Why is Harley Quinn so popular?

By Jesse Schedeen Harley Quinn is an interesting character in that she's among the last of the truly great, iconic Batman villains to be added to the rogues gallery. Most of Batman's core group of villains were conceived pretty early on. read more

Harley Quinn is popular because she is one of the most interesting and relateable characters in Batman. She's an extraordinarily capable person with the tragic flaw of compassion, specifically compassion toward a very manipulative and abusive man in the Joker. read more

Harley Quinn is popular because she doesn't take it seriously. She's not grim and brooding like other DC characters. She's psychotic, but not as much of a psychopath as the Joker, her one time boyfriend. read more

If you think about it, Harley Quinn represents everything that feminism is trying to combat: a fetishised portrayal of a battered woman. Like Mark Hamill once said in a Kevin Smith "Fatman on Batman" podcast: "She's the ultimate male fantasy of a subservient, sexy woman". read more