Harley Quinn is changing into extra meta as time goes by, with 2023’s Harley Quinn Romances additional solidifying the change and making her DC’s Deadpool. Harley Quinn was initially a one-off character in Batman: The Animated Sequence. Her tenure was prolonged by her quirky tendencies and followers’ adoration, however the extent of it was almost unprecedented. The character’s integration into the DC Universe has sped up and intensified, with Harley Quinn arguably being one of many few DC tv exhibits that are not in clear hazard of cancelation and her comedian presence is getting shut to creating her a bona fide member of the Bat Household.
As she comes extra into her function within the DC Universe, she has been pushing apart characters with comparable roles equivalent to Ambush Bug, DC’s lesser-known equal to the destroyer of fourth partitions, Deadpool. Harley is changing into extra of a personality who speaks and acts in meta areas, whereas Ambush Bug’s function as a extra direct fourth wall breaker, is changing into smaller. Harley’s function in DC’s Valentine’s Day particular, Harley Quinn Romances, demonstrates simply how a lot the jester has turn into a meta character in her personal proper.
Harley Quinn Romances collects various humorous tales centered round {couples}, and one, “Stranger than Fan Fiction” (by Alexis Quasarano, Max Sarin, Marissa Louise and Taylor Esposito), focuses on a meta facet of Harley and Poison Ivy’s relationship fan fiction. Lengthy earlier than the 2 villains turned a pair, their relationship started on the pages of AO3 and Wattpad, and Harley on this narrative writes fan fiction in regards to the two of them assembly in highschool. In one other, Harley chats with a cadre of different superheroes, equivalent to Aquaman, about their passionate trysts.
In each of those narratives, Harley makes meta jokes. Along with her fan fiction being a joke in and of itself, she factors out throughout a combat scene how laborious it’s to jot down combat scenes. Within the Aquaman-centric “Splendor within the Foam” (by Ivan Cohen, Fico Ossio, Sebastian Cheng, Carlos M. Mangual and Michael McCalister), Harley references the truth that one in every of her desk mates’ tales solely acquired 4 panels, and that it is extremely necessary whether or not the story occurred pre or post-crisis.
It is necessary to notice that Harley Quinn being a meta character is hardly contained to this one anthology. For instance, Harley Quinn’s second season reveals that the titular character is conscious that she is in a tv present. That is the very definition of a meta narrative and gives additional proof of Harley’s new function throughout all mediums.
Harley Quinn is a decade youthful than Ambush Bug, however it’s clear that her recognition and tenacity as a lead character far outweigh that of the popup-making meta commentator. She’s been slowly transferring into meta area since her first look struck a chord with followers. Harley’s skill to be extra than simply one other supervillain was what pulled her from the Joker’s management and helped her turn into DC’s model of one in every of Marvel’s best-known creations.