Warning! Contains spoilers for Harley Quinn #16!
The original Suicide Squad movie features many awkward and cringey moments, which Harley Quinn hilariously makes fun of in the latest issue of her comic. In ridiculing this moment, the comic actually improves on it significantly. Although given the lack of quality of the movie, this is unsurprising.
The DCEU is the term for the collection of movies making up the shared DC Universe introduced by Man of Steel. While more recent entries like The Suicide Squad and Shazam have featured a healthy amount of levity and brightness, earlier movies generally had a much edgier tone. Perhaps no other movie suffered from this as much as the original Suicide Squad movie (which even Suicide Squad director David Ayer may agree with). One of that film’s most egregious sins was its mischaracterization of Harley Quinn, encapsulated in her introductory flashback. Suicide Squad uses a flashback to show Harley’s arrest at the hands of Batman. On a “Date Night” with the Joker, the pair are driving away from Batman in a red convertible when Joker crashes the car off a bridge. Batman dives into the water after Harley, who responds by trying to attack him. He knocks her out and brings her to the surface where he attempts to give her mouth to mouth. She then turns that bit of CPR into a forcible kiss much to Batman’s disgust.
Harley Quinn #16 by Stephanie Phillips and Riley Rossmo opens with a flashback to Harley Quinn driving a red convertible away from Batman just like in the film (although he isn’t in the Batfleck suit). Just like in the movie, she crashes the car into the water and is then rescued by Batman. However, the comic makes the scene almost unrecognizable from the movie, improving on every aspect of it.
The Joker is absent in the comic, giving Harley the agency that she lacked in the Suicide Squad scene and sparing the reader from having to look at Jared Leto’s awful version of the character. In addition, Harley’s actions make much more sense in the comic. She drives the car into the water in an attempt to jump across a bridge. She also doesn’t self-destructively lash out at the person saving her from drowning. Even her dialogue makes more sense, referencing the movie version’s awkward “Batsy, Batsy” line by saying “See ya later, Batsy!” (although the original line is one of the most inadvertently funny lines in the DCEU). But perhaps the best improvement the comic makes is in its bright and fun tone. While taking place at night just like the movie, the comic uses the night lights of Gotham to cast the action and characters in warm colors, a great contrast to the overly dark and dull cinematography of Suicide Squad. And in the comic, Harley fails to trick Batman into giving her CPR, turning it into a fun moment of banter that fits both characters better.
Suicide Squad is generally panned by both critics and fans for a variety of reasons. But it is especially hated for how flat and bland most of its characters are (although its reboot The Suicide Squad improved on this aspect as well). In improving on one of its worse scenes, the Harley Quinn series is both illustrating how bad Suicide Squad’s version of the character was and showing how great and fun the character can be when done well.
Harley Quinn #16 is now available from DC Comics.
