Warning! Spoilers for Batman White Knight Presents: Harley Quinn #1 below!
A new White Knight series has hinted at an intriguing possibility in yet another alternative origin story that would greatly empower Harley Quinn's character if it turns out to be true. Almost immediately, writers Katana Collins and Sean Murphy of Batman White Knight Presents: Harley Quinn #1 imply that Jack Napier would have most likely never become the Joker if it hadn't been for Harley. Or as she says, she ruined him.
Although the first issue doesn't prove whether Harley's rather extraordinary comment is factual, hyperbole, or just wishful thinking, this alternative history does reveal that she met the Joker when he was still just Jack (and she still a student in med school). It's clear that she made quite an impression on him since an incident involving Harley causes Jack to react in a rather impromptu, overly aggressive way that angers his boss. This hot-headed reaction could very well be detrimental to Jack because his boss is obviously involved in a shady operation and bosses who engage in such activities usually don't react reasonably when their subordinates anger them.
Rather than meeting in Arkham Asylum, a flashback shows her meeting Jack in a club where she's a go-go dancer as a means to pay her way through med school. Jack obviously likes what he sees, not just based on how he interacts with her but how he reacts to what happens next. When a well-dressed man bumps into them, Jack becomes enraged and demands the man apologize numerous times, to which Jack's boss responds by telling his employee not once, but twice to lighten up. Jack doesn't heed his boss' warning, however, and actually gets physical. He grabs the man by his suit and makes a gesture that implies he might throw a punch. But before Jack gets a chance to, the Dark Knight careens down from the ceiling into the midst of it all. It's obvious he's not there to break up the little skirmish that was about to transpire but to intervene in whatever business Jack's boss was involved in.
Aside from a later intimate scene where Jack and Harley connect under a table while Batman fights, the issue does not delve any deeper into the two's origin stories. This might leave readers with more questions than answers, but Harley does make another stunning truth: that she fell in love with Jack. She never fell in love with the Joker.
Interestingly, the majority of this issue (and the series as a whole) doesn't focus on either of the Joker or Harley's origin stories. It takes place in the present day. The Joker is dead, Harley Quinn is romantically involved with an incarcerated Batman and a Joker copycat is murdering victims in a rather chilling, grotesque way that pays homage to the late Joker. Regardless, could this alternative history somehow make its way into the official canon?