I personally love a good villain. But more than that I love a good back-story to go with that villain. Enter Miss Harleen Quinzel, psychology graduate, gymnast, nut job (in the nicest sense of the word).
I first fell in love with this character when I revisited Batman the Animated series (I was only born when the show originally aired) where she was a completely new villain and henchwoman /crazed love of The Joker.
I was instantly drawn to her craziness and how her madness revolved around her love of Joker with no other motives other than making him proud and the hope that he will love her back. Now some of you may say that she was just the same as other female characters whose sole purpose was to fawn over a man (*cough* Bella *cough*) but she was different. You can tell that underneath that obsession is a woman who grabbed onto the only person who understood what she had been through when her world fell in on top of her. (She accidentally got her boyfriend killed after conducting an experiment on him to see how far people will go for love while working as a psychiatrist in Arkham Asylum - Read "Harley Quinn- Night and Day for more info).
So why the blog post? Well, starting later this year, co-writers Jimmy Palmiotti and Amanda Conner, along with an unannounced artist, will be putting together a new Harley series away from her stint in the "Suicide Squad" as part of DC's ongoing "New 52" run.
In an interview with CBR, Palmiotti said, "We took a good long look at the New 52 version and then applied it to what we were going to do in the series. Harley is a complex character and we are going to build on her background, motivations and her home and supporting cast. Sort of what we did with Power Girl but with a mix of a bit more homicidal maniac added in."
Conner added, "We want to put her in a new surroundings, with new people, and see how she behaves in that environment. Is she going to try to keep it together, or is she just going to cut loose and introduce her new world to the Harley brand of crazy?"
"The Joker is someone that she'll never be able to shake, nor is she really going to want to. Their relationship is a lot of what defines her now, although she is going to get into a lot of stuff where it has nothing to do with him. But that will always be looming in the background. She'll have some serious ex-boyfriend issues."
But here's another question, what do we think of the new image? They are obviously taking inspiration from the Arkham generation over the more classic version which we have seen in her standalone comics, but do we really want the new overly-sexual Harley? She has always been a flirty character but for the new comic world which has grown to include women are we not able to make a character sexy without skimming back the clothing?
Don't get me wrong, I do understand the inspiration behind the new look, she is supposed to resemble a sort of "roller derby" hard chick which is an awesome change which I can get behind. But I have to say, I don't remember Ellen Page showing that much ass in Whip It...
Tell me your thoughs down below but for now, peace out. :P
No comments:
Post a Comment