Favorite DC Couple: The Case for Harley and Ivy

I asked for guest posts making the case for the finalists for the Favorite DC Couples matches and reader Natalie Reed sent me this on Harley and Ivy. Her thoughts follow:

Before I begin, I suppose I should admit a slight bias: I’m not entirely of the opinion that Harley and Ivy’s clandestine tryst was precisely “non-canon”. More like “quasi-canon”. Or “deutero-canon”. Or “scholarly confirmed apocrypha”. And if you go by the whole Word Of Authorial God theory, it was straight-up, well, canon (at least for a given value of Paul Dini’s godhood; and regarding Harley’s infamous statement that her immunity to Ivy’s toxicity was granted so they could “play” together).

Basically, unlike the vast majority of non-canon ships, whereby fans go out seeking sexy (or not-so-sexy) subtext between two characters who seem to pair well together, what was going on between Harley and Ivy was, as often as not, just plain old text. The writers planting those seeds (no pun intended) weren’t simply toying (no pun intended) with us, they were quite deliberately implying a relationship there, and moreover implying a relationship that had a pretty meaningful impact on the story. And on at least one occasion I can think of (Ivy’s confrontation with Harley in Arkham during the finale of Gotham City Sirens), those seeds bore fruit, and became a meaningful, climactic element to the narrative.

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Favorite DC Couples Tournament: Final - Non-Canon Couples

It’s down to just two couples! Lots of you had questions about what made a couple canon or non-canon in the tournament and I’ve answered them a few times but what better time to clarify than the finals? The rule was if a couple appeared in both the DCAU and DCU their status in the DCU took precedence. Hope that helps!

Anyway on to the two finalist couples where the subtext and text are barely distinguishable. 

Harley Quinn and Poison Ivy

vs.

Barbara Gordon/Batgirl, Oracle and Dinah Lance/Black Canary

VOTE HERE

Voting is open until 8:30 EST. One vote per person, please.

One more cool thing from Toy Fair

Earlier this week I showed you a wrap-up of all the new toys featuring DC Women at Toy Fair. Here’s one more:

That’s a set of 2” Mez-Itz figure featuring the “Gotham Gals”. Save your money!

(Source: actionfigureinsider.com)

It’s Down to Four Couples: Favorite DC Couple Non-Canon Semis

Renee Montoya and Helena Bertinelli won yesterday’s match. That leaves just four couples in the semi-finals and today they will battle to decide who goes to Thursday’s final.

And here are the two matches:

Ted Kord/Blue Beetle and Michael Carter/Booster Gold

vs

VOTE HERE

and Match 2

Barbara Gordon and Dinah Lance

vs.

Renee Montoya/The Question and Helena Bertinelli/Huntress

VOTE HERE

Voting is open until 8:30 PM EST.

One vote per person please.

Guest Post: Harley Quinn — Will She Be the Death of the Family?

While I’ve been traveling this week, I’ve had a number of great guest posts. Today I have one by Alexander Añé of Talking Comics about the upcoming first meeting of the Joker and Harley Quinn since the start of the new 52. He examines what her role might be in the Death of the Family arc as well as what effect the changes to the character in the reboot may have on the relationship. His thoughts follow.

With Joker’s return in Death of the Family, and subsequent tie-ins with Suicide Squad, a big question for Harley Quinn is how does this relate to the events of Suicide Squad? Technically, this will be the first, “face to face,” encounter between the two characters in the New 52. What can we expect to see from the classic case of mad love?

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Harley Quinn by Shoot-o

A redesign of the costume.