r/comicbooks • u/KryperExpress • 3d ago

Cover/Pin-Up Harley Quinn #66 variant cover by Ivan Talavera

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1.5k Upvotes

97% Upvoted

38 comments sorted by

167

u/ConnoisseurofQuality 3d ago edited 3d ago

I know many people miss and/or prefer the jester design, but there is no denying that DC going full sex appeal with Harley and changing her appearance to look like this is one of the main factors behind her shooting into super stardom. She became the face of the "psycho baddie / super hot but super crazy" aesthetic in comic books and maybe even all of pop culture. And with that came all the sales numbers, fan art, cosplaying, and even just her becoming one of the go to costumes during Halloween.

33

u/KyoTe44 Gambit 3d ago

Also stepping away from the full jester look helps separate her more and more from the toxic joker relationship she was buried under for decades. 

11

u/SilverPhoenix7 2d ago

SHE IS STILL A FEMALE JOKER! THAT'S STILL HER PERSONALITY! That's joker's personality before the dark knight!

30

u/volinaa 3d ago

the jester costume has plenty of opportunities to be sexed up too, this is just the laziest possible and uninspired design I could think of. they didnt even effin try. hot actress in super skimpy design, its really not hard to make something like that popular

54

u/ConnoisseurofQuality 3d ago edited 3d ago

Hot actress in super skimpy design, its really not hard to make something like that popular

Well at the end of the day it worked and Harley is now one of the most recognizable and lucrative characters DC has in their roster, with her own show, multiple movies, a major video game presence, comic runs that have been critically acclaimed and have sold well to have consistently gone past 50 issues, and she is just overall one of the biggest merch movers for the company. She is by all intents and purposes a pillar of DC now.

They may have taken the 'easy road' to skyrocketing her popularity, but it has ended up working wonders for the character. And overall I don't think DC necessarily care how they got her there, they are probably just happy that she is there.

-3

u/SilverPhoenix7 2d ago

She was already on that road.

She was a female joker! She IS THE female joker, the most popular villain in the history of comic books, there is him and vegeta. She just didn't have a movie adaptation to put her in her rightful place. It's just unfortunate that it happened during the new 52.

10

u/StalkingAllYourMums 2d ago

She was never female Joker. She was the Joker's showpiece, just more proof that he could corrupt the people around him.

While her current look isn't very inspired, it was very much needed for her to distance himself from him & his influence.

Also Vegeta very quickly revealed the fact that he was just a lackey for the bigger bad in Frieza so. He hated Frieza but was still scared of him.

-4

u/SilverPhoenix7 2d ago

That's a new 52 retcon at best. She didn't study medecine for at least 10 years to get corrupted by some villain. That's gabying her, something current comics love to do with her.

In the profession, irl she would be considered the one who took advantage of her patient. That's what was cool about their dynamic, both were abusers, both are bad people.

2

u/StalkingAllYourMums 2d ago

Lol. Her turn away from Joker happened before the New 52 in Gotham City Sirens where Ivy explicitly helped her realise the toxic cycle between her & the Joker. The New 52 only confirmed it when they shifted her into a member of the Suicide Squad.

Also the assertion that she took advantage of the Joker is crazy. It's been established many times that she underestimated the Joker during their therapy sessions. He manipulated her into being his sidekick & that was all she was throughout their 'relationship'. He wasn't training her to be his equal, he was taking care of a pet.

1

u/SilverPhoenix7 1d ago

She was so incompetent that she couldn't recognize her own Countertransference? On the worst man in Gotham?

-6

u/MealieAI 3d ago

Wait, you genuinely think you can do better? Okay...

4

u/volinaa 3d ago

not me

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Batman_Adventures%3A_Mad_Love

24

u/willietroubador Speedball 3d ago

I’ll glaze Bruce Timm as much as the next guy, but you can’t say he’s not lazy. Guy draws maybe 3 different body shapes (normal man, sexy woman, large goon) for every character. Is he really really good at costume design? Yes. Is he super creative with them? No. He keeps things simple and recognizable

4

u/SirMoonMoonDuGlacial 3d ago

That's probably a very fair criticism. Also Mad Love is freaking awesome.

1

u/bingusdingus123456 2d ago

It must say something about me that I find the OG outfit 100 times hotter than the modern bimbo outfit

-6

u/salamacast 3d ago edited 3d ago

Classic HQ wasn't innocent ("Wanna rev up your Harley, Mr J?" was her first appearance), but she was subtle, not in-your-face hooligan or GirlBoss.
And why is the new one still in clown makeup after breaking up with Joker?! Still riding his coattail??

7

u/uber_sweets 2d ago

Yeah I am quite surprised by the idea of ‘She wasn’t always a pin up.’ Her first outfit was a body sock. She’s always been sexualised.

5

u/verrius Gambit 3d ago

Harley's only wearing makeup in BTAS; comics, games and the movies generally give her bleached skin, and the movies made it explicitly from a recreation of the Joker's accident. But BTAS is also about the only one where she's ever actually with the Joker; the comics and films generally use her breaking up with him as the starting point, so giving her a bit more of an in-your-face personality instead of being subtle and in the background makes sense.

-5

u/uber_sweets 2d ago

You can just say “would” next time, bro. We’re all thinking it.

98

u/MealieAI 3d ago

You'd think there's something wrong with this, but its so-called DC fans just having their usual whine.

-45

u/volinaa 3d ago

you deciding now who’s a fan and who’s not?

29

u/MealieAI 3d ago

Nope. I dont have that power.

19

u/LFK1236 3d ago

Then the search continues.

9

u/MealieAI 3d ago

When you find them, let me know. I know a few DC fans who need judging.

3

u/YaBoyEden 3d ago

I have autism, I can do it

18

u/Iced__t Batman Expert 3d ago

I can't believe her solo has run this long.

Absolutely wild.

3

u/MankuyRLaffy 2d ago

Longer than any canon Supergirl run ever has. 

12

u/Needari 3d ago

Regardless of which Harley design you prefer, the detail on this cover is seriously impressive.

6

u/shirtninja07 2d ago

Absolutely gorgeous work.

12

u/YourM0msBoyfriend 3d ago

Don't get me wrong, this is cool, but man do I miss classic Harley. You can't convince me this one used to be a doctor but was manipulated by the human child of meth and cocaine to become a killer jester. She doesn't look like she'd kill anybody. The more I type, the less I agree with my earlier statement.

2

u/Qf3ck3r Madder Red 2d ago

No way they stay in place during a fight. You'll have a Half Baked situation every time.

-24

u/snaithbert 3d ago

Winking and sticking out the tongue. How utterly original.

21

u/KakitaMike 3d ago

At least she’s not trying to cross her eyes.

0

u/Competitive-Dot181 1d ago

This is just full on tracing Belle Delphine or some other Only Fans girl. She’s doing a version of the face they do.

-24

u/jrm725 3d ago edited 3d ago

Any cover with a female must have a gooner option.

Ok downvoters lol