I decided to do some digging to try and find the interview I was recalling.
We're not just going to focus on the outfit but mind you.. you have to point out what an extreme change she went through with her duds alone, never mind her personality.
For one thing, she went from a harlequinn to someone whose only visual cue that they were linked to clowns at one time was the ruffle collar and her kind of two toned theme with some diamonds sprinkled around. And even those are pushing it. For someone unfamiliar with the premise of Harley Quinn, she could be a renaissance era hooker or something. It's like someone asked Jim Lee to draw a Harley Quinn revamp and he only heard the word 'harlot'.
Alright, sex worker jokes and slut shaming is not the way I want to go about this. So, let's compare two other revamps to how Harley Quinn was re-imagined.
So there was this one time when someone thought this was an awesome idea for Superman.
Everyone hated it, and he was soon back to fighting evil in his underoos which is more iconic and makes more money for DC.
With the Harley costume hate, DC decided it was better to keep it and ride the gravy train of publicity.
The other one I want to bring up is Catman. I was only introduced to Catman in Gail Simone's fantabulous Secret Six series. Originally created way back in 1963, he was a cat themed villain (duh) much like Catwoman and often got into scrapes with her as well as the Bat.
Eventually, he became a bit of a joke - that he was nothing like his old self but rather out of shape, dying his hair to make him look more bad-ass, all that jazz. This was in 2003 in a Green Arrow comic.
Then Gail Simone stepped in in 2005.
Her Catman had been on a self searching trek through Africa, getting back to himself, aligning with nature and building one hell of a six pack.
He also moved from outright villain to a more anti-hero figure. Still able to do bad things but had more of a moral compass and tried not to the aforementioned bad things. This sometimes became an issue as he worked as a mercenary of sorts as a Secret Six member.
I think the Catman comparison is the best to use against Harley Quinn because they're kinda similar. Hey, they were even in the Secret Six together for a brief spell!
Both were Batman villains who sooner or later were seen by others as a bit of a joke and largely forgotten by the comics community. They were then indoctrinated into a new group with a revamped costume and so much more bad ass than they were before. This character also gets a revamp-revamp when their title is relaunched. Effort is made to make this character an anti-hero (for Harley, this is later in her shitty new solo which fails at the task miserably) and both characters appeared beside Deadshot, becoming the breakout star of their series.
My main issue with this though, is that Catman became a more enhanced version of himself and he only lost his daggy cat themed crimes. I could be wrong, as I said I haven't read Catman prior to the Secret Six. Harley meanwhile, probably because she's female, loses her clothing and becomes a more violent, sex obsessed maniac. She didn't even lose the Joker aspect of her character but did completely change her personality.
So even though I'm bitching about the costume, it's not the threads themselves that are the problem (although it did take her from a aesthetically pleasing original outfit to one of many corsetted women in the New52) it's what this revamp meant to the character that I loved.
To the subject of this blog... what was Adam Glass thinking when he created this monstrosity?
Pop Culture Addict - The hunt for Harley Quinn Feb 8 2012
The reason for the immediate uproar was the redesign of Harley Quinn. One of the most popular comic book creations of the modern age, Harley Quinn has a very passionate and loyal fan base. Fans had a difficult time recognising the Harley they knew and loved, and this appeared to increase the sense of fear and uncertainty surrounding the entire DC revamp that was being felt by many DC fans. Gone was the red and black harlequin costume designed by Bruce Timm and, in its place, stood a vamped up vixen with a sadistic grin and hot pants. For many fans, the new Harley Quinn was a bit too much change.
Six months later, the debate on the new Harley Quinn has only intensified, as an opposing loyal fan base has grown around Adam Glass’ version of Suicide Squad. One of the most exciting and fast paced book in the DCnU lineup, Suicide Squad has become one of the “new 52’s” surprise hit books!
Slowly he has managed to win readers over to realising that instead of judging a book by its cover, it’s much better to look at the quality of the story inside; when it comes to quality, Suicide Squad delivers issue after issue. Now Adam Glass faces his most dangerous mission – retelling the origin of Harley Quinn and winning over her legion of fans. On February 8th Glass’s two part The Hunt for Harley begins in the pages of Suicide Squad #6, exploring secrets about Harley’s past that readers have never seen before, and revealing just who the new Harley Quinn is, and just how much different, or perhaps the same, she is from the character that Flashpoint left behind.
Everyone hated it, and he was soon back to fighting evil in his underoos which is more iconic and makes more money for DC.
With the Harley costume hate, DC decided it was better to keep it and ride the gravy train of publicity.
The other one I want to bring up is Catman. I was only introduced to Catman in Gail Simone's fantabulous Secret Six series. Originally created way back in 1963, he was a cat themed villain (duh) much like Catwoman and often got into scrapes with her as well as the Bat.
Eventually, he became a bit of a joke - that he was nothing like his old self but rather out of shape, dying his hair to make him look more bad-ass, all that jazz. This was in 2003 in a Green Arrow comic.
Then Gail Simone stepped in in 2005.
Her Catman had been on a self searching trek through Africa, getting back to himself, aligning with nature and building one hell of a six pack.
He also moved from outright villain to a more anti-hero figure. Still able to do bad things but had more of a moral compass and tried not to the aforementioned bad things. This sometimes became an issue as he worked as a mercenary of sorts as a Secret Six member.
I think the Catman comparison is the best to use against Harley Quinn because they're kinda similar. Hey, they were even in the Secret Six together for a brief spell!
Both were Batman villains who sooner or later were seen by others as a bit of a joke and largely forgotten by the comics community. They were then indoctrinated into a new group with a revamped costume and so much more bad ass than they were before. This character also gets a revamp-revamp when their title is relaunched. Effort is made to make this character an anti-hero (for Harley, this is later in her shitty new solo which fails at the task miserably) and both characters appeared beside Deadshot, becoming the breakout star of their series.
My main issue with this though, is that Catman became a more enhanced version of himself and he only lost his daggy cat themed crimes. I could be wrong, as I said I haven't read Catman prior to the Secret Six. Harley meanwhile, probably because she's female, loses her clothing and becomes a more violent, sex obsessed maniac. She didn't even lose the Joker aspect of her character but did completely change her personality.
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| Stop licking things! You're the Miley Cyrus of DC!!! |
So even though I'm bitching about the costume, it's not the threads themselves that are the problem (although it did take her from a aesthetically pleasing original outfit to one of many corsetted women in the New52) it's what this revamp meant to the character that I loved.
To the subject of this blog... what was Adam Glass thinking when he created this monstrosity?
Pop Culture Addict - The hunt for Harley Quinn Feb 8 2012
The reason for the immediate uproar was the redesign of Harley Quinn. One of the most popular comic book creations of the modern age, Harley Quinn has a very passionate and loyal fan base. Fans had a difficult time recognising the Harley they knew and loved, and this appeared to increase the sense of fear and uncertainty surrounding the entire DC revamp that was being felt by many DC fans. Gone was the red and black harlequin costume designed by Bruce Timm and, in its place, stood a vamped up vixen with a sadistic grin and hot pants. For many fans, the new Harley Quinn was a bit too much change.
Six months later, the debate on the new Harley Quinn has only intensified, as an opposing loyal fan base has grown around Adam Glass’ version of Suicide Squad. One of the most exciting and fast paced book in the DCnU lineup, Suicide Squad has become one of the “new 52’s” surprise hit books!
Slowly he has managed to win readers over to realising that instead of judging a book by its cover, it’s much better to look at the quality of the story inside; when it comes to quality, Suicide Squad delivers issue after issue. Now Adam Glass faces his most dangerous mission – retelling the origin of Harley Quinn and winning over her legion of fans. On February 8th Glass’s two part The Hunt for Harley begins in the pages of Suicide Squad #6, exploring secrets about Harley’s past that readers have never seen before, and revealing just who the new Harley Quinn is, and just how much different, or perhaps the same, she is from the character that Flashpoint left behind.
Sam Tweedle: What attracted you to the characters that you chose to make up your team?
Adam Glass: Well, with the New 52, we were taking the familiar but putting a fresh take on these characters. Deadshot’s a hold over from the old Squad, but I felt that we had to put him in a new light. Here’s a guy who’s the ultimate loner, and a guy who couldn’t give a shit about anything or anyone, and make him the leader – which he doesn’t want, but is put into the position. I remember pitching Harley Quinn to Pat McCallum and he said, “Harley Quinn? Really?” I started to tell him my vision for her, saying, “I think she could be a real bad ass.”
Well, I got permission to use her and I was really glad, because I thought that she was someone who I really liked and [wondered] what would she be like if we made her a little more dangerous and sexy and lethal? You don’t lose the sense of humour, but that’s not what you lead with. What happens when the Joker’s away? When she’s not around the Joker who does she become? She becomes her own person. She’s no longer trying to make him happy and to be on the side. Who is she? That was really interesting for me to explore.
As for King Shark, you needed a big guy. At first I wanted Killer Croc, but they weren’t going to give me that many Batman characters. But I loved what Gail Simone did with [King Shark]. Once again, you are following in these great footsteps – John Ostrander is amazing and Gail Simone is amazing. What do I do? Both of them advised me to do the same thing, which was make the book your own. That’s what they did, and that’s what [I needed] to do and they’ve both been able to speak to both of them about these things and they’ve both been very cool. So I had to go in a little different [direction] with King Shark too, and this will get revealed a little more as the book goes on, but something happened and he’s evolving. He’s not as smart as he used to be.
Sam: Now if Harley Quinn is such a popular character, why do you feel that you needed to reinvent her?
Adam: Look. I’m not reinventing Harley. I don’t have to. All the people before me did a great job on Harley. All we’re doing is adding to her story line. We are deepening her story. I think what’s going to happen in Hunt for Harley is a lot of Harley fans are going to go “Oh, he didn’t change everything. He just gave us another piece of the puzzle.” When I was growing up, I remember waiting twenty years to know what was going on with Wolverine. You’d get a piece of the puzzle here and a piece of the puzzle there. Now, everybody knows everything, but for twenty years we had no idea. We didn’t know anything about him. That’s all I’m doing with Harley Quinn. I’m giving you more pieces to the puzzle.
Sam: So you’re saying that this Harley Quinn is the same one we always knew, but with a bit more depth.
Adam: We’re digging a little deeper. Defining things a little more. You’re going to walk out of here and know a little more.
Sam: So in Hunt for Harley, do you feel that you are staying true to the Paul Dini character?
Adam: Yeah. I think so. I think the difference between the Harley in my book and what Paul Dini did is that I’m writing a Harley that is not about the Joker. Now I’ll go on record for saying this, but I think that Harley Quinn will always be loyal and faithful to the Joker when he is around. But when the Joker is not around she’s a young woman who is very capable of doing many things, and she is her own person. I think she’s going to explore those things, which leads her to someplace very human and very interesting. If the Joker was to show up tomorrow, she would run and jump into his arms and call him Mr. J and “Puddin’”, and what you’re going to see in Hunt for Harley is that her love for him is still very strong. But, [Suicide Squad] is like Harley’s solo album. This is Harley going out and seeing what’s out there and giving it a shot. The Joker is gone. She thought that he’s forsaken her and, obviously, through a bigger story in Detective Comics and Batman, is that [The Joker] is off the map. So that’s what we are dealing with. My goal is for Harley to walk out of this and not just be a supporting character anymore.
Winning over Harley Quinn’s fans may prove to be Adam Glass’ biggest challenge yet, and his mission starts in the pages of Suicide Squad #6, on sale January 7th. However, I believe by what I’ve read so far in the pages of Suicide Squad that this may be a battle that Adam may very well win. With an open mind, perhaps Harley’s legion of followers might come to realise that the Harley Quinn in the pages of Suicide Squad is closer to the character they love then they think.
It seems to me that Glass fully intended on doing for Harley Quinn what Gail Simone did for Catman and King Shark, but it never seems to reach it's potential. When this series was announced, I was hopeful. I admit that. Even with the stupid outfit (which is fully Jim Lee's asinine fault... come on, if even Bruce Timm can keep it in his pants to design a costume, why can't you??) but even though I wanted more for Harley.. I was afraid they'd change her too much. Which they did. Fans of this Suicide Squad always talk about how Harley is more independent without being the pathetic Joker attachment she used to be... but as Glass says here, she isn't over him. If he's there, she'll run back.
It's also kind of funny, because Harley had already reached a Joker free semi-independence in the comics prior to the New52, in particular the Gotham City Sirens, Paul Dini's Detective Comics and also Countdown.
CBR News: In a way, this Joker story has been in the offering for “Suicide Squad” as much as it has been for “Batman.” In issues #6 and 7, you wrote a big story about Harley Quinn’s past and present and how they related to the Joker’s disappearance after he lost his face. When you were working on that, did any word come down to you about where Joker might finally return?
Adam Glass: Obviously we knew that eventually the Joker would return, but we had no idea when. One of the first things in dealing with Harley that I wanted to do was explore who Harley is outside of the Joker. He was gone. Perfect timing. In fact, the whole conversation about that started back when DC asked me who I’d want on my Suicide Squad team. I said, “Harley!” And they said, “But Harley’s off in Arkham Asylum.” “Well…what if she’s not? What if in this brave new world, she didn’t go to Arkham right away?” The truth of the matter is, she had a history at Arkham. If we want to think about how the legal system works, that’s probably the last place they’d send her to a place where she used to work and then flipped out.
So the idea started there. Harley was out on her own, and Joker was gone. The question of how that leads to who she’ll become fit perfectly. And there was an opportunity when we saw what happened to Joker’s face to keep him alive without seeing him. Then we could learn more about her story. Those two issues sold well, and the fans seemed pretty responsive to it.
Where there’s a lot of love, there’s a lot of hate. And when it comes to these two, it’s like nothing else!" – Adam Glass on the relationship between Harley Quinn and Joker
Geek: Do you think that as dysfunctional the team is, being a part of it has helped Harley evolve in some way?
Glass: Totally – it’s become her family. It’s become something that she’s never had before. So I think there has been a few moments during this run where she’s done things you wouldn’t have expected her to do – like go back for a teammate. She’s definitely taken on the role of sister to this group of crazies. It’s the only family she has. And Harley’s always wanted to belong to something. And if not Joker, then the team – and she’s finding herself in all this. She’s finding her place in the world, that she’s not just a sidekick.
Bruce Timm and Paul Dini created such a great character, and she’s been so popular and so beloved. And when she first came on the team, some “Suicide Squad” people had some issues with her. But the truth is, we’re taking what’s already there, and bringing her to the next step of her evolution.
Geek: Speaking of Harley’s evolution, there’s been a lot of controversy over her relationship with Deadshot, hard-core Joker/Harley fans feeling that Joker can be the only one for her. Do you think there’s room for other men in Harley’s life?
Glass: Going back to Harley, and her relationship with the Joker – he’s been gone, and she didn’t know where he is. She hoped he was coming back, but she was confused and in a whole new situation. She’s finding herself…and I feel these are all very natural things that ground her and make her realistic. And we’ll find out down the line – did she make a mistake, is this OK? Everything’s pretty much on the table now.
There's that word again... the one that keeps plaguing movies lately..FAMILY. Well, I suppose as they say, you can choose your friends but you can't choose who gets to hang around with you after you both get bombs stuck in your necks. Or something like that. The Deadshot thing... I personally don't care if there are other men in Harley's life provided they're written well like in her Convergence special. Here, the thing with Deadshot just came out of nowhere and it absolutely reeked of 'I'm a man, you're the only woman on this team... we may as well bone.' Which is not cool. And I absolutely disagree with this being the next step in her evolution.
Sam: So you’re saying that this Harley Quinn is the same one we always knew, but with a bit more depth.
Adam: We’re digging a little deeper. Defining things a little more. You’re going to walk out of here and know a little more.
Sam: So in Hunt for Harley, do you feel that you are staying true to the Paul Dini character?
Adam: Yeah. I think so. I think the difference between the Harley in my book and what Paul Dini did is that I’m writing a Harley that is not about the Joker. Now I’ll go on record for saying this, but I think that Harley Quinn will always be loyal and faithful to the Joker when he is around. But when the Joker is not around she’s a young woman who is very capable of doing many things, and she is her own person. I think she’s going to explore those things, which leads her to someplace very human and very interesting. If the Joker was to show up tomorrow, she would run and jump into his arms and call him Mr. J and “Puddin’”, and what you’re going to see in Hunt for Harley is that her love for him is still very strong. But, [Suicide Squad] is like Harley’s solo album. This is Harley going out and seeing what’s out there and giving it a shot. The Joker is gone. She thought that he’s forsaken her and, obviously, through a bigger story in Detective Comics and Batman, is that [The Joker] is off the map. So that’s what we are dealing with. My goal is for Harley to walk out of this and not just be a supporting character anymore.
Winning over Harley Quinn’s fans may prove to be Adam Glass’ biggest challenge yet, and his mission starts in the pages of Suicide Squad #6, on sale January 7th. However, I believe by what I’ve read so far in the pages of Suicide Squad that this may be a battle that Adam may very well win. With an open mind, perhaps Harley’s legion of followers might come to realise that the Harley Quinn in the pages of Suicide Squad is closer to the character they love then they think.
It seems to me that Glass fully intended on doing for Harley Quinn what Gail Simone did for Catman and King Shark, but it never seems to reach it's potential. When this series was announced, I was hopeful. I admit that. Even with the stupid outfit (which is fully Jim Lee's asinine fault... come on, if even Bruce Timm can keep it in his pants to design a costume, why can't you??) but even though I wanted more for Harley.. I was afraid they'd change her too much. Which they did. Fans of this Suicide Squad always talk about how Harley is more independent without being the pathetic Joker attachment she used to be... but as Glass says here, she isn't over him. If he's there, she'll run back.
It's also kind of funny, because Harley had already reached a Joker free semi-independence in the comics prior to the New52, in particular the Gotham City Sirens, Paul Dini's Detective Comics and also Countdown.
Comic Book Resources: Adam Glass brings Harley Quinn and Joker together in Suicide Squad 14/11/2012 Kiel Phegley
CBR News: In a way, this Joker story has been in the offering for “Suicide Squad” as much as it has been for “Batman.” In issues #6 and 7, you wrote a big story about Harley Quinn’s past and present and how they related to the Joker’s disappearance after he lost his face. When you were working on that, did any word come down to you about where Joker might finally return?
Adam Glass: Obviously we knew that eventually the Joker would return, but we had no idea when. One of the first things in dealing with Harley that I wanted to do was explore who Harley is outside of the Joker. He was gone. Perfect timing. In fact, the whole conversation about that started back when DC asked me who I’d want on my Suicide Squad team. I said, “Harley!” And they said, “But Harley’s off in Arkham Asylum.” “Well…what if she’s not? What if in this brave new world, she didn’t go to Arkham right away?” The truth of the matter is, she had a history at Arkham. If we want to think about how the legal system works, that’s probably the last place they’d send her to a place where she used to work and then flipped out.
So the idea started there. Harley was out on her own, and Joker was gone. The question of how that leads to who she’ll become fit perfectly. And there was an opportunity when we saw what happened to Joker’s face to keep him alive without seeing him. Then we could learn more about her story. Those two issues sold well, and the fans seemed pretty responsive to it.
I can understand the idea that maybe Harley shouldn't be sent back to her old workplace but at the same time... Belle Reve/Reeve isn't a psychiatric facility. It doesn't make much sense for her to go there, especially if she was apprehended in Gotham. (I assume she was, I can't effin' remember.) Later on this 'but she's in (someplace)' would come into play when DC decided to have her both in the Suicide Squad and footloose and sensibility-free in Coney Island.
MTV News: Suicide Squad scribe Adam Glass on the return of Harley Quinn (and the return of the Joker!) Valerie Gallagher 13/11/2012
MTV News: Suicide Squad scribe Adam Glass on the return of Harley Quinn (and the return of the Joker!) Valerie Gallagher 13/11/2012
Where there’s a lot of love, there’s a lot of hate. And when it comes to these two, it’s like nothing else!" – Adam Glass on the relationship between Harley Quinn and Joker
Geek: Do you think that as dysfunctional the team is, being a part of it has helped Harley evolve in some way?
Glass: Totally – it’s become her family. It’s become something that she’s never had before. So I think there has been a few moments during this run where she’s done things you wouldn’t have expected her to do – like go back for a teammate. She’s definitely taken on the role of sister to this group of crazies. It’s the only family she has. And Harley’s always wanted to belong to something. And if not Joker, then the team – and she’s finding herself in all this. She’s finding her place in the world, that she’s not just a sidekick.
Bruce Timm and Paul Dini created such a great character, and she’s been so popular and so beloved. And when she first came on the team, some “Suicide Squad” people had some issues with her. But the truth is, we’re taking what’s already there, and bringing her to the next step of her evolution.
Geek: Speaking of Harley’s evolution, there’s been a lot of controversy over her relationship with Deadshot, hard-core Joker/Harley fans feeling that Joker can be the only one for her. Do you think there’s room for other men in Harley’s life?
Glass: Going back to Harley, and her relationship with the Joker – he’s been gone, and she didn’t know where he is. She hoped he was coming back, but she was confused and in a whole new situation. She’s finding herself…and I feel these are all very natural things that ground her and make her realistic. And we’ll find out down the line – did she make a mistake, is this OK? Everything’s pretty much on the table now.
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| Because that leads to THIS, which is also not cool. |
07/05/2012 transcript of interview with Jonah Weiland
What’s interesting also about your Suicide Squad assignment here is that it’s actually — it’s your biggest launch in comics. Certainly, you’ve been around, you’ve done a bunch of stuff with Mike Benson, but this is part of the New 52 and of course it came under intense scrutiny issue #1, Amanda Waller looks different and Harley Quinn looks quite different.There was a big burst of controversy right when it came out.Then it seemed to kind of go away and I’m curious to see what your reaction to the controversy was and was it real, is it something to be concerned about?
Well you know, surprise, surprise, as I’m sure you guys know, and you people at home have no idea but we don’t have full control of everything. With that said, there are certain decisions that are made and I’ve got to be honest with it — neither of those decisions actually bothered me that much but when they first came down, I didn’t really think much of them. My idea is how to make the story work best. So for me, I turned around and basically said, “How do I make the best story?” To me, Amanda Waller, I understand all the people who said her size and having a woman of that sort of looking like a real person who came from the real world and all that, I couldn’t agree more but I would argue that Amanda Waller, no matter what size she is, is still Amanda Waller. It’s her character that always to me made her not her physical appearance. As for Harley Quinn, I can’t tell you, I probably get more emails on her and people find me on Facebook and all the threatening videos — I know who you are.
I’ve had people literally send me stuff — Harley Quinn fans — and tell me crazy stuff. Like, literally, “I’d better never see you at a convention” and stuff. Yeah, no, these people play for real. And by the way, I totally love that they’re that passionate about this character.
Yeah, look, honestly I write those people back and say, “You crossed a line.” I let them know, like I’m writing you back personally, and a couple of people then have said sorry, a couple never wrote back, but a couple people have said, “You’re absolutely right, I thought about what you said,” so there are some intelligent people too out there, it’s not all just crazy fans who — when you have that kind of passion, it can blind you sometimes. With a couple of people I’ve talked to, I understand it, but as I always say to them, this — your Harley still exists out there somewhere. I don’t know if she exists in the New 52 or if she exists in some alternative universe, she’s there but this is the new Harley for a new generation, so that’s what we’re trying to do.
What’s interesting also about your Suicide Squad assignment here is that it’s actually — it’s your biggest launch in comics. Certainly, you’ve been around, you’ve done a bunch of stuff with Mike Benson, but this is part of the New 52 and of course it came under intense scrutiny issue #1, Amanda Waller looks different and Harley Quinn looks quite different.There was a big burst of controversy right when it came out.Then it seemed to kind of go away and I’m curious to see what your reaction to the controversy was and was it real, is it something to be concerned about?
Well you know, surprise, surprise, as I’m sure you guys know, and you people at home have no idea but we don’t have full control of everything. With that said, there are certain decisions that are made and I’ve got to be honest with it — neither of those decisions actually bothered me that much but when they first came down, I didn’t really think much of them. My idea is how to make the story work best. So for me, I turned around and basically said, “How do I make the best story?” To me, Amanda Waller, I understand all the people who said her size and having a woman of that sort of looking like a real person who came from the real world and all that, I couldn’t agree more but I would argue that Amanda Waller, no matter what size she is, is still Amanda Waller. It’s her character that always to me made her not her physical appearance. As for Harley Quinn, I can’t tell you, I probably get more emails on her and people find me on Facebook and all the threatening videos — I know who you are.
I’ve had people literally send me stuff — Harley Quinn fans — and tell me crazy stuff. Like, literally, “I’d better never see you at a convention” and stuff. Yeah, no, these people play for real. And by the way, I totally love that they’re that passionate about this character.
Yeah, look, honestly I write those people back and say, “You crossed a line.” I let them know, like I’m writing you back personally, and a couple of people then have said sorry, a couple never wrote back, but a couple people have said, “You’re absolutely right, I thought about what you said,” so there are some intelligent people too out there, it’s not all just crazy fans who — when you have that kind of passion, it can blind you sometimes. With a couple of people I’ve talked to, I understand it, but as I always say to them, this — your Harley still exists out there somewhere. I don’t know if she exists in the New 52 or if she exists in some alternative universe, she’s there but this is the new Harley for a new generation, so that’s what we’re trying to do.
That might mean crossing some lines, but as I’ve always seen her — and I think books seven and eight proved — Harley’s a dangerous girl and is not somebody you want to come up against. I’m trying to make her be someone you take a little more serious.
If there was one thing that the critics agreed with during Suicide Squad's theatrical release was the stellar performance from Margot Robbie's Harley Quinn. The DCEU is one of the most divisive topics among comic book fans, and yet they're still outperforming every other franchise except Marvel and Star Wars at the box office. Can you even picture a world where Harley Quinn isn't on the Suicide Squad, or even worse; a world without the most dangerous villains that the DC Universe have to offer to assemble Task Force X? We all owe a bit of gratitude:
When I was growing up as kid, I used to read John Ostrander’s Suicide Squad, and I was a big fan of it. DC hasn’t done anything in awhile with it – I thought it would be an interesting book for the fans – and I like Harley Quinn to be in it. At first DC was sceptical, but Harley would give an energy to it, and if we’re living in a real world, and we’re trying to ground things. So, if you were an employee of Arkham Asylum and you were turned by another prisoner, that’s the last place, they’re going to put you in. I wanted to see Harley’s character portrayed in a story that doesn’t pertained the Joker, and she could be more than a love interest.
The entertainment industry is a group effort, with most projects' inception being in that of a writer's mind. Imagine if Adam Glass did not have the idea of putting Harley Quinn in Suicide Squad -- would that movie still have grossed over $700 million worldwide without her, more than likely that movie would never get made without the phenomenon known as Dr. Quinzel?
I don't agree with violent threats and I'm glad to hear Glass at least had a somewhat civilised conversation with these people... I'm also glad to hear it somewhat confirmed that this isn't the classic Harley Quinn. Ha! Gotcha, DC!
I'm not sure I like being told by someone who's gotta be at least 20 years older than me telling me that this is for the new generation. Buddy, I got your new generation right here!
In all seriousness though, the Amanda Waller part bugged me too. Yes, that's a great sentiment about how we shouldn't care what size she is as long as she's Amanda Waller... but if that's really the case, why did one of the only larger sized people in comics get turned into a supermodel? Shouldn't she have stayed the way she is?
Kurt Arthur 20/10/2016
When I was growing up as kid, I used to read John Ostrander’s Suicide Squad, and I was a big fan of it. DC hasn’t done anything in awhile with it – I thought it would be an interesting book for the fans – and I like Harley Quinn to be in it. At first DC was sceptical, but Harley would give an energy to it, and if we’re living in a real world, and we’re trying to ground things. So, if you were an employee of Arkham Asylum and you were turned by another prisoner, that’s the last place, they’re going to put you in. I wanted to see Harley’s character portrayed in a story that doesn’t pertained the Joker, and she could be more than a love interest.
The entertainment industry is a group effort, with most projects' inception being in that of a writer's mind. Imagine if Adam Glass did not have the idea of putting Harley Quinn in Suicide Squad -- would that movie still have grossed over $700 million worldwide without her, more than likely that movie would never get made without the phenomenon known as Dr. Quinzel?
There probably would have been more to this interview but the author's lips got stuck on Maggot Robbie's arse and needed surgical removal. Yes, Suicide Squad made a lot of money but that's because we all thought we were going to see a good or at least mildly entertaining movie. See, cinemas have a habit of not giving money back once your butt is in the seat unless something goes horrifically wrong. And when I argued that this movie fell deeply into that category, the usher said they meant horrifically wrong from the cinema's point of view. Like, if the screen caught fire or the seats each had a nest of snakes under them.
What's worse? Certain death by fire-snake cinemas, or having to watch Suicide Squad? You decide!
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Play nice or play dead! Harley Quinn's rules!