The former sidekick of Batman nemesis The Joker; Harley Quinn is looking to breakout on her own in a new solo series airing on DC Universe. Marketed to a much more mature audience with a tone that fits surprisingly well with the characters represented Harley Quinn takes the titular character and her long-time companion & best friend Poison Ivy on an adventure to rise from the bottom of The Dark Knight’s rogue gallery to the top of the villain world at the Legion of Doom.

Harley Quinn is a 2019 adult animated series it is produced by DC Entertainment & WB Animation, it currently streams on DC Universe and season one is available in its entirety.

Editor’s Note: Medium to near complete spoilers for season one of Harley Quinn may be present in this review.

Of all of the DC super-villains to get their own TV shows Harley Quinn is the least surprising, but the execution of DC Universe’s Harley Quinn works fairly well for its content. Initially set for a one off run as a non-canonical sidekick to The Joker on Batman: The Animated Series, Quinn’s popularity reached unimaginable heights with tons of merchandising and major storylines based around her. She’s become a staple in not only The Joker’s lore, but the greater lore of the Batman and DC universes as a whole. In recent years Quinn became apart of the popular anti-hero team Suicide Squad as well as having her own solo villain run before eventually becoming an anti-hero that aides the Justice League. The new series follows Harley and Poison Ivy rising to the top of villainy while taking a few lower level villains with them.

THE GOOD: DC Universe’s Harley Quinn series follows recent DC canon in which Harley has becoming independent of the Joker so much so that she’s actually a thriving ally of the Justice League. There’s a ton of nods and references to Harley’s arc including her relationship to Poison Ivy and the Suicide Squad. One of Harley Quinn’s strongest attributes is its use of lesser known villains such as Dr. Psycho, King Shark, and Kite Man as main characters that help flesh out Harley and Ivy as the co-leads of the series. While action is admittedly lighter compared to previous animated DC efforts viewers should be made aware that Harley Quinn focuses much more on character building and storytelling. And for her story arc as a DC character it works. Harley isn’t supposed to be an ultra violent psychopath like she’s been portrayed of as of late. She’s simply confused and slightly deranged with violent tendencies. Throughout her run in DC media she was often portrayed as much more grounded than her former lover Joker not on an even mental playing field. So it’s good seeing that continue here. 

The episodes themselves usually feature self-contained singular storylines with some minor references to previous episodes or storylines that feel relevant. As this is a show focused on the relationships Harley have made for herself its important for every character who’s had an impact on Harley’s post-Joker life to also be just as important as her and I was surprised to see they managed to do just that. Granted some characters get more development than others, but everybody by season’s end come together as people who are genuinely special to Harley and having some kind of part to play in helping her move on from The Joker. There’s some fun subplots like Dr. Psycho’s attempts at conquering his sexism, Ivy dating Kite Man, and jabs at Jim Gordon and Batman’s relationship. Midway through the season Harley winds up losing interest in her goal of joining the Legion of Doom as a top ranking villain, preferring her independent streak. There’s a lot they can do with this including adapting the recent storyline of Harley becoming a member of the Justice League. Season two is apparently already nearly completed and on its way (set to return April 3 according to a report from Decider) so it’ll be interesting

THE BAD: If you’re not a fan of the Harley Quinn/Joker dynamic then Harley Quinn might not be for you as there’s a lot of focus on their (former) relationship. Sometimes more focus on the relationship than Harley’s own break into independence from it. 

OVERALL THOUGHTS: Respectful to the title character and its surrounding lore DC Universe’s animated Harley Quinn is a fun alternative to the DCEU adaptation. It’s a good first step in DC and WB exploring more adult approaches with their comic book characters in non-comic media without going too over the edge. Otaku Dome gives Harley Quinn Season One a 90 out of 100.