Warning! This article contains spoilers for Batman #110
As sure as Batman is the World’s Greatest Detective there is always a sidekick at his side usually in the form of a young ward taking on the mantle of Robin, but his greatest sidekick has been revealed and it is none other than former villain Harley Quinn. Harley began her DC career as a character in Batman: The Animated Series from which her popularity took off and launched her into the comic book world and eventually on the big screen in three separate films. Quinn started off as the Joker’s sidekick of sorts after her tenure as a psychiatrist at Arkham Asylum, and ironically enough, the same prerequisites necessary to follow the Joker’s lead makes her the perfect sidekick for the Caped Crusader.
In Batman #110 by James Tynion IV with art by Jorge Jimenez and Tomeu Morey, Batman truly lives up to his vigilante name for the sake of true justice. Gotham City is being run by a mechanized military force known as the Magistrate, whose Peacekeepers enforce their authority with brute force, media manipulation, and framed terrorist attacks. Batman fights to take them down, met by an elite member of the squad Harley Quinn happens to know personally.
After Batman escapes Peacekeeper-01 with his life, Harley Quinn sheds some light on who the man is as a person, and his reputation speaks to his recent actions. Harley tells Batman that Peacekeeper-01, whose real name is Sean Mahoney, once worked as security for Arkham Asylum while Quinn was still employed there as a doctor. She says Mahoney was a sadist, preying on the mentally ill for his own enjoyment. While the information Harley offers doesn’t necessarily help Batman in battle, she does offer significant insight into the mindset of the enemy, an invaluable asset in a crime-fighting partner.
While the many Robins who have fought alongside Batman over the years have been essential to the Bat-Family’s mission of upholding justice in Gotham, they don’t offer the necessary skills it takes to stop crime in the city once and for all, not like Harley Quinn. The fighting skills of every Robin are comparable to Batman’s without exceeding them, but Harley Quinn brings her own unique fighting abilities to the table as well as the asset of criminal profiling. Quinn is a trained psychiatrist specializing in the criminally insane, those who tend to be Batman’s main villains. Harley understands these criminals, having worked with them to great extent in the past, offering insight into their mindsets as she does in Batman #110.
Not only does Harley Quinn understand Batman’s villains, she can figure out how to take them down as well. Before teaming up with Batman in DC continuity, Harley proved her worth as a crime fighter in DC’s Future State where she worked with the seemingly reformed Scarecrow to take down Black Mask. Using her intellect and trained skills, Harley outmaneuvered the criminal mastermind by getting inside his head and breaking down his next moves before he made them. Now, Harley Quinn is using her proven talents to help Batman take down a tyrannical reign that has taken over Gotham City, proving herself a greater sidekick than even Robin.