In the final issue of Joker/Harley: Criminal Sanity, Harley has a violent confrontation with the Joker that leads her down a dark, new path.
WARNING: The following contains spoilers for Joker/Harley: Criminal Sanity #8 by Kami Garcia, Mike Mayhew, and Mico Suayan, on sale now.
The relationship Harley Quinn has with the Joker is one that was never meant to last. Debuting in Batman: The Animated Series, Harley Quinn has since become one of the most iconic characters in all of comics. While her outlandish outfits and fiery personality have made her easily recognizable, it’s Harley’s tumultuous relationship with the Joker that has helped define her over the years. In the culmination of Joker/Harley: Criminal Sanity, Harley makes a decision that will forever change her entire life.
In an alternate timeline of events, Harley is one of the many victims of the Joker. Coming home from work one night, Harley finds the gruesome remains of her friend Edie in their bathtub. A wire hanger is lodged in her mouth, twisting it into a horrible grin. From that night forward Harley dedicated herself to criminal profiling and forensics in hopes of catching the Joker and making him pay for his crimes.
Years later a game of cat and mouse begins between the Joker and the combined forces of Harley and the GCPD. Horrific murders are being committed throughout Gotham and the killer is impeccable in his methodologies and execution of his murders. His victims are mutilated and distorted to resemble classic works of art.
As more and more bodies are found Harley begins to understand the killer in greater detail. Her assertions on the killer prove to hit too close to home for him as he makes an unexpected visit to Harley’s apartment. It’s in this meeting that Harley learns that the killer she has been hunting has been the Joker all along, in this timeline a young and handsome man. The Joker leaves Harley, making a deal with her: she lets him continue to kill and he lets her continue to profile him.
In a bizarre twist of fate, the Joker turns himself in to the GCPD in order to speak to Harley about his last murder. Harley is met with a choice: tell the GCPD that he is in fact the killer they’ve been hunting, or lie and let him leave. Harley chooses the latter, as she believes it’s up to her and her alone to permanently stop him. Her decision proves to be disastrous, however, as the Joker commits even more murders before Harley is finally able to apprehend him on the streets.
It’s in this climactic moment that Harley is again faced with a choice: kill the Joker and stop him once and for all or turn him over to the GCPD. Harley decides to let the GCPD take the Joker in. As she reflects on everything that has transpired between her and the Joker she realizes what she must become in order to truly stop evil such as him. She likens psychopaths like the Joker to tigers, apex predators. To hunt and kill those kinds of predators she knows that she must become a predator as well. She acknowledges that what Batman does is on the right track, but his results aren’t permanent enough to truly keep the city safe.
It’s an interesting development for Harley’s character to become a lethal vigilante. For a character that has historically reveled in killing innocent people, Harley’s decision to protect innocents is a radical change of pace. In this timeline Harley would join the ranks of Wild Dog, Peacemaker, and Magog as a vigilante without moral restraints against killing villains. This character development is also interesting as Harley attempted to shoot and kill her former suitor at the end of “Joker War” in the main DC continuity. While it might be unlikely to see Harley take the persona of someone akin to Marvel’s Punisher, it does seem as though she has become less tolerant of her old flame, even more so in this stunning new reality.
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