10 Worst Things DC Has Ever Done To Harley Quinn

Two butts, a hyena form... AND a secret twin?! Life is rough if you're Harley Quinn.

Harley Quinn
DC Comics

While Harley Quinn has never been the most hard done to of all of DC's supervillains, she also has never precisely had a wonderful time. With her childhood overtaken with either a dead father or a criminal one - dependant on the universe - and her teens taken up with a questionably healthy relationship, it seems like her life prior to the Joker was just as consistently bad as her life during her time with the Joker.

As such, it often feels like DC is constructing needlessly awful situations to make us feel for our favourite clown. Even when she's not in an actively miserable situation in the comics, Harley has suffered from more scandals surrounding her character more than Batman has had sidekicks.

With the supervillain being at the forefront of DC's iconic female characters, she often is also the first they pick for some sketchy design choices - half to keep her in the eye of the news, and half because she's an easy character to have weird or zany costume changes.

Either way, it'd be nice for Harleen to enjoy an uncontroversial period - or at least to never be drawn with two butts ever again.

10. Her Comic Costume Redesigns

Harley Quinn
DC Comics

The decision to change Harley's look from the red and black Harlequin outfit is perhaps the most simultaneously controversial and understandable decision in the character's history.

This argument saw its initial roots in the New 52 redesign of the character, which saw DC diverge from the iconic jester outfit Harley wore, and instead verged closer on the Arkham City design, which threw the whole jester theme out in favor of a half-and-half hair dye job and more leather than anyone should feel totally comfortable including in one outfit.

While the reaction to this was strong enough, the response to Harley's newest redesign, which is almost entirely inspired by the Suicide Squad film, was even stronger. Tying such a beloved character to the film that represented her so poorly just seems like a bad idea, and one likely to alienate existing fans from Quinn entirely.

They're by no means the worst outfits the clown has ever had - but they're also a long way from the best.

Contributor
Contributor

I like my comics like I like my coffee - in huge, unquestionably unhealthy doses.