Harley Quinn Officially Enters A Historic New Era In 2027
Jared is a writer, editor, and Communications Studies graduate who loves popular nerd culture (almost anything to do with Marvel, DC, Star Wars, or The Lord of the Rings) and the interactive storytelling medium. Jared's first console was the PS1, wherein he fell for Spider-Man, Spyro the Dragon, and Crash Bandicoot.
Assuming that Harley Quinn would forever be tethered to Joker may have been foolhardy, but it’s quite phenomenal how little the homicidal harlequin’s popularity has dropped since she underwent her biggest status quo change in DC history when she successfully and permanently cleaved herself away from the Clown Prince of Crime. Since then, Harley has been a sparse canvas that writers and artists alike have painted broad strokes and vibrant colors on.
If you haven’t been following Harley’s exploits in her mainline book, you may still find reading the series worthwhile. That said, there may be more value in simply waiting for the book’s inevitable relaunch, as the end of the current DC Comics run of Harley Quinn is in sight, and it’s unknown what will become of her afterward.
Harley Quinn’s Latest Chapter Is Ending In 2027
As per the solicitation for Harley Quinn #70, Elliott Kalan and Carlos Olivares’ run is ending this January (barring any unforeseen delays). The solicitation for Harley Quinn #70 reads as follows:
Well, it sure has been real living it up in Throatcutter Hill — *ahem* NoWeGoSoE — these last few years, but your girl is a free spirit, and it’s time to start a new chapter of her life! But first, I gotta settle one last piece of business — buying Mrs. Grimaldi furniture for her new home! All that and more in the heartfelt conclusion to the current run on Harley.
And with that, I finally get to retire from writing these solicits — what do you mean I gotta keep doing it forever?! Ahhhh! I’ll never be free! Never! Send help! You don’t know what they’re doing to me over here!
Kalan assumed writing duties for Harley Quinn a couple of years ago, beginning with issue #44, and the run has apparently been fairly divisive, to put it mildly. At the time of this writing, only two issues remain until Kalan’s run concludes, and that doesn’t give it a ton of legroom with which to tie meaningful knots out of its loose ends.
In the solicitations for issues #68 and #69, it seems as if Harley and Ivy will actually meet again before the run ends—they didn’t during Batman: Bad Seeds, sadly, though they both hallucinated seeing one another, including a heartwarming and hopefully prophetic glimpse of Harley and Ivy growing old together.
Beyond months-old rumors that writer Joanne Starer could be inheriting Harley Quinn, there has been no announcement or confirmation yet concerning who’ll be adopting the book in 2027. In any case, there’s a high likelihood that DC Comics relaunches Harley Quinn with another new issue #1, as is customary nowadays whenever DC or Marvel gets a chance to commemorate a new run and a new creative team.
Is DC Comics Leaving Harley On A Weird Cliffhanger?
Whether Harley Quinn’s new DC Comics run hereafter is more or less a narrative blank slate or a faithful continuation of the development that she’s been simmering in lately is anyone’s guess, such as whether it’ll preserve the current run’s formula of being an ensemble sitcom with hilarious and absurdist side characters. That said, it does seem as if Harley Quinn has been making an effort to revert the character to more of a basic rendition before the run’s end.
For instance, maybe the most intriguing chapter for her character in the last little while was having Harley literally split into two distinct personas: Batquinn, a grim sentinel of justice, and Quinntellect, a pink manifestation of Harley’s brain that later went by “Harleen” until the two reunited in time for Harley Quinn to tie into DC Comics’ Batman: Bad Seeds crossover event. It’s odd because this will seemingly leave her and Poison Ivy in a bit of a weird place, what with Ivy being an Arkham Towers patient and potentially being treated with Dr. Annika Zeller’s Crown of Storms.
Harley Quinn #70 is scheduled to be released on January 27, 2027.
KioskNews shows a cleaned-up reading view extracted from the publisher’s page — the original always lives on their site, not ours.