The Clown Queen Of Crime-Fighting

So I'd been thinking about Harley Quinn's recent frustration with crime in her own book. Despite her best efforts to help others, there just seems to be more and more crime, and it's exhausting her.

This isn't exactly new for superheroes. Most of them struggle with the question of whether their actions accomplish anything, and most of them recognize that costumed vigilantism alone can't wipe out crime. The Punisher has thrown away any semblance of a normal life to kill criminals by the hundreds, and even he recognizes that his mission to eradicate crime is ultimately hopeless. Batman might be even more obsessed than that, and he knows it too. Which is why Bruce Wayne so often puts his money towards trying to address the root causes of crime, like poverty and crumbling infrastructure. Batman is just a way to try and stop innocent people from being hurt while those other efforts take effect.

Harley is no dummy, however, her past history suggests she is more than capable of ignoring the harsh realities of an awful circumstance in the hope she can make it work. That's what her entire relationship with the Joker was, her believing it would all work out if she just kept trying. Harley has, fortunately, figured out that hanging around Mr. J was a losing proposition, but that doesn't mean she's shaken the overall tendency. Now she's trying to fight crime as she finds it, and it only seems to be getting worse. She isn't the type to give up, but she also doesn't seem like the sort to try to creature some vast surveillance network that enables her to spy on and control everyone in the city's every move. So the question is what happens then?

Frankly, I expected her to just try harder, to try more and more ridiculous and extreme methods, until it blows up (probably literally) in her face. Instead, she's gone out and hired a bunch of young women to assist her. Which could still blow up in her face. There's the question of her new employees' ulterior motives, the question of training, not to mention the fact Harley is not the first person I'd choose to place in command of anyone.

Harley's acknowledging there's too much crime for her to handle alone, but rather than accept she can't be everywhere, and can only do the best she can, she's decided to up the ante. She's meeting increasing crime with an increased number of Harleys. I've been trying to think of heroes who've taken that approach. A lot of heroes have had sidekicks, but it's typically more reluctant. The hero recognizes the youngster's skill and determination, and figures it's better to have train them and have them work with them, than have the kid running around solo. Batman didn't take on Grayson as Robin because he felt there was too much crime to handle alone. Batman Incorporated was sort of similar, except all those heroes already existed, Batman was just offering them access to his resources.

It does feel appropriate for Harley. Offhand, it doesn't seem like a bad idea (in a world where costumed vigilantes are already common and largely accepted) to simply recruit a dozen civic-minded individuals to help you fight crime. But there's something just slightly cock-eyed about it - probably related to Harley's desired qualifications, not to mention her somewhat lackadaisical approach to civilian safety - that makes it seem more shaky. Which is largely what the book has been so far. Harley taking what seems like a fairly standard situation, and turning it on its head. We'll see how this one goes, and especially how she handles the mantle of command. And if it goes bad, how will she handle that? If getting more Harleys on the street doesn't quell crime, what's her next step?