Batman gets a lot of love from DC Comics, and it’s nice that Harley Quinn is shoving her way in and owning this month’s celebration.
Batman is one of the most recognized superheroes ever, and his little corner of the DC Comics universe has spawned a lot of movies, a current TV series in the form of Gotham, and it certainly didn’t hurt Suicide Squad, either. But from the world of Batman came Harley Quinn, and in her 25 years, she’s built up quite the following — enough for DC to declare that she, not the Dark Knight, will be the focus of this month’s celebrations of Batman Day.
Granted, Dr. Quinzel won’t actually have a “Harley Quinn Day,” and DC’s preferred name of “Harley Quinn Batman Day Takeover” doesn’t have quite the same ring to it, but we’ll take what we can get at this point. Besides, if we really wanted to have a full-blown Harley day, there could be some controversy about which day to pick. Would it be her first appearance in any medium? Then it’d have to do with her first appearance in Batman: The Animated Series.
However, DC appears to be more concerned with her comics appearance — it’ll be giving out free digital copies of her original comic, according to the press release, so long as you take part in the digital sale that’s also going on separate from the five-day celebration of all things Harley. (Yes, five days. Really, it’s Harley Quinn Week, which is better than just one little old day.)
Look, she might not be on the level of Wonder Woman, Superman, or even the World’s Greatest Detective, but it’s clear that if there are tiers of DC characters, then Harley has to be close to the top of the second tier. She’s been around for less time, comparatively speaking, than some of the other well-known characters, but she helped anchor Suicide Squad, and she’s leading Gotham City Sirens to the big screen, too. DC choosing to acknowledge that is great; that makes room for more female villains or sometime anti-heroes to make their way to the top.
So, here’s to you, Harley.
Maybe next year, you really will take down the Batman once and for all.
Next: Reviewing Star Wars: Phasma
(Okay, probably not, since Batman is still a big deal, but it’s nice to have goals, right?)