Harley Quinn Season 2 Begins Adapting The Batman Comic Where She Joined DC’s Universe
Harley Quinn Season 2 is adapting Batman: No Man’s Land – the storyline from the comic books that brought Harleen Quinzel into the DC Universe proper.
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Warning: The following contains SPOILERS for Harley Quinn, Season 2, episode 1, “New Gotham.”
Season 2 of DC Universe’s Harley Quinn seems to be adapting Batman: No Man’s Land, which introduced the character of Harley Quinn into the DC Comics universe. The story promises to be decidedly different, however, as the show’s version of Harleen Quinzel is an established supervillain in her own right rather than a mere supervillain sidekick.
Harley Quinn was originally created as a supporting character for Batman: The Animated Series by writer Paul Dini and artist Bruce Timm, as a tribute to the various moll characters that accompanied the special guest villains in the 1966 Batman show. Harley soon took on a life of her own, partnering with Poison Ivy and proving popular with fans, eventually earning her own episodes independent of The Joker. This resulted in Dini being recruited to pen a story that would bring Dr. Harleen Quinzel into the world of DC Comics.
This occurred in a one-shot special, Batman: Harley Quinn #1, which was published in the middle of Batman: No Man’s Land; a year-long storyline that took place, in real time, in all of the Batman family of comics published in 1999. The plot of No Man’s Land saw Gotham City, having been ravished by a viral outbreak and an earthquake in the preceding Contagion and Cataclysm storylines respectively, being declared unsalvageable by the United States government. Every bridge and tunnel into Gotham City was dynamited and those who were left behind became easy pickings for the supervillains, who began carving up the city into their own personal kingdoms.
Dr. Harleen Quinzel was revealed to be among the many escapees who made their way into the city after Arkham Asylum was abandoned. Fearful of what might happen to her former patient with all Hell breaking loose, Quinzel donned a fool’s motley and went off in search of her Puddin’, eventually finding him and proving her worth after she helped The Joker in shaking down The Penguin for supplies for his new empire. To the surprise of no one but Harley, the romance ended badly, with The Joker trying to send her away on a booby-trapped rocket ride. This landed Harley in the tender care of Poison Ivy who, sympathizing with Harley’s tragic tale, gave her a booster shot that made Harleen immune to all poisons and enhanced her natural acrobatic talents.
The season finale of Harley Quinn season 1 left Gotham City in a similar state as Cataclysm, with the city in ruins and all civil order shut down. As Harley Quinn season 2 opens, Harley is reveling in the anarchy and running her errands from behind the wheel of a hyena-pulled chariot. Unfortunately, the other supervillains who survived Joker’s destruction of the Legion of Doom prefer their crime to be organized and set about dividing Gotham City into territories, just like in Batman: No Man’s Land. This sets up the central conflict of the season, with Harley fighting the other supervillains to Keep Gotham Weird.
Other elements of No Man’s Land have been worked into Harley Quinn season 2. Police Commissioner Jim Gordon is the last bastion of order in the city, but he lacks the loyal squad he had in the comics. The season will also be introducing Batgirl into the reality of the show, but in this case it’s Barbara Gordon rather than Cassandra Cain, who was, like Harley, introduced during No Man’s Land. The biggest change of all, however, is that it’s Harley Quinn leading the charge against the villains instead of Batman.
Link Source : https://screenrant.com/dc-harley-quinn-season-2-batman-no-mans-land/