Harley Quinn Was An Inmate At Arkham Asylum Long Before She Freed Joker

Harley Quinn’s tragic fall from esteemed psychiatrist to lunatic serial killer is well documented. Everyone knows she fell in love with the Joker while trying to cure him – but what few readers realize is that she was an inmate at Arkham Asylum before helped ree the Joker, something that played a part in her eventual turn to villainy.

Detective Comics #23.2 – by Matt Kindt and Neil Googe – depicted Harley’s first stay Arkham Asylum, prior to her corruption by the Joker. This was a New 52 retelling of how Harley Quinn met the Clown Prince of Crime. Wanting to make sure she can be as close to his madness as possible, she inserted herself as an inmate in Arkham Asylum.

Quickly found out by the Arkham staff, Harley had an especially brutal meeting with the head of Arkham Asylum, which she stated was the event that “tipped it all over.” Afterward, she immediately broke out of Arkham Asylum with the Joker in tow.

Arkham Was Inevitable For Harley Quinn, With Or Without Joker

Detective Comics #23.2 by Matt Kindt, Neil Googe, Wil Quintana, and Taylor Esposito.

Usually, Harley’s origin has been depicted as the result of her being manipulated by the Joker into believing he’s misunderstood, and being unfairly persecuted by both the Asylum and Batman. This invariably leads to her becoming his faithful sidekick; the New 52 version offered a notable departure from this. Instead of her being manipulated into breaking the Joker out of Arkham, she did it entirely of her own volition. Harley even mentioned that she’s unsure if Joker knew she was “an inmate posing as a therapist, or a therapist posing as an inmate.” This was a major departure from her original conception.

While Harley Quinn has practically become a member of the Justice League in contemporary comics, her New 52 version was much more villainous. Aside from breaking Joker out of Arkham of her own free will, she continued being a sadistic serial killer, even after she was free of him. This version of Harley killed dozens of children with bombs simply for the sake of it. She wasn’t put up to it by the Joker, she simply wanted to cause chaos. However New 52 Harley Quinn ended up in Arkham, it was seemingly inevitable; she was already over the edge, and didn’t need to be pushed.

The New 52 Version Of Harley Quinn Chose To Be A Villain

She Has Grown A Lot Since Then

Harley Quinn has gone from a villain to an anti-hero, back to a villain, then finally has stabilized her status as a hero. That said, her second villain era – from DC’s New 52 – was a lot darker than her first. While Harley might be trying to save the world and even be an official member of the Bat-Family these days, Harley Quinn was at one point a pretty major villain, and she had absolutely no issues with posing as an inmate in Arkham Asylum, a place she’d later spend a lot of her time.