She joins Gotham High, where she makes friends with a pretty militant feminist and community activist called Ivy. Their sense of freedom, of being on the fringes of society, gives her a place she calls home, and she’s happy. She turns up in Gotham City, and manages to find a home with a group of of drag queens, I kid you not. As we find out in flashbacks throughout the 200 odd pages, she has had a pretty hard childhood, and her borderline madness is a sort of defence mechanism, a way she has found of coping with what life throws at her. So, with Breaking Glass, writer Mariko Tamaki gives us a 15 year old Harleen Quinzel. Raven remains the perfect choice for me still. The ‘de-aging’ aspect of these reinterpretations works especially well with Harley, as she seems an eternally young character in many ways anyway. Selina Kyle, Mera, and Raven were all pretty good Young Adult DC books, proving once again that very good characters can stand up to any reinterpretation, and Harley certainly fits in that company as a strong female character for DC. Her madness, which was an aspect of her original character, is now downgraded to a zany, eccentric personality. She definitely appeals to teenage girls with her attitude, sassiness, and fashion sense.
When selecting characters for the Young Adults books, I’m sure Harley was the first name on the list.
Clearly she appeals to a certain section of fans though, so more power to her. I would like to add that I did like the character when she first appeared, as created by Paul Dini as a foil for The Joker, but then DC turned her into 1970’s Debbie Harry. Like a friend that tries to be fun and zany all the time. Although currently the darling of some fans and a patron saint of female cosplayers, I find the character just a little bit irritating. Most reviews tend to start with a positive, so I’ll buck the trend.
Written by Mariko Tamaki | Art by Steve Pugh | Published by DC Ink
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