Harley Quinn Just Broke The DC Multiverse In A Major Way
Move over, Deadpool: Harley Quinn is getting her own Multiversal adventures. Much like Marvel's "Deadpool Kills the Marvel Universe" and its sequels, Harley Quinn just got a debut issue of her own journey across different DC timelines, as "Multiversity: Harley Screws up the Multiverse" features the fan-favorite character doing as the title of the comic suggests. While Harley's new story isn't as bloody as Deadpool's, as the Merc with a Mouth tried to wipe out every hero in existence in the most violent ways imaginable, her accidental mission might be even more volatile. She transforms the DC Universe into a world without heroes – leading her into direct conflict with a familiar Justice League villain, as well as a hero, who she immediately recognizes.
Harley Quinn has accidentally stumbled into a new reality where her actions seemingly prompted significant changes to what her usual timeline looks like. In "Multiversity: Harley Screws Up The Multiverse" #1 by DC Comics, Harley travels through space and time, finding herself in a world where the greatest heroes in the DC Universe are no more and instead are controlled by the villain, Starro. However, Quinn isn't alone in her new surroundings, as she quickly discovers another version of herself is one of the only remaining heroes fighting back. Harley meets Harley, as the main version of Quinn tries to figure out how to not only revert her timeline to normal but deal with meeting a heroic variant of herself.
Harley Quinn jumps across the Multiverse
In "Multiversity: Harley Screws Up The Multiverse" #1 by Frank Tieri, Logan Faerber, and Ferran Delgado from DC Comics, Harley Quinn gets mail from a mysterious Professor Incredulous, who she doesn't recognize. But Quinn learns he left her his inheritance, a warehouse on Coney Island, where she discovers he was some sort of circus sidekick. While looking through the warehouse to see what he has left her, Harley Quinn finds a box called "The Way Back Booth," which a nearby pamphlet reveals allows travel through time. Harley doesn't waste any time going inside the booth, believing it was probably just a carnival trick with lots of flashing lights and noise. Despite warnings, Harley presses the button, causing the booth to disappear.
From a brief moment, Harley Quinn sees some of the most critical moments in the history of DC Comics flash before her eyes. In a trippy scene, she sees Superman carrying a fallen Supergirl during the iconic "Crisis on Infinite Earths storyline." Elsewhere, she sees the Green Lantern become the Parallax. Bane breaks Batman's back over his knee in the classic "Knightfall" storyline, and the Justice Society of America forms for the first time in the 1940s. When she finally overcomes her disorientation from the visions, Harley leaves the booth and discovers the DC Universe she knows has changed in a significant way. It is nothing like the world she left, and she ends up in a world without heroes where a villain reigns supreme.
Harley discovers a world overtaken by Starro
Harley quickly finds herself on the offensive as she runs into others overcome by the mind-controlling alien Starfish, Starro. Like in James Gunn's "The Suicide Squad" film in the DCEU, Starro has used hundreds of smaller clones to attach himself and control those in the new reality. Harley is forced to fight back against her usual allies before someone in a mysterious cloak helps her fend off the attack and explains what happened in the world.
It's revealed that while Starro the Conqueror had been stopped in Harley's world thanks to the Justice League, Quinn's use of the Way Back Booth somehow prevented the greatest DC heroes from forming. So, while Harley didn't mean to change her usual world into a reality where Starro rules and the greatest heroes cease to exist, her time-traveling deeply screwed up the DC Multiverse. However, that's not the only twist in the issue. After she learns the truth about the new world she occupies, the mysteriously cloaked hero reveals themself. As it turns out, Harley Quinn herself is the last hero standing in a world without the Justice League.
Harley Quinn as a hero isn't a totally new idea
The cloaked figure removes her mask and reveals they are one of the last heroes standing against Starro. With a shorter haircut, a nose ring, daggers with each card suit as a handle, a skull belt, and a long-flowing cape, Harley Quinn has seemingly replaced Batman in the new reality. The actual Quinn can't help but be shocked at the sight, letting out a hilarious "holy hairbrained Harleyvverses, Batman!" which is a nod to the classic Adam West "Batman" series from the 1960s. The moment sets up Harley working alongside one of her most heroic forms in order to undo the damage she caused to the Multiverse.
While Harley Quinn was introduced as a villain, the poorly treated partner of the Joker, after splitting up from the Clown Prince of Crime, she ended up on a more heroic path. Quinn would do her best to leave her dark past behind her and became an antihero, trading a life solely dedicated to crime into trying to help people — especially those she could relate to. While Harley's actions occasionally cross a line regarding violence and put her at odds with Batman, she's done quite a lot of work on herself to rein in her most violent tendencies.
In recent DC Comics stories, Harley even became a member of the Bat Family, joining The Dark Knight during the "Joker War" arc, showing she could be a hero, cautiously earning the trust of Batman. Quinn even imagined what it would be like to be Batman's new Robin, which never actually came to fruition.
How can Harley fix the DC Multiverse?
Harley Quinn's new team-up with her heroic variant from the dark world will become even more chaotic as the series progresses. Teases for future issues of "Multiversity: Harley Screws up the DC Universe" highlight that one of the Harleys is responsible for stealing Kal-El's rocket ship before he could leave Krypton, resulting in Superman seemingly never coming to Earth. To make matters even more complicated, Harley also distracted Barry Allen before lightning struck him, and he gained his super speed. And it's not just those two heroes; Harley appears to have played a role in screwing up even more heroic origins in the dark new timeline. Future storylines will see both Harleys trying to undo those mistakes and save Superman, push the Flash back into the lightning bolt, and fix the altered origins across reality.
Harley has found herself in some challenging situations before, but thanks to her latest time-traveling shenanigans, she has officially screwed up the DC Universe in near-immeasurable ways. Now, with a heroic version of herself by her side (who might also bear responsibility in her world for the lack of heroes), the unlikely duo will need to fix things before it's too late and the new normal can't be undone. No problem!
Readers can see Harley Quinn and her heroic doppelgänger team up in "Multiversity: Harley Screws Up The DCU" #1 by DC Comics, which is available in comic book shops now.