All of the weird Harley Quinn and Joker shipping lately has made me rather nostalgic for what I consider to be their definitive relationship.
It's funny that with all the improvements and money that's gone into comics these days you really can't beat the classics for quality.
When I think of the Joker - even though there are so many iterations of him throughout DC - I find myself thinking of this image.
I just love that. Gleefully sitting in the spotlight in his dinner suit, relaxing and just about toasting us despite the fact that he is literally bathing in the chaos of No Man's Land. That is pure Joker - he just is chaos.. not a wannabe anarchist slash edge lord.
So that's how I picture Joker. Although sometimes admittedly it's more like this:
Although Harley Quinn was born of the animated series, she transitioned into mainstream comics during one of the biggest crossover events - and dare I say probably the LAST worth while cross over DC has ever done.
It introduced us to the friendship of Poison Ivy and Harley Quinn and also how the Joker and Harley Quinn's relationship developed post-therapy. We got new characters, we got interesting character arcs and the ripples from this event continued all the way up to the more recent comics.
This issue is one of my favourites. It opens up on a gang turf war between the Xhosa and .... I don't know.. Killer Croc's gang?
There's a monologue of an outsider watching this battle and at first you think it could be someone from the Batgang but it turns out it's Joker. He says he's going to walk in and take this turf... and he does.
Strike a pose, Joker.
Aahh, back in the day where people ran away while pooping their pants if they saw Joker coming.
Damn, there is some serious beefcake along with high waisted jeans in the form of Joker's thugs.
This panel here could have been generic ball and chain humour but it works really well.
I mean, think about it. This is the Joker. If he don't like you, he will kill you. Killing you wouldn't even mean anything to him.
Yet here's someone who he can't get rid of, who irritates him as much as she's useful to him, the one person who would run to him when the rest of the world runs away.
He's intrigued but he abhors being in a relationship. In her own right, Harley is a dangerous woman even though she's often portrayed as 'just a victim'. This page makes it seem like the Joker isn't scared of her exactly, but doesn't want to make her angry either. Just look at the way he placates her with nicknames and sends her off on errands/distractions.
Love the shrink jab - hilarious!
Joker discovers a new henchman in the form of Josh - a cartoonist who was hiding from the previous gang war. He conducts an impromptu interview, and finding Josh's skills to be comically useless in this situation gives him a rosette. This seems like a killer version of the Bachelorette.
Meanwhile, Harley is showing off her own usefulness and athletic prowess by vaulting her way up the outside of the apartment block until she comes to the 27th floor and finds it relatively unscathed by looters.
This brings us to a couple of interesting points.
1) Harley being so dismissive of the previous daddy's little girl owner... a foreshadowing to her own deadbeat dad?
2) Nice something you've got here... it would be a shame if anything was to happen to it memes..\
3) The titular Code: Laws of L'Amour in which Harley Quinn finds a number of rules to make your man marry you.
Uh oh... Harley comedically flashes back to all the things she's done wrong relationship-wise since becoming Harley Quinn!
Turns out it was one of Penguin's goons in the Xhosa war.
Joker grills him about where Pengy's fresh produce is coming from and does some sort of... yam based torture.
Not being American I did not understand the whole yam thing.
Aren't they our Australian sweet potatoes?
As it turns out, literally no one understands yams/sweet potatoes.
Anyway - the yam based torture was Josh's idea which seems to skeeve out Joker even though he finds it hilarious.
Harley enters and Joker forgets about Josh, and as the Penguin henchman is unconscious he has time to talk to her.
Initially he's all business asking what Harley found in the top floors. Harley is a little meek about asking for her own apartment but Joker is relieved and thinks it's a great way to get her off his back.
Joker has so many terrifying faces on this page alone along with dizzying mood changes that you almost don't realise that there appears to be an error on the page.
I'm pretty sure the "Okay, good night then." should be Harley's line because it doesn't fit in with Joker contemplating further torture and then being surprised at her leaving.
Small things changing in the relationship... but it's about to get a lot bigger!
Elsewhere, Oracle speaks to Batman over a commlink about Joker distributing the loot in the apartment amongst his district and shows that even in No Man's Land gossip is alive and well because even the Batgang are nattin' on about Harley possibly leaving the Joker.
It's interesting how civil Joker's gang is. Josh asks if the guys need help moving an elevator and they basically say yes please. There's also a roaring trade in commodities - people overcoming their fears to approach Joker turf. Even the Xhosa are a bit daunted about approaching.
Here we have Joker being air lifted (most of the way, anyway) to sweep Harley off her feet with real flowers from somewhere..
Harley plays it cool, laying off her major pet name for Joker and telling him he can't stay long as she's busy.
Every time I read this comic, the line about the telephone service cracks me up, it's just so perfect that these crazy people focus on the little things in the world of chaos.
Turns out Josh has been a busy little bee, getting Harley everything her heart desires... and that seems to get under Joker's skin but is soon forgotten for a trip down memory lane.
Which in turn is rudely interrupted by yet another gang war.
Another lovely moment - Harley free-abseils down a building telling Joker to catch up by using the bungee cords.
She leaps to the defence of Josh and shoves him back in the same hole he was hiding from the Xhosa the first time around. Joker makes a bungee drop in and sprays the crowd outside with Joker gas - killing everyone apart from Harley and Josh.
Well, it is effective and Joker did find a way to bring it back to the phone conversation he and Harley had before, as well as a pun about the outdated catchphrases so I can't really fault him.
Left alone, they plot their next steps.
Josh and Harley have a moment of bonding over their studies which doesn't go well with Joker who is not a fan of nerds.
Harley thinks her new code is working on her Puddin' but as usual sets herself up for disappointment as she's relegated back into the hench wench slot.
Perhaps it is working on him a bit more subconsciously than he realises (or more likely he's noticed he's loosing his number one side kick) because he lashes out and threatens Josh.
In response, Josh pees his pants. Fair play, Josh, fair play.
That panel five face though.. we're lucky he ONLY peed his pants.
Joker scares the crap out of Josh by telling him he's boned if he's rubbed another man's rhubarb because Harley wouldn't save Josh from her Puddin', and in the next breath supports Josh's artistic prowess by making him chief artist for his promotional campaign.
Huntress sees this and realises she has to tell Petit that he's apparently running against Joker for president of No Man's Land.
It's funny that with all the improvements and money that's gone into comics these days you really can't beat the classics for quality.
When I think of the Joker - even though there are so many iterations of him throughout DC - I find myself thinking of this image.
 |
| Oct 1999 "Breakin' the Law" Writer: Bronwyn Carlton Penciler: Mike Deodato Inker: David Roach |
I just love that. Gleefully sitting in the spotlight in his dinner suit, relaxing and just about toasting us despite the fact that he is literally bathing in the chaos of No Man's Land. That is pure Joker - he just is chaos.. not a wannabe anarchist slash edge lord.
So that's how I picture Joker. Although sometimes admittedly it's more like this:
Although Harley Quinn was born of the animated series, she transitioned into mainstream comics during one of the biggest crossover events - and dare I say probably the LAST worth while cross over DC has ever done.
It introduced us to the friendship of Poison Ivy and Harley Quinn and also how the Joker and Harley Quinn's relationship developed post-therapy. We got new characters, we got interesting character arcs and the ripples from this event continued all the way up to the more recent comics.
This issue is one of my favourites. It opens up on a gang turf war between the Xhosa and .... I don't know.. Killer Croc's gang?
There's a monologue of an outsider watching this battle and at first you think it could be someone from the Batgang but it turns out it's Joker. He says he's going to walk in and take this turf... and he does.
Strike a pose, Joker.
Aahh, back in the day where people ran away while pooping their pants if they saw Joker coming.
Damn, there is some serious beefcake along with high waisted jeans in the form of Joker's thugs.
This panel here could have been generic ball and chain humour but it works really well.
I mean, think about it. This is the Joker. If he don't like you, he will kill you. Killing you wouldn't even mean anything to him.
Yet here's someone who he can't get rid of, who irritates him as much as she's useful to him, the one person who would run to him when the rest of the world runs away.
He's intrigued but he abhors being in a relationship. In her own right, Harley is a dangerous woman even though she's often portrayed as 'just a victim'. This page makes it seem like the Joker isn't scared of her exactly, but doesn't want to make her angry either. Just look at the way he placates her with nicknames and sends her off on errands/distractions.
Love the shrink jab - hilarious!
Joker discovers a new henchman in the form of Josh - a cartoonist who was hiding from the previous gang war. He conducts an impromptu interview, and finding Josh's skills to be comically useless in this situation gives him a rosette. This seems like a killer version of the Bachelorette.
Meanwhile, Harley is showing off her own usefulness and athletic prowess by vaulting her way up the outside of the apartment block until she comes to the 27th floor and finds it relatively unscathed by looters.
This brings us to a couple of interesting points.
1) Harley being so dismissive of the previous daddy's little girl owner... a foreshadowing to her own deadbeat dad?
2) Nice something you've got here... it would be a shame if anything was to happen to it memes..\
3) The titular Code: Laws of L'Amour in which Harley Quinn finds a number of rules to make your man marry you.
Uh oh... Harley comedically flashes back to all the things she's done wrong relationship-wise since becoming Harley Quinn!
Turns out it was one of Penguin's goons in the Xhosa war.
Joker grills him about where Pengy's fresh produce is coming from and does some sort of... yam based torture.
Not being American I did not understand the whole yam thing.
Aren't they our Australian sweet potatoes?
As it turns out, literally no one understands yams/sweet potatoes.
Anyway - the yam based torture was Josh's idea which seems to skeeve out Joker even though he finds it hilarious.
Harley enters and Joker forgets about Josh, and as the Penguin henchman is unconscious he has time to talk to her.
Initially he's all business asking what Harley found in the top floors. Harley is a little meek about asking for her own apartment but Joker is relieved and thinks it's a great way to get her off his back.Joker has so many terrifying faces on this page alone along with dizzying mood changes that you almost don't realise that there appears to be an error on the page.
I'm pretty sure the "Okay, good night then." should be Harley's line because it doesn't fit in with Joker contemplating further torture and then being surprised at her leaving.
Small things changing in the relationship... but it's about to get a lot bigger!
Elsewhere, Oracle speaks to Batman over a commlink about Joker distributing the loot in the apartment amongst his district and shows that even in No Man's Land gossip is alive and well because even the Batgang are nattin' on about Harley possibly leaving the Joker.
It's interesting how civil Joker's gang is. Josh asks if the guys need help moving an elevator and they basically say yes please. There's also a roaring trade in commodities - people overcoming their fears to approach Joker turf. Even the Xhosa are a bit daunted about approaching.
Here we have Joker being air lifted (most of the way, anyway) to sweep Harley off her feet with real flowers from somewhere..
Harley plays it cool, laying off her major pet name for Joker and telling him he can't stay long as she's busy.
Every time I read this comic, the line about the telephone service cracks me up, it's just so perfect that these crazy people focus on the little things in the world of chaos.
Turns out Josh has been a busy little bee, getting Harley everything her heart desires... and that seems to get under Joker's skin but is soon forgotten for a trip down memory lane.
Which in turn is rudely interrupted by yet another gang war.
She leaps to the defence of Josh and shoves him back in the same hole he was hiding from the Xhosa the first time around. Joker makes a bungee drop in and sprays the crowd outside with Joker gas - killing everyone apart from Harley and Josh.
Well, it is effective and Joker did find a way to bring it back to the phone conversation he and Harley had before, as well as a pun about the outdated catchphrases so I can't really fault him.
Left alone, they plot their next steps.Josh and Harley have a moment of bonding over their studies which doesn't go well with Joker who is not a fan of nerds.
Harley thinks her new code is working on her Puddin' but as usual sets herself up for disappointment as she's relegated back into the hench wench slot.
Perhaps it is working on him a bit more subconsciously than he realises (or more likely he's noticed he's loosing his number one side kick) because he lashes out and threatens Josh.
In response, Josh pees his pants. Fair play, Josh, fair play.
That panel five face though.. we're lucky he ONLY peed his pants.
Joker scares the crap out of Josh by telling him he's boned if he's rubbed another man's rhubarb because Harley wouldn't save Josh from her Puddin', and in the next breath supports Josh's artistic prowess by making him chief artist for his promotional campaign.
Huntress sees this and realises she has to tell Petit that he's apparently running against Joker for president of No Man's Land.
The Short End of the Jester Schtick
Yeah, I really like this issue. It's a hilarious story about everyone's favourite psychotic clown, the woman who loves him, and a mad cap scheme to gain control over a piece of the city devastated by an earthquake and abandoned by the rest of the world. I mean, what is this?
I don't even know how it got green lit but I'm glad it did!
Bronwyn Carlton is an absolute legend - if the name rings a bell it's because she also wrote the Catwoman series of which I reviewed Harley Quinn's role in.
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Play nice or play dead! Harley Quinn's rules!