Harley Quinn turns 29 this year -- which one is your favorite Harley costume/uniform?

[Border]

Harley Quinn's first appearance was not in a comic book, but in an episode of Batman: The Animated Series that aired on September 11, 1992 (NEVER FORGET). To my knowledge she's probably the only major Marvel/DC character that started in a cartoon and went on to worldwide fame and their own regular ongoing series (RIP Morph, gone before his time).

At the same time, I can't recall a comic book character, hero or villain, that has gotten as many radical and variant redesigns as Harley. Usually characters get costume changes or visual overhaul when they are old, outdated, or long-in-the-tooth, but in her short three decades it seems like Harley has been reworked at least two-dozen times. Mega-heroes like Batman and Spider-Man and Wolverine have been around much longer, but rarely are their costume changes as frequent or pronounced.

I am struggling to come up with a mere seven choices for the poll because there are so many variants of her look. I've basically just narrowed it down to some of the major changes and evolutions, and hopefully I'm not excluding any major favorites. I don't even know the names of half these outfits so I've almost assuredly gotten something wrong.....feel free to correct or scold me if necessary.

For reference, here's a very brief video that DC Comics YouTube did, covering 25 years of Harley costumes......but even that one doesn't touch all the variations from the Arkham videogames:

 

[JJH]

Simple and classic.

 

[alexi52]

The Classic by leaps and bounds over the rest

 

[Claire Delune]

The original doesn't seem to work in any context outside of the original BTAS, but damn does it work there.

 

[Deleted member 16876]

Classic

It is simple but effective.

 

[Seesaw15]

BTAS design by a mile. I can tolerate the Blonde,Red & Blue design due to the tv show but its really awful. Just washes out her face/head area.

 

[ArgyleReptile]

I'm fine with most incarnations as long as the color scheme is black and red. I do not like the blue accents at all.

 

[SeanM]

First time I saw the character was in BTAS, so that's the most memorable version of the character to me.

That costume really looks goofy as hell in live action though, so I can see why they changed it. I do like the Margot Robbie version too, that was one of the few things Suicide Squad did well IMO.

 

[KOfLegend]

My favorite DC character! Always was, always will be <3

My favorite designs are OG and SS, and my least favorite are the Arkham designs.

 

[ZeoVGM]

The original. Every single version with pink/blue hair is terrible.

 

[ReginaldXIV]

Harley Quinn show Harley. Best Poison Ivy and King Shark too.

 

[Lmo2017]

BTAS is the best, but only animated. I think you could make the body suit work but ditch the mask and mix it with the dyed ponytails to get the best of both worlds maybe?

 

[excelsiorlef]

Birds of Prey
Harley Quinn Animated Series

 

[Einchy]

Her Joker Wars look is the best she has ever looked.

 

[SchrodingerC]

Oh god, Harley has had soooo many bad outfits.

Besides her classic outfit I pick either the one from Birds of Prey or from the Telltale game:

 

[Vic_Viper]

 

[dodo]

the original blows all the others out of the water. her name is literally harlequin and all subsequent designs have just... made her not look like one lol

 

[yap]

Kinda crazy how the Arkham games pioneered the double ponytail punk look and how that's the design that's constantly iterated on.

 

[Lulu]

 

[TheMadTitan]

Her Joker Wars look is the best she has ever looked.

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Her look in her solo is right up there.

Needs the kneepads and the jacket, though.

 

[Mr_Antimatter]

I love the original, but I'm not much a fan of the boob socks it has.

 

[Cipher Peon]

My Harley rankings

Suicide Squad (film)
Arkham Knight
Rebirth
Birds of Prey (film)
New 52
Arkham Asylum
Injustice
Arkham City
Harlequin Classic

Love all of them except the original, which I'm not a fan of.

My next tattoo is Harley and I named myself after her sooooooo yeah! Big fan, she's the best. Happy almost 29th!

 

[Maximum Spider]

I'll never understand how the clown/harlequin theme somehow evolved into a punk rocker motif. The Arkham games really did a number on her design-wise.

 

[Conditional-Pancakes]

No Birds of Prey? The fashion was spectacular in this movie. It's the best Harley has ever looked, and it's also the best Harley Quinn (the Harley Quinn Animated Series was also very good).

And it was MUCH better than what they made her wear in the Suicide Squad movie... This thing was so bad.

 

[Mesoian]

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Yup. There's a reason why I stopped reading DC.

 

[OneTrueJack]

No Birds of Prey? The fashion was spectacular in this movie. It's the best Harley has ever looked, and it's also the best Harley Quinn period (the Harley Quinn Animated Series was also very good).

And it was MUCH better than what they made her wear in the Suicide Squad movie... This thing was so bad.

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Was coming here to say this. Birds of Prey Harley is the only Harley to me now. Every depiction of the character from now on should take its visual cues from this movie.

 

[Zoe]

No Birds of Prey? The fashion was spectacular in this movie.

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For all the characters! I love the aesthetic of this movie so much.

Amazing the difference a female gaze makes

 

[Garcia el Gringo]

No Birds of Prey? The fashion was spectacular in this movie. It's the best Harley has ever looked, and it's also the best Harley Quinn period (the Harley Quinn Animated Series was also very good).

And it was MUCH better than what they made her wear in the Suicide Squad movie... This thing was so bad.

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Cathy Yan and team really knew what to do with HQ. I raise an egg sandwich to the best rendition.

 

[zombiejames]

1. Classic
2. Suicide Squad

That's it.

 

[DiipuSurotu]

What about the old Birds of Prey TV show version

 

[DragonSJG]

Can't beat the OG

 

[LycanXIII]

Gunn's The Suicide Squad look isn't bad.

 

[Pancho]

The version from her solo Harley Quinn animated show.

 

[just_myles]

Simple and classic.

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/thread

though I recognize the changes over time are good.

 

[Deleted member 17388]

Her original is the best.

Though the recent TV series gave her the new look a purpose that made sense, and according to her growth as character.

The most recent solo comic book isn't bad either.

 

[Cuburger]

I think that I only like her classic look when Bruce Timm draws her. There are too many iterations where she looks more like a boring henchwoman.

As much as I didn't like the Suicide Squad look at first, I think the fact that the pink and blue has been adopted into part of her design across media shows that it did something right. I do think she needs more color in her design than just red and black, especially when she is depicted as super pale with platinum hair.

 

[Nightwing123]

Harley has so many good outfits it's hard for me to choose 🤔

 

[Nakenorm]

Original definitely. She's had soooo many bad ones and it's just infuriating that they've been so adamant to not return to what actually works.

But at least it seems like DC have been making slot of improvements recently. Even The upcoming Suicide Squad and Birds of Prey have some absolutely fantastic designs.

 

[Kasai]

I like her outfit from her show the most, with the classic just a step behind.

 

[Border]

One thing I've always found funny is that while every Harley redesign attempts to make her more sexy, the original classic costume has often ultimately been the most sexy or titillating. The skintight bodysuit of the Classic Harlequin outfit often meant that artists could detail every curve and cranny of her body as if her costume is just bodypaint. Her breasts are painstakingly curved and her nipples are often detailed right down to a fine point. While this isn't always the case, every image in the OP pretty much shows how her most "modest" costume was still used to present her body in an immaculately fetishized fashion.

Later iterations of Harley costumes attempted to showcase her cleavage or reveal more of her bare skin, but almost all of them never managed to be as flagrantly lewd as the Classic costume. Looking over a Google Image search it looks like a few iterations of the character had her in little more than black/red lingerie, but the designs that really caught on never went as far.

 

[carlsojo]

 

[Flaurehn]

Gunn's The Suicide Squad look isn't bad.

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Is basically the Injustice 2 with some changes, which is my favorite followed by the OG

 

[CallMeShaft]

This version from Gotham

 

[zerocypher]

White Knight version and I don't mean Marian

 

[Khanimus]

Is basically the Injustice 2 with some changes, which is my favorite followed by the OG

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yup

 

[The Adder]

Gunn's and Injustice 2 get close to what I think would be the best look. Which is the modern design with the old color scheme.

Oh? Also? Her Death Metal look is the only version I like without the pigtails.

 

[Lari]

To me it's between Birds of Prey and classic cartoon Harley.

On a related sad note this week the brazilian dub voice artist for Harley Quinn passed away.

 

[mbpm]

Tbh, I think all of them are lacking a little something. Like if you could somehow get the best of everything it'd be real special. As it is they range from w/e to decent.

 

[gforguava]

Original Harley will always be the best, to see her slowly evolve into a tame knockoff Tank Girl has been such a bummer.

 

[Punchline]

This is a very controversial pick but

LEGO Batman Movie Harley is easily the best design by a country mile.

It merges all the designs that came before into the BTAS color scheme and actually fixes the issue where her head isnt as prominent with red and blue pigtails. Like translate it to non-LEGO and it becomes clear how well designed it is.