Wave 2 - Harley Quinn
Psychiatrist Dr. Harleen Quinzel was a normal, law-abiding citizen of Gotham City when she was assigned to treat The Joker at Arkham Asylum. Unfortunately for Dr. Quinzel, the patient got the better of his doctor as Harleen fell madly (literally) in love with Gotham's most notorious criminal.
As The Joker's lover and protege, Quinzel adopted the moniker of Harley Quinn as both an abbreviation of her real name and a pun of the harlequin-style court jester costume she chooses to don as her criminal alter-ego. In this capacity, Harley assists The Joker in his mad-cap plots to wreak disorder and mayhem down on Gotham - but that's not to say that Harley doesn't come up with a scheme of her own every now and then. Unlike her partner in crime, Harley is a hot-headed, ill-tempered villainess whose discountenance is often her undoing.
As one might expect, Harley's relationship with The Joker is complex and unconventional. The Joker is a degrading, abusive partner who routinely leaves Harley near the brink of death or in emotional shambles. This treatment serves to intensify Harley's madness and psychotic tendencies. Nevertheless, Harley is devoutly committed to her abusive lover and the feelings are not entirely unrequited. In fact, it's been hinted that The Joker's mistreatment of Harley is the result of his reluctance to accept the feelings he shares for her.
Harley also has an intimate relationship with one of Gotham's other notorious criminals - Poison Ivy. The two women share a deep bond of friendship that was born of their kinship as criminal castoffs vying for power in the 'big boys club' of Batman's Rogues Gallery. Harley is also unique as one of the few comic book characters to originate in a cartoon (Batman: The Animated Series) and then be picked up by the comics.
Harley Quinn is one of my favorite comic book characters and probably my most anticipated figure from this line so far. So, it’s tough for me to give an objective assessment of her! For the most part, Harley reuses the standard DCUC/DCSH female body. It’s the same base we saw on Catwoman and Batgirl. She does get new lower arms and hands, as well as new lower legs and feet. Her sculpt is great. Her articulation is great. Her detail is great. But her paint… well, it’s good. But not great.
The first thing you’ll notice is Harley’s uber-blue face. A little blue shading is understandable, but she’s just way too blue. She looks like a smurf jester or something. That’s a bit disappointing. Other than that, she doesn’t really have much going on in the paint department. She does have some sharp costume details, like the little checkers on the outsides of her legs.
Her weapons are really nicely done, though. Again Mattel didn’t short-change us on pack ins. She gets a big mallet and little cork pop gun pistol thing. The problem with her weapons, though, is that she can barely hold them. Her tiny little hands are too rubbery to really hang onto the handle of the mallet. It takes some “creative” posing to keep it from falling out of her grip. Oh well. Again, these are minor gripes. This is still a figure that is definitely worth picking up!
