Harley Quinn is many issues. She’s an icon, a psychiatrist, a curler derby athlete…and dare we are saying, a hero. The Lady of Lunacy has come a great distance ever since she first appeared thirty years in the past this month on Batman: The Animated Series. I’m wondering, did anybody who watched “Joker’s Favor” when it aired for the first 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 Hot Topic clothes strains? You’ve come a great distance Harley, however how will 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 War” in 2021. From its very first difficulty, the sequence has centered on Harley making an attempt to make a brand new begin for herself as a hero. Not a villain. Certainly not a villain’s girlfriend. Not even an antihero. Harley Quinn’s making an attempt 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. While she fought evil as a member of Task Force X, and sometimes in a few of her previous sequence, it all the time appeared tangential to what was truly motivating her. In the Phillips sequence, issues are completely different. Harley is able to develop into a full-fledged crimefighter.
Harley Quinn is clearly fairly completely different from the different members of the Bat-Family. She doesn’t put on a masks or cape, she’s not an orphan, and he or she was as soon as romantically concerned with the Joker. I don’t suppose she’ll ever be an everyday in the Batcave, however does that imply she has much less worth than the different 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 info hub, Cassandra is the fighter, Dick is the coronary heart, and Kate is the tactician.
Harley’s most up-to-date storyline, “Task Force 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 Element-X. It isn’t lengthy earlier than issues get out of hand, and that’s principally as a result of Luke didn’t share pertinent info with the group.
Let’s be sincere, all of you thought it was going to be Harley’s fault, didn’t you? I believe that’s a mistake everybody makes with Harley. They confuse her manic power and loopy non-sequiturs with incompetence.
Interestingly, “Task Force XX” opens with Harley assessing the function she often performs in a crew setting. During her opening narration, Harley compares superhero groups with faculty group initiatives and talks about the dynamic these teams often have. She mentions the pupil that doesn’t do any work, however will get all the credit score, the slacker who doesn’t take something significantly, and the incompetent screwup who solely makes issues worse. Then, in fact, there’s the function Harley sees herself in: “The one who does all the work at the last minute after realizing that no one else was gonna actually create any of the (EXPLETIVES) PowerPoint slides.”
That’s the function Harley sees herself in, however is it correct? Throughout “Task Force XX” we see Harley in the group dynamic, and at first, she appears to fall into the different classes. When missiles goal the crew’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 class clown than the chief her narration claimed to be.
But as the story goes on, you see Harley Quinn slowly take cost. When the crew finds itself stranded on the Justice League’s previous moon base, it’s Harley who figures out 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 throughout the closing battle, which permits the snow queen to land the killing blow towards Element-X. And in fact, Harley makes positive the crew goes out for yogurt afterwards, as a result of dessert is sweet for crew morale.
What have we discovered from this expertise? Harley Quinn may act like the class clown, however she will get the job completed. Don’t mistake her lunacy with stupidity. After all, 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 amongst the heroes of Gotham? You may suppose I’m loopy, however hear me out—Harley is the crew mother. When every part 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. But individuals additionally underestimate their moms. They roll their eyes at issues their moms say and develop into embarrassed by their antics in public, identical to Task Force XX did with Harley.
Let’s face it, most of the heroes of Gotham are orphans anyway, so they may use a very good mother. And with all of her intelligence, humor, dedication and breadth of expertise, they may do lots worse than Harley…as unconventional as she could also be. So, let’s hear it for Harley and the progress she’s proven over the previous a number of years. Just a little maturity by no means damage anyone, particularly not a former villain.
Just so long as it’s solely a bit of. After all, Harley does have a thirty-year status to uphold.
Joshua Lapin-Bertone writes about TV, motion pictures and comics for DCComics.com, is an everyday contributor to the Couch Club and writes our month-to-month Batman column, “Gotham Gazette.” Follow him on Twitter at @TBUJosh.
NOTE: The views and opinions expressed in this column are solely these of Joshua Lapin-Bertone and don’t essentially replicate these of DC Entertainment or Warner Bros.
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