The Life of Maniacs III: Stopping a Horse in Full Gallop... - Harley Quinn.
I'm so tired of writing about brutish guys with muscular bodies, about those who are unusually smart, ugly from birth, or, by the whim of fate, endowed with superpowers, which the Batman universe contains in abundance. So today, I will tell you about a representative, or rather even a representative, of a much more beautiful gender, and perhaps even stronger than the male. This is about a lady who is often perceived only as the assistant to the great and terrible Mr. J, this lady is no less insane than her counterpart, but that makes her even more attractive. As you may have guessed, this is the magnificent Harley Quinn.
In general, negative female characters in the world of Batman feel somewhat out of place. What is the basis for my conclusions? Well, probably on the fact that villainesses in Gotham are a rare commodity; one can immediately recall Catwoman, who one cannot really call a villain. Well, she steals a little... yes, she takes everything that doesn’t belong to her... and even what is well hidden, but she hasn’t killed anyone or gutted anyone, and with Bats, it’s more hugs and kisses than fights and brawls. With Talia al Ghul, it’s practically the same story, plus, there’s a child with Bruce Wayne. Who else is there in the line of villainesses? Poison Ivy; this lady is a manic by all accounts. And that’s it. So imagine that in such a barren landscape, a fish appears, not just any fish, but a golden one.
This lady is not only charming and insane, but also unique, since she first appeared not in graphic novels but in the animated series Batman: The Animated Series (BTAS). The beauty Harley was created by BTAS writer Paul Dini, a nearly genius guy, and brought to life by artist Bruce Timm. Winning the audiences' hearts and gaining national recognition, the Harlequin made her way to comic book pages, becoming the permanent companion of the insane clown, albeit for a time, but more on that later in the text. Also, it should be said that Harley's chronology is extremely complex and convoluted, despite her relatively recent origin, and there are various interpretations of her, I will choose those that suit my vision of Harley's character more, those which, in my subjective opinion, fit the image of the criminal Harlequin better. So if you, loyal Harley Quinn fan, do not find some familiar facts about the life of this jumper, do not be upset; I just wanted to be concise.
Nothing is known for sure about Harley Quinn's childhood; unlike her older peers, her parents did not ignore her, her classmates did not bully her, she didn’t solve riddles in competitions and didn’t mutate into an amphibian; all her problems began when the successful gymnast Harley earned a sports scholarship to a prestigious university. Back then, sweet Harley was simply a role model, a smart girl, an excellent student, an athlete; however, a good girl was drawn to bad guys, and she was crazy about a guy named Guy Kopski, naturally, a bit unhinged.
Guy was madly fascinated by chaos and all its manifestations. Naturally, the greatest embodiment of chaos of all times and peoples was, is, and will be Mr. J. He was the ideal for the teenage fool, who diligently followed the career of the clown-psychopath, marveling at his antics and imitating him. Harley didn’t just tolerate her friend’s foolishness; she loved that madness.
When one of the university lecturers, a certain Doctor Odin Markus, tasked Harley with conducting practical research on the compatibility of love and a propensity for crime, the girl decided that her crazy friend was the perfect candidate for the experiment, yes, you are who you associate with... Harley told her friend that she was attempting to blackmail Doctor Odin Markus and, for proof, presented a gun she accidentally shot. What could one expect from a half-crazy person in such a situation? The guy snatched the gun and bolted.
When Harley found Guy, it was already too late; the fool had made a mess, accidentally shooting a passerby. Before the eyes of the scared girl, the unhinged ended his life by shooting himself in the head. Oh dear!
This sad episode changed the good girl; having cried enough at her boyfriend’s grave—the cause of his death being herself—Quinzel found no better consolation than to dive into chaos headfirst. The manic attachment of Guy to the Joker was now passed on to Harley; from then on, she did everything in her power to get a job at Arkham, all to meet the Joker, talk to him, understand the essence of his deeds. No, she didn’t fall in love with the Clown, not yet anyway; she just decided for some reason that the Joker was her soulmate, perhaps given by the association with the halfwit Guy. The studies that previously interested Harley so much took a backseat; getting a job at Arkham was not easy—there the psychiatrists were like stars among all the other doctors; therefore, a red diploma alone wasn't enough; one needed connections, and that's what Quinzel set out to establish. Blackmail, flirting with teachers, any tricks to achieve her goals.
Once, by chance, Harley (now Harley Quinn) discovered that Guy’s death was not as accidental as it seemed, and she wasn’t the only one to blame for it. It turned out that Doctor Odin Markus had given Guy a small dose of the Joker's poison, psychotropic poison that did not kill him but muddled the mind of the young neurotic even further. The doctor paid for his wrongdoing; the dose of poison that Harley introduced him to turned out to be fatal.
So, Harley Quinnzel, a promising young psychologist, gets a job at the Arkham Asylum. Accompanied by an experienced doctor, she first passes through the dark corridors of the institution, listening to a detailed briefing and looking around in surprise. She gazes through the glass walls of the wards at the behavior of the patients, who are writhing and ranting. Her gaze stops at one of the psychos. He behaves nothing like the other insane individuals around him; he does not grimace or make faces but stands relaxed against the wall and looks straight at her. It was, of course, the Joker.
Catching the gaze of the beautiful doctor, the clown playfully winked at her. Ah, the mutual love at first sight! By the end of the working day, Harley suddenly discovers a rose on her desk with a note attached saying: "Come see me, J." Frightened and indignant, Quinnzel threatens the Joker that she will inform the guards that he has left his cell. The Clown is not the least bit afraid; instead of excuses, he compliments the young doctor.
"- I like you, especially your name, Harley Quinnzel; with a little change, it becomes Harley Quinn, just like a harlequin,” says the maniac. "That made me laugh. I felt as if I had found a kindred spirit in you, someone to whom I can reveal all my secrets." - What a charming rascal!
Before long, convincing the hospital administration, Doctor Quinnzel became the treating doctor for the clown-maniac, and he, as promised, began to pour out all his secrets and stories into the adorable psychiatrist's ears in incredible volumes.
The Joker told Harley a story from his childhood; it turned out that his father loved to hit the bottle and, when drunk, hit him hard. One day, apparently regarding some grand holiday, like Independence Day, the pathetic daddy took young Joker to the circus. The show did not impress the boy much, but his father loved it. He laughed like crazy when he saw the clowns run around the stage with their pants down. Joker had never seen his father, usually angry and irritated, so happy and cheerful. The boy remembered this joyful moment, and the next time his daddy came home drunk, he met him in his best pants, with them down by the floor. The reaction of daddy to the joke was, to say the least, different from the one at the circus; the boy got a solid beating.
"- That's the life of a comedian." - the maniac concludes sadly from his story. - "You always get hit by those who don’t understand the joke, like my old man... or Batman."
He conveys it beautifully, there’s no doubt about it; if there were even a shard of truth to his story, it would be priceless, but that is Joker, for him, reality and fiction are one and the same, inseparable coexisting symbiosis. Several months of regular psychotherapy sessions passed; the patient and doctor switched places on the couch, where Doctor Quinnzel, having relaxed completely, now lay, drunk on attention from her beloved clown-maniac, while the seducer of young psychiatrists sat in her chair, looking important, drawing something in a notebook. And it was now Harley, spilling her heart out, telling of her mad love for the Joker, while he, like a true psychiatrist, advised the girl to shed the shackles imposed by a decaying society.
Harley became so attached to the Clown that she couldn't imagine life without him. However, soon the lovers had to part for a while; Mr. J escaped from the asylum, leaving his enamored doctor alone, to long for their next meeting. And soon the meeting took place—Batman dragged in the battered and injured Joker, stuffing the nasty piece of work back into the asylum by his collar. What was the doctor’s reaction? She jumped on the stunned Bats with her fists and then began to sob over the battered clown.
As soon as the bruises and bumps on the clown healed, Harley arranged for her beloved to escape, but the fate of Gotham's maniacs is not enviable; every escape, sooner or later, ends with a return to Arkham. The doctor arranged escape after escape for her beloved until the hospital guards began to wonder how the Clown so easily managed to escape from any locks and finally caught the unfortunate lover. Thus, the psychiatrist found herself in the place of her patients, in a straightjacket, locked up, with a regular dose of colorful pills for breakfast. It would have continued like that if an earthquake hadn’t struck Gotham.
The city was shaken thoroughly; skyscrapers collapsed, bridges that connected the city to the outside world fell into the water. From the shattered prisons and mental hospitals, the inmates emerged, starving for freedom, among them was Harley. Looting began in the city; everyone became an island unto themselves, people banded together in gangs, fighting for territory and resources. The government was incapable of restoring order; the devastation was too great—it was easier to abandon the city, and that was the decision made. Gotham was declared a no man's land, and all who stayed there were declared outlaws, including the wild gangs, the bat team, and even the police; everyone became equal. Harley Quinnzel, choosing herself a cute little outfit, joined the Joker's gang, becoming Harley Quinn.
In Gotham, there began a division of territories between gangs; before the earthquake, Penguin ruled the city solo, and so the Joker decided to take a piece of his plentiful pie. At the negotiations, Harley made the best of herself by shoving a gun in the Penguin's face, but that wasn't the main surprise for her beloved; she organized a safe haven for her beloved maniac in the abandoned amusement park twisted by the earthquake. This was some sort of equivalent of the Batcave, but absolutely mad to match its owners, the walls adorned with handmade engravings depicting the laughing face of the Joker, as well as various moments from his life.
The Joker liked this, but what followed… the incessant chatter of his uncontrollable girlfriend, her hyper-obsessiveness, her constant smooches and kisses, and sometimes she joked better than King of Gags and Laughter himself… Moreover, the boys from the Joker’s gang began to look sideways at their boss, as if to say, "You're turning into a mushy mess, buddy" ("Just one night lying in a woman – you wake up in the morning as a woman" - Folk saying). Well, tell me, which maniac can withstand such pressure for long? The Joker didn’t last long; luring his annoying girlfriend into a rocket under the pretense of a romantic date, he sent her off to all hell.
To Mr. J's great regret, Harley did not fly to the moon; however, to Harley’s massive joy, she landed smack in the middle of the city park. Poison Ivy found the mutilated Harley in the wreckage of the rocket.
What happened to the mad half-plant is unclear, but for some reason, she took pity on the human creature, sheltered her in her greenhouse, and even cured her with a special brew made from, oh my, plants! All of Batman's supervillains eventually evolved in some way; Poison Ivy infected Kroc became stronger, after a therapy session, Riddler became smarter, and so it was Harley's turn; the miraculous brew of Ivy increased her agility, remember, she’s a gymnast. Now Harley could perform such acrobatics that even Alina Kabaeva couldn't dream of.
This marked the beginning of a friendship, a female friendship (come on, it’s fantasy), a crazy eco-terrorist and a wacky doctor made quite the pair. Together, the mischievous girls caused a lot of trouble; they not only opposed the Bat team but also thoroughly messed with Superman, yet the narrative of their adventures doesn’t fall within the overall concept of the universe; rather it’s a humorous side story, nothing more, and there’s hardly anything worthwhile to tell.
After indulging enough with her friend, Harley decided to take revenge on her treacherous beloved by bringing Batman right into their love nest, and when Bats had already tied up the Clown and prepared to take him off to jail, the Harlequin knocked out the Mouse with her giant mallet and took to beating the Joker herself.
And what a predicament; looking at Harley with such a remorseful gaze only he is capable of, the Clown asked his friend for forgiveness. Of course, Harley forgave her beloved, and taking hands, they ran off together from Bats. Go figure out these women.
And what happened next… The couple lived happily and harmoniously; the Joker abandoned his life of crime and took up work as a magician in a circus, while Harley bore him children.
The End.
Oh my God, who did you all believe? You believed? No? Never mind… It all continued. Endless arguments began, inevitably followed by reconciliations. Harley helped her beloved with his devilish plans one moment, while being in a fight with him in the next she'd team up with superheroes to capture her beloved and send him to jail, and occasionally she'd even try to kill him (woman, such a woman). And being with her darling, she constantly endured insults and slaps; who did she blame for her failing family life? Batman! (yeah... woman...)
Indeed, occasionally, in all this soap opera, rather amusing episodes emerged, for example, once Joker’s brain was thoroughly washed in Arkham so that the supervillain turned into a gentle, affectionate, and loving person, and not one to contemplate any criminal deeds. The good Joker chased Harley like a puppy, giving her flowers and compliments; of course, such a Joker instantly became unwanted and uninteresting to the girl (yes, yes... women…). Everything quickly returned to normal, not without the involvement of our dear Harley.
There was another funny moment when, seeing her beloved's torments as he waged war against the Mouse, Harley decided to chip in her two cents into their argument. She developed a clever plan, caught Bats, and almost eliminated him, for the sake of her second half’s peace of mind; however, the caring bride didn't take one important fact into account - Joker wanted to destroy Batman himself, without the foolish help of a love-struck novice, and the death of Batman was meant to enter the annals of history under the title ‘the most terrible thing that could happen to a person.’ Thus, arriving at the scene of the brutal execution just in time, to her surprise, he tossed her out the window. She even forgave him for that. ("If he hits, he loves!" - a folk wisdom.)
Here is such a passionate love… it was, but it floated away. Somehow, the joker finally played himself out, one fine day, receiving a bullet in the forehead from some nutcase dressed as Batman. The bullet lodged between Joker’s genius-madness hemispheres, deforming his brain. This injury, affected the Clown in the worst possible way, making him an even more disgusting personality than before. From the joker-maniac he had been lately, to the great disappointment of many of his fans, he turned into something resembling a demon, having lost all human traits.
While previously, veiled, he may have occasionally shown some weakness, such as refusing to kill Batman to play with his main enemy one more time or forming an attachment to the jumpy Harley, now, Joker is a concentrated embodiment of evil, devoid of any kindness or compassion even in embryonic form. Naturally, the game of love-hate with Harley, which Joker had enjoyed for so long, was no longer interesting, and to put an end to this series of meetings and farewells, he decided to eliminate his friend once and for all. A dangerous razor would have definitely slashed Harley's throat had Batman not appeared just in time.
Having avoided death, Harley decided not to get involved with the renewed Joker; their paths parted like ships at sea, and as far as I know, they do not cross anymore. However, while Harley is a self-sufficient personality and can cause quite a ruckus even without Joker, as she often did during her quarrels with her beloved, now on the comic pages, Harlequin is a rare guest, extremely rare.
Interestingly, Paul Dini himself showed the end of Harley Quinn’s story in one of his full-length animated works, "Batman Beyond: Return of the Joker." Returning to Gotham of the future many, many years after his death, the Joker, remaining as young and energetic as ever, gathers a gang to wage war against the new Batman. This gang includes two rubbery twin girls, Delia and Deidra, dressed as clownesses; in the finale of the animated series, we see how their grandma appears at the police station. The old crone with a cane turns out to be our story's heroine, Ms. Harley Quinnzel. From the way the old lady reprimands her negligent grandchildren, it’s clear she has long since given up crime, now living, one presumes, on a pension somewhere on the edge of Gotham.
Well there, now it’s truly over, THE END; thanks to everyone who read to the end, all those who pressed like, and more so to those who took the time to leave comments.
Exstas, especially for Gamer.ru and its residents, still calling for likes for Bat’s blog.
All those who missed previous posts on this theme can also familiarize themselves with the story of Batman, the story of Killer Croc, the story of the Riddler.
Fan art sourced from this site.