Fans know that Harley Quinn began her supervillainout career as a psychiatrist, corrupted by the scheming of her most famous patient, The Joker. But DC eventually revealed the Crown Prince of Crime did the same twisted tricks to his doctors long before he ever met his future sidekick.
Born Harleen Quinzel, Harley was once a psychiatrist at Arkham Asylum, assigned to the Joker. As their sessions continued, Harleen found herself falling in love with her subject; eventually she sprung him out of Arkham, and he took her to the chemical factory where he was created. Subjecting her to the same process, Quinzel transformed into Harley Quinn and became her former patient’s sidekick. In time, Harley broke free from the Joker, and has been an uneasy ally of Batman ever since. Yet Harley was the latest in a long line of shrinks assigned to the Joker, and as revealed in Super Powers #2, they all met similar fates.
Darkseid, working through intermediaries, gave the Joker fantastic powers, in a bid to conquer Earth. When it failed, the Joker, along with Batman, Robin and Hawkman, were thrown into a seemingly bottomless pit, to fall for eternity. However, one of Darkseid’s intermediaries appeared to the Joker, offering him a second chance. The Joker, using his powers, toyed with the three heroes, eventually drawing in Superman as well. Superman, using his super-hearing, hears six heartbeats, but only counts five people–meaning the Joker has another captive, revealed to be his psychiatrist. As Superman frees her, the Joker laments his shrink’s persistence, saying his four previous ones ended up as his cellmates in Arkham Asylum. The story was plotted by Jack Kirby and scripted by Joey Cavalieri with illustrations by Adrian Gonzalez.
The Joker Drove His Original Doctors Insane, Too
The Joker’s revelation that he had driven not one, but four of his previous shrinks insane is a testament to his evil nature, and shows Harley Quinn did not stand a chance. Nietzsche’s maxim of “not gazing into the abyss or else it will gaze back” applies here. The Joker is pure evil, committing heinous acts with seemingly no rhyme or reason; such evil is impossible to reason with and cure, making Harley and the shrink’s efforts quixotic at best. The Joker’s evil infects everything he touches, including the doctors trying to help him.
Harley Quinn was already in a fragile mental state when she met the Joker, and in the face of such evil, she did not stand a chance and history was doomed to repeat itself. The Joker, a master manipulator, pushed every button he could with Harley wearing her down until finally she embraced his brand of madness. Harley Quinn reached out to the Joker and paid for it, and DC has revealed she was not the first shrink he drove insane.