them, and has sent that proof to the Russian authorities. It is at this time that Harley reconsiders her position on the team, asking, "Is it a bad time to say 'I quit'?"
Even more recently, Harley appeared in Detective #831 (Jun 2007), safely incarcerated in Arkham once again. This time, writer Paul Dini portrayed her as contrite. Harleen Quinzel sans Harlequin costume is applying for parole, and although the other members of the panel are (inexplicably) convinced of her reformation, civilian member of the review board Bruce Wayne vetoes the appeal. He changes his mind later, however, when Harleen is (unwillingly) sprung from Arkham by the new Ventriloquist yet helps The Batman foil the caper.
So, in the strange legal system of Gotham City, Harley is released from Arkham. However, it appears that she has turned over a new leaf. In Countdown, Harleen has taken up residence in an Amazon-run women's shelter. (Apparently, editorial gaffes have placed the shelter in both Metropolis and Gotham City.) She is not nearly as wacky and lovable, and Holly Robinson who has also taken up residence in the shelter suspects some ulterior motive behind Harleen's attempts to inculcate the former Catwoman replacement into the Amazon sect. (For more background on Holly Robinson, please see Who Counts in Countdown?, Episode #46.)
Is Harley Quinn's reformation for real? Even if it is how will she react if either the Amazons or Holly Robinson betray her trust? Only time will tell, but this is one story that is playing out exclusively in Countdown, so keep reading!
NEXT WEEK IN WHO COUNTS IN COUNTDOWN? We're going to get the jump on a character named Equus, a baddie who will be appearing soon in Countdown. Although he's not brand-new, this is one that really needs some background. Tune in next week so you can amaze your friends with your obscure DC knowledge!
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