Harley Quinn is many issues. She’s an icon, a psychiatrist, a curler derby athlete…and dare we are saying, a hero. The Woman of Lunacy has come a great distance ever since she first appeared thirty years in the past this month on Batman: The Animated Sequence. I ponder, did anybody who watched “Joker’s Favor” when it aired for the primary time suspect that the Clown Prince’s henchgirl would go on to star in her personal live-action film, an animated comedy and dozens of Sizzling Matter clothes strains? You’ve come a great distance Harley, however how can we describe your present function in Gotham’s hierarchy of heroes?
Harley Quinn’s ever-popular ongoing title is written by Stephanie Phillips, who took the reins on the heels of “The Joker Warfare” in 2021. From its very first challenge, the sequence has centered on Harley attempting to make a brand new begin for herself as a hero. Not a villain. Definitely not a villain’s girlfriend. Not even an antihero. Harley Quinn’s attempting to be a true hero.
This shouldn’t come as a shock, as Harley hasn’t been the Joker’s sidekick in mainstream continuity for years. Whereas she fought evil as a member of Activity Power X, and sometimes in a few of her previous sequence, it all the time appeared tangential to what was really motivating her. Within the Phillips sequence, issues are totally different. Harley is able to develop into a full-fledged crimefighter.
Harley Quinn is clearly fairly totally different from the opposite members of the Bat-Household. She doesn’t put on a masks or cape, she’s not an orphan, and she or he was as soon as romantically concerned with the Joker. I don’t suppose she’ll ever be an everyday within the Batcave, however does that imply she has much less worth than the opposite heroes? Don’t overlook, Barbara Gordon and Kate Kane didn’t develop into Batcave regulars at first both. So, what’s Harley’s function in Gotham’s hero hierarchy? Oracle is the knowledge hub, Cassandra is the fighter, Dick is the center, and Kate is the tactician.
Harley’s most up-to-date storyline, “Activity Power XX,” just lately wrapped up in Harley Quinn 2022 Annual #1. In it, Luke Fox recruits Harley and a bunch of misfits to cease a harmful entity often called Component-X. It isn’t lengthy earlier than issues get out of hand, and that’s largely as a result of Luke didn’t share pertinent info with the group.
Let’s be trustworthy, all of you thought it was going to be Harley’s fault, didn’t you? I feel that’s a mistake everybody makes with Harley. They confuse her manic vitality and loopy non-sequiturs with incompetence.
Apparently, “Activity Power XX” opens with Harley assessing the function she often performs in a group setting. Throughout her opening narration, Harley compares superhero groups with faculty group tasks and talks concerning the dynamic these teams often have. She mentions the scholar that doesn’t do any work, however will get all of the credit score, the slacker who doesn’t take something significantly, and the incompetent screwup who solely makes issues worse. Then, after all, there’s the function Harley sees herself in: “The one who does all of the work on the final minute after realizing that nobody else was gonna really create any of the (EXPLETIVES) PowerPoint slides.”
That’s the function Harley sees herself in, however is it correct? All through “Activity Power XX” we see Harley within the group dynamic, and at first, she appears to fall into the opposite classes. When missiles goal the group’s rocket, Harley appears extra involved about meals than she does their destiny. When Dreadbolt sacrifices himself to cease the missiles, Harley continues joking, a lot to the horror and frustration of her teammates. She appears extra like the category clown than the chief her narration claimed to be.
However because the story goes on, you see Harley Quinn slowly take cost. When the group finds itself stranded on the Justice League’s outdated moon base, it’s Harley who figures out the right way to use the teleporter whereas everybody else is arguing. When Luke Fox has an emotional breakdown, Harley is the one who helps him regain his confidence. It’s Harley who clears a path for Killer Frost in the course of the remaining battle, which permits the snow queen to land the killing blow towards Component-X. And naturally, Harley makes positive the group goes out for yogurt afterwards, as a result of dessert is nice for group morale.
What have we discovered from this expertise? Harley Quinn would possibly act like the category clown, however she will get the job completed. Don’t mistake her lunacy with stupidity. In spite of everything, Harleen is a licensed psychiatrist. She survived being the Joker’s girlfriend for years and has gone toe to toe with heroes like Batman. Does that sound like an incompetent fool to you?
So, what’s Harley’s function among the many heroes of Gotham? You would possibly suppose I’m loopy, however hear me out—Harley is the group mother. When every little thing is falling aside, it’s the mother who makes positive issues get completed. When somebody feels unworthy, it’s their mother who reminds them how particular they’re, very like Harley did with Luke. However folks additionally underestimate their moms. They roll their eyes at issues their moms say and develop into embarrassed by their antics in public, similar to Activity Power XX did with Harley.
Let’s face it, many of the heroes of Gotham are orphans anyway, so they may use an excellent mother. And with all of her intelligence, humor, willpower and breadth of expertise, they may do so much worse than Harley…as unconventional as she could also be. So, let’s hear it for Harley and the expansion she’s proven over the previous a number of years. Slightly maturity by no means damage anyone, particularly not a former villain.
Simply so long as it’s solely somewhat. In spite of everything, Harley does have a thirty-year status to uphold.
Joshua Lapin-Bertone writes about TV, films and comics for DCComics.com, is an everyday contributor to the Sofa Membership and writes our month-to-month Batman column, “Gotham Gazette.” Observe him on Twitter at @TBUJosh.
NOTE: The views and opinions expressed on this column are solely these of Joshua Lapin-Bertone and don’t essentially mirror these of DC Leisure or Warner Bros.
