Today, Harley Quinn and Poison Ivy are considered one of DC Comics’ most trailblazing couples – with an openly bisexual and non-monogamous relationship that, while unconventional, is much healthier than Harley’s abusive relationship with the Joker. Yet, while the two seem perfect for each other today, their romance took a long time to bloom in the comics.
Indeed, Harley and Quinn didn’t even originally encounter each other in the pages of DC Comics! Instead, their first meeting took place in the now-classic “Harley and Ivy” episode of Batman: The Animated Series way back in 1993!
The episode showed Harley having another falling out with the Joker after she botched another one of his plans. After being thrown out by her “Mr. J,” Harley decided to rob the Harlequin Diamond from the Gotham museum, but ends up meeting Poison Ivy, who’s at the museum to steal some plant toxins. The two team-up, first to escape, but then learn they work well together as partners in crime when they pull multiple heists on Gotham’s men’s clubs. The two would continue working together in “Holiday Knights” and “Girls’ Nite Out” (which saw them team up with Superman villain Livewire).
From the beginning, Poison Ivy encouraged Harley to leave the Joker, pointing out how toxic their relationship really was. However, Harley refused to listen – although Ivy’s words did manage to slowly chip away at the clown girl’s defenses. Their relationship was further explored in the comic books when their comic book counterparts met up in Harley Quinn #1. Again, the plant and clown-themed criminals find they work well together, but Ivy is still unable to get Harley to leave the Joker.
Things reach a turning point when Harley – a trained psychologist – whispers in Ivy’s ear that Poison Ivy’s real reason for wanting to “save her” from the Joker is because she’s in love with Harley. The revelation stuns Ivy but only confirms what their fans had been suspecting – and wanting - for years. Although the scene ends with Harley beating up Ivy and leaving her for the Joker, her days with the Clown Prince of Crime were numbered.
Even so, it wasn’t until the 2013 Harley Quinn comic series by Amanda Connor and Jimmy Palmiotti that Harley and Ivy were finally shown in a romantic relationship, with Harley referring to Ivy as her “hot girlfriend.” Now, the two were able to show they had a very open relationship – one that allowed them to pursue other romances while still remaining very devoted to each other.
Their bond was shown repeatedly, notably when Ivy was killed and then resurrected during the Heroes in Crisis event, causing Harley to spend a lot of time nursing her friend back to full mental and physical health. And while the two remain non-exclusive in mainstream comics, they actually got married in the alternate universe shown in Injustice 2.
Most recently, Harley and Ivy’s relationship was explored in great detail in the adult animated cartoon Harley Quinn. Ironically, Poison Ivy is in a separate relationship with the fan-favorite Batman villain Kite Man for much of the series. A semi-parody of Peanuts character Charlie Brown, Kite Man appeared to have finally gotten the relationship with the “little redheaded girl” he always wanted. However, Ivy and Harley’s feelings for each other, although Ivy still insisted, she was in love with Kite Man and tried to marry him.
In a sad (yet surprisingly healthy) response, however, Kite Man turned down Ivy’s request, stating that while he wanted to marry her, she did not. Accepting that Kite Man was right, Poison Ivy drove off with Harley Quinn, realizing that as rocky and imperfect as their relationship has been in comics, TV, and other media, the two of them have been and always will be meant for each other.