10 Most Disturbing Comics Relationships

The Joker and Harley Quinn are pretty much the standard by which all other disturbing relationships can be measured. The Joker has beaten, maimed, belittled and outright tried to kill and ruin Harley's life many times in the comics - and yet the two are still commonly put back together as a relationship in various media all the time.

Justifiably, this is because both villains are at their villainous peak when they're also being awful to one another.

While this can vary between the cruelty being surreally comedic - as was the case in the more cartoon series like Mad Love - or be played nightmarishly straight, there's always a vaguely disturbing element to the fact that the pair are as inseparable as they are bad for each other.

Lately Harley has featured in comics that place her further and further away from being the Joker's sidekick-slash-punching-bag (to the point where she's been in a regular relationship with Poison Ivy), and while this trend is a more than welcome one, it's a surefire thing that even her solo work will repeatedly reference the unhealthy relationship she had with the Joker.