Further to my last post, I just wanted to have a little chat about how she's come about.
Writer of Batman: White Knight Sean Murphy has been positively interactive with fans and it seems to be going pretty well.
Old & New Harley Quinn Are TWO Different Women 01/12/2017 Andrew Bryce
Batman: White Knight just dropped the biggest twist on Harley Quinn in years, turning the classic Harley and the new Suicide Squad version into two completely different women. It’s a bombshell that will ring true for the older fans who always preferred the jester-suited Harleen Quinzel of Batman’s animated series to the more scantily-clad, downright psychotic version born in DC’s New 52 Universe.
First things first: yes, ‘Marian Drews’ is yet another play on the clown motif, with both merry-Andrew and harlequin meaning someone who “clowns” for entertainment. But even if Murphy makes the distinction between the two women from the start, Joker doesn’t. When freed from prison on trumped-up charges and finally the man Harley always dreamed he could be, he heads to her apartment – coming face to face with the modern incarnation. Showing plenty of skin, a frail grasp on the reality of the situation, and a preoccupation with sex (all criticisms of the modern incarnation of Harley), Jack’s apology and marriage proposal are met with disgust and denial.
Harley doesn’t want Jack: she wants Joker. And as much as fans might take offence at the implicit bias, Murphy’s depiction of Harley isn’t far from her personality in DC’s ongoing Harley and Suicide Squad comics. To her, there’s never a reason to desire anything but chaos. And judging by the ‘J’ on her belt buckle, she takes pride and pleasure from her total devotion to the madman called Joker. He was broken and brutal, just like her.
The scene is short-lived, but as Murphy explained on Twitter, Marian’s story is far from over. She may not be the original Harley from Batman: The Animated Series… but there’s no reason fans can’t have both:
When the modern ‘Suicide Harley’ reacts to Jack’s diamond ring by kicking him in the chest – disgusted that Joker would refer to her as his “puddin” – her cruelty is rewarded with a kick to her own head… delivered by the real Harley Quinn. The one that Jack was actually looking for after walking out of prison: the one who loved him for the man he was underneath the insanity and crime, not because of it. Having sought out this rehabilitated Joker on her own, Dr. Harleen Quinzel has come to see it for herself. And even as Marian berates Harley for having “left” at some point in the past, leaving Joker all to her, she helps the former man of her dreams stagger back to her meagre, normal apartment.
Writer of Batman: White Knight Sean Murphy has been positively interactive with fans and it seems to be going pretty well.
Old & New Harley Quinn Are TWO Different Women 01/12/2017 Andrew Bryce
Batman: White Knight just dropped the biggest twist on Harley Quinn in years, turning the classic Harley and the new Suicide Squad version into two completely different women. It’s a bombshell that will ring true for the older fans who always preferred the jester-suited Harleen Quinzel of Batman’s animated series to the more scantily-clad, downright psychotic version born in DC’s New 52 Universe.
First things first: yes, ‘Marian Drews’ is yet another play on the clown motif, with both merry-Andrew and harlequin meaning someone who “clowns” for entertainment. But even if Murphy makes the distinction between the two women from the start, Joker doesn’t. When freed from prison on trumped-up charges and finally the man Harley always dreamed he could be, he heads to her apartment – coming face to face with the modern incarnation. Showing plenty of skin, a frail grasp on the reality of the situation, and a preoccupation with sex (all criticisms of the modern incarnation of Harley), Jack’s apology and marriage proposal are met with disgust and denial.
Harley doesn’t want Jack: she wants Joker. And as much as fans might take offence at the implicit bias, Murphy’s depiction of Harley isn’t far from her personality in DC’s ongoing Harley and Suicide Squad comics. To her, there’s never a reason to desire anything but chaos. And judging by the ‘J’ on her belt buckle, she takes pride and pleasure from her total devotion to the madman called Joker. He was broken and brutal, just like her.
The scene is short-lived, but as Murphy explained on Twitter, Marian’s story is far from over. She may not be the original Harley from Batman: The Animated Series… but there’s no reason fans can’t have both:
“I’m a massive fan of Harley, but I was unnerved to see my 8 year old niece wearing a “Property of Joker” jacket. One goal of White Knight was to evolve the Harley mythos while giving both Classic Harley fans and newer Suicide Harley fans something they’d love.”
When the modern ‘Suicide Harley’ reacts to Jack’s diamond ring by kicking him in the chest – disgusted that Joker would refer to her as his “puddin” – her cruelty is rewarded with a kick to her own head… delivered by the real Harley Quinn. The one that Jack was actually looking for after walking out of prison: the one who loved him for the man he was underneath the insanity and crime, not because of it. Having sought out this rehabilitated Joker on her own, Dr. Harleen Quinzel has come to see it for herself. And even as Marian berates Harley for having “left” at some point in the past, leaving Joker all to her, she helps the former man of her dreams stagger back to her meagre, normal apartment.
That quote about Murphy's niece is straight up alarming. It's one thing to say "oh it's just a movie outfit" but if you go anywhere online whether it's Tumblr, Twitter, Facebook, basically any social media and hell, even a Google image search and you will see either ridiculous yet totally serious #relationshipgoals for Harley and Joker or flat out idolising Harley and/or Joker from the Suicide Squad.
It's partially due to the movie removing any outright naughty behaviour from the Joker towards Harley. There's still some abusive tendencies in there but they're swept under the carpet in favour of Maggot Robbie's squealing about Puddin' while Joker comes to her rescue a lot and they're portrayed as this awesome, bad ass gangsta couple that are just sooo unique and bad ass or something like that so naturally this piece of cinematic turd droppings is going to be shovelled up by tweenagers and shoppers at Hot Topic.
I think having a version where both Harleys co-exist and are treated fairly will be interesting because it won't alienate fans of either version (hopefully) and it creates a bit of intrigue with the story line.
Particularly as it seems like following her spurning the real Joker, Jack Napier - Harley II/Marian Drews takes her obsession one step further and becomes a sort of new/ Neo Joker.
I'm keen to check out the rest of this series and looking forward to doing a full review soon!
Particularly as it seems like following her spurning the real Joker, Jack Napier - Harley II/Marian Drews takes her obsession one step further and becomes a sort of new/ Neo Joker.
I'm keen to check out the rest of this series and looking forward to doing a full review soon!
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