Batman Beyond 13: Harley without the Joker

[silverzeo]

This MAY not be "Best of villains" material, and it been over a month since Harl's... less than enjoyable birthday story....but I thought it was worth showing what has everyone's crazy clown lady's life in the future without her precious puddin'...

Okay, some set up. In the Batman Beyond movie, we learn how the Joker came to an end... the first time. Tim Drake indirectly kills him (depends of which version you've watched) and Harley Quin fought Batgirl over a... gorge or a ravine, which ended on a "Cliffhanger" opening, Harley falling to darkness and never seen again... till around the 3rd to last scene of the movie...

"Old Harley Quinn" (Watch on YouTube)

And then we see her Back in Batman Beyond #13, where Bruce's villain morgue, since super criminals lose all rights when they die to prevent vandalism and martyr them (brought to by a 'Dent Law' by a 'rehabilitated' Dent). There was a break-in, and since Bruce and Barb are the only ones who can get in without setting off the alarms, they turn to the only other person who would know about it's location...






It turns out the person who broke in was some random dude who can "download' memories and bodies of people he came into contact with, kinda like the Parasite... I didn't really understand myself, as it seemed like Ace was entering a restricted area and the a page later, the place had broke jars of brains and organs... but it was nice to see Nana Harley again, though I do question how she is with her "Harlequin" furniture that looks like it came from Animal Crossing...

And I know that it was sort of bad taste when DC had that suicide Harley Quin contest... but after reading this issue... I had this silly story idea that Joker, in Tim's body, would try to seduce Harley to help him... but she ends try to seduce him too... in  rather risque lingerie she bought back before she was 30... but also bring him some pain like that old lady trying to do to Bender in that Futurama episode where he becomes Robo Santa Claus, and ends up pushing HIM out the window like he did in "Mad Love"... just wonder if that is either a good idea or bad idea... because I'm told by alot of people my ideas don't make any sense...

Comments

[rdfox]

Ironically, the only reason for that "Harley survived" cameo at the end was an act of rebellion by Paul Dini--he had gotten rather protective of Harley over the years, seeing her as his big contribution to the Bat-mythos, and when Bruce Timm told him she had to die in the story, he didn't want to do it, and included that scene purely to refuse to actually kill her off. He actually expected Timm to cut it, but Timm instead decided it was so funny that they'd leave it in.

[benuben]

Since when does Barbara know about Harley? She didn't know in the movie.

[big_daddy_d]

The thing I'm most curious about is who did Harley end up with to have grandchildren? She always seemed so 100% in love with Joker. Be happy to see how she moved on from him and hopefully lived a fulfilling life as well.

[lissa_quon]

Why does Harley have an ankle tracker? Did they fit her with it when they fit the granddaughters? Was this something Barbara did after finding out she was still alive?

Love the "Hey, Puddin" bit

[bewareofgeek]

Nice shout out to the Riddler too.

[espanolbot]

Just a small thing, Harlequin and Harley Quinn are too different characters. :)

[blunderbuss]

... Honestly, the fact that Harleen more-or-less got away scott free in Batman Beyond never sat well with me. She was never as cruel as the Joker, sure, and technically a victim of his as well, but she still assisted with Robin's horrific torture and brainwashing.

If that was the final terrible act that made Batman willing to cross the line, why was Harley spared? Once they figured out that she was alive they should have brought down the hammer on her too. At the very least, there's no way I can accept Barbra being so neutral to her in this scene, especially since Tim has been shown to be changed forever.

[donnblake]

"Hey, puddin'!"

Ouch. That's cold, Harley.

[silverhammerman]

What would the statute of limitations on Harley's crimes even be? I mean, she might not have committed murder, but I feel like kidnapping and multiple counts of accessory to murder would probably not be the sort of thing to get forgive just because she's a sweet old lady now.