| Harlequin | |
|---|---|
 Three of the Harlequins haunt Alan Scott's dreams inUnderworld Unleashed - Abyss: Hell's Sentinel #1 | |
| Publication information | |
| Publisher | DC Comics |
| First appearance | (Mayne) All-American Comics #89 (September 1947) (Cooper) Infinity, Inc. #14 (May 1985) (Unknown) Green Lantern Corps Quarterly #5 (June 1993) |
| Created by | (Mayne) Robert Kanigher Irwin Hasen (Cooper) Roy Thomas (Unknown) Ron Marz Jim Balent |
| In-story information | |
| Alter ego | -Molly Catherine Mayne-Scott -Duela Dent -Marcie Cooper -Unknown |
| Species | Human |
| Team affiliations | (Mayne) Injustice Society Manhunters (Cooper) Injustice Unlimited |
| Abilities | (Mayne) Glasses that projected 3-D holograms and energy blasts Wooden mandolin with an extended handle (Cooper) Glasses that projected illusions and hypnotized people Wooden mandolin with an extended handle (Unknown) Illusion-casting |
TheHarlequin is the name of four clown-themedDC Comics characters.
The original Harlequin was a foe of the Golden AgeGreen Lantern (Alan Scott) and later became his wife. The second Harlequin originally debuted as the Joker's Daughter and was a member of theTeen Titans. The third Harlequin was a member of theInjustice Unlimited supervillain team and battledInfinity, Inc. The fourth Harlequin has only appeared on a few occasions and is an enemy of Alan Scott.
Joker's daughter becomes Harlequin inTeen Titans #48.
The Molly Mayne version of the Harlequin first appeared inAll-American Comics #89 and was created byRobert Kanigher andIrwin Hasen.[1]
The Marcie Cooper version of the Harlequin first appeared inInfinity, Inc. #46 and was created byRoy Thomas.
The unidentified Harlequin first appeared inGreen Lantern Corps Quarterly #5 and was created byRon Marz andJim Balent.
The Harlequin appears inAll-New Batman: The Brave and the Bold #7 (July 2011).
The original Harlequin wasMolly Mayne who appeared in stories alongside the Golden AgeGreen Lantern (Alan Scott).[2]
Mayne developed a crush on Scott and, donning a colorful costume (which includedharlequin glasses, aconical hat and amandolin), started a life of crime to attract his attention. Her crimes tended to be harmless and mostly for show, although the two clashed on several occasions in the late 1940s.
She briefly joined theInjustice Society until she turned on them by aiding theJustice Society of America. She had a deep running altruistic streak, which occasionally led her to join forces with her enemy/would-be love interest. Despite being attracted to the Harlequin, Scott never entered into a relationship with her and she eventually gave up in despair. She made a deal with the government in which she went on intelligence missions in return for amnesty for her past crimes and then quietly retired. On one occasion, she assisted Green Lantern,Superman andLois Lane in capturing another foe of her love, theSportsmaster.
Years later, after the death of his first wifeRose Canton, Alan Scott realized that he had loved Molly all this time and they got married. As the years passed, a problem developed for the two; the Starheart that gave Scott his powers had reversed his aging process, so he was physically a young man while Molly had since aged into an old woman.
In despair over the rift this had caused between them, Molly sold her soul to the demonNeron in return for youth during the "Underworld Unleashed" storyline. Her body became that of a young woman (who had the power to create nightmares) but her soul remained inHell. Scott fought his way through Hell to obtain it and, with the help of the youngGreen LanternKyle Rayner, returned it to the Harlequin's body. This resulted in re-aging Molly, but making her whole once again. Some time thereafter, Scott was also returned to his true physical age. Mayne and Scott remain happily married.[3]
During theBrightest Day crossover event, Molly briefly appears when Alan's daughterJenny arrives at the Scott home in search of her father's old lantern. Molly informs her stepdaughter that Alan had been depressed in recent weeks, as Jenny had not been to visit her family since her resurrection at the close of theBlackest Night crossover event.[4] Later, a doppelganger of the younger, villainous Molly is created by Alan's ring after he goes insane and battles theJustice League. The doppelganger is briefly seen torturingStarman.[5]
"The New Golden Age" one-shot revealed that Harlequin has a son named Michael Mayne through an unknown man. Michael would later becomeHarlequin's Son utilizing his mother's technology.[6]
Duela Dent is the second character to use the Harlequin name. The character was introduced inBatman Family #6 (July/August 1976). Originally appearing as a villain, she called herself theJoker's Daughter,[7] and not only claimed to be the daughter of theJoker, but also of theCatwoman,[8] theScarecrow, theRiddler and thePenguin as well.[a] In Pre-Crisis continuity, she later revealed her true father wasTwo-Face, joined theTeen Titans and renamed herself theHarlequin.[9]
Duela's age has beenretconned many times during the course of her history. When introduced she was a teenage girl, but in the later books, she was portrayed as a much older woman. Later on, she was returned to a far younger age.
In current continuity, Duela continues to claim various supervillains as her parent. Freely alternating between heroic and villainous roles, Duela is considered a delusional former member of the original Teen Titans, but later becomes a member of the evilTitans East. She later betrays Titans East when offered membership with the current team.
Soon after, Duela is killed by a rogueMonitor in issue #1 ofCountdown, following a failed kidnapping attempt on a celebrity and pursuit fromJason Todd. It is later revealed that she is a native ofEarth-3 and the biological daughter of the Jokester and Three-Face (Evelyn Dent), that world's heroic equivalents of the Joker and Two-Face.
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As a youth,Marcie Cooper was recruited by the Grandmaster to join the Manhunters. Her grandfather,Dan Richards (a.k.a. the Manhunter), also encouraged her to join the group as he had years ago. The Manhunters gave her a job working at KGLX radio inGotham City, alongside Molly Mayne-Scott, who was a former agent called the Harlequin. Marcie began datingNorthwind and laterObsidian, both ofInfinity, Inc., and infiltrated the super-team from within.
When the Manhunters began to strike at Earth, Marcie stole Molly's illusion-casting glasses, taking the identity of the Harlequin. She failed to recruit Obsidian to the Manhunters and tried to kill her grandfather after he betrayed the Manhunters.[10] Dan Richards was later killed by theManhunter (Mark Shaw).
Single-minded in her attempt to destroy Infinity, Inc., she joinedInjustice Unlimited and masterminded the assassination ofSkyman. On the wedding night ofHector Hall andLyta Trevor, Harlequin poses asJade and usesSolomon Grundy as her pawn in killing Skyman. She then takes Grundy and theDummy to meet withArtemis, theIcicle, andHazard. When Grundy realizes that Harlequin has been manipulating him, he savagely beats her. Afterwards, Harlequin is given over to the authorities.[11]
A mysterious newHarlequin debuted inGreen Lantern Corps Quarterly #5-6 and battledAlan Scott.
As a child, she discovered she had illusion-casting powers. She learned all about the first Green Lantern,Alan Scott, and how the first Harlequin became his lover. She knew it was her destiny to become the next Harlequin and to be with Green Lantern.
She created illusions ofIcicle and Solomon Grundy for Alan Scott to battle and then revealed herself to him. During that encounter, Scott mysteriously regained his youth. Though at first he thought this an illusion, he later learned that the original consciousness of the Starheart had been reawakened and M'La had been tortured and slain.
During her battles with Scott, she eventually attacked his wife, Molly Mayne-Scott (the first Harlequin). She created illusions of a decrepit version of Molly, while she flooded Scott's head with visions of them together (in space, as barbarians, as detectives and eventually as medieval warriors). Scott was able to break free when he unleashed his simmering rage against her and showed her a world where he ruled over Hell and she was his captive slave. She stopped the battle, fled shouting that he had ruined everything, and instantly disappeared into the air.
During theUnderworld Unleashed crossover event, the unknown Harlequin appeared in Hell alongside the other villains summoned byNeron inUnderworld Unleashed #1.[b] The unknown Harlequin returned and made an appearance in Alan's dream sequence.[3]
The primary tool of the Molly Mayne version of the Harlequin was her glasses. The glasses were later explained as a gift from theManhunters as one of their agents. By using the glasses, she was able to project realistic three-dimensional holograms and fire energy blasts. In recent years, the glasses enabled an aged Molly to "maintain" the physical vitality of her youth's athleticism. Her secondary tool is a mandolin with an extending handle which she uses as a defensive weapon, especially against the Golden Age Green Lantern (due to his ring's weakness to its wooden construction).
The Marcie Cooper version of the Harlequin wears special glasses that allows her to hypnotize people and to create realisticillusions in the minds of the people around her. She can even project illusions over television. She also wields a mandolin with an extending handle that can be used as a weapon. A psychopathic killer, she is not afraid to do whatever it takes to destroy her opponents.
The unidentified Harlequin has illusion-casting powers similar to her predecessors. However, her illusions are much more intense and powerful than the illusions cast by Molly Mayne and Marcie Cooper, which were created from their glasses. When casting her illusions, if the victim has any doubt that the illusion is not real, they will feel the pain that her illusion is inflicting on them.
A new Joker's Daughter appeared in theKingdom Come miniseries andThe Kingdom:Offspring #1. She is identified as both theJoker's Daughter and theHarlequin in annotations for the series and according toAlex Ross.[12] The card set calls her a riot girl, who is "one of many to follow the Joker's chaotic style". She is not related to either Duela Dent or the Joker.
It has been stated that theKingdom Come storyline is now Earth-22 in theDC Multiverse. Previously, it was called Earth-96 in the first Multiverse.
The Harlequin was ranked 100th inComics Buyer's Guide's "100 Sexiest Women in Comics" list, although this list does not specify which version of the character was chosen.[13]
Molly Mayne
Duela Dent
Marcie Cooper
Others
