The HBO Max animated series Harley Quinn is set in its own separate version of the DC universe,

where the violence is frequent and very graphic, the language is explicitly salty, and the

dark, crunchy jokes come at you fast.

Harley used to be the Joker's sidekick slash girlfriend, but in this series she's ditched

that literally toxic clown and started making her own bread, mayhem alongside her best friend

poison ivy.

And slowly over the course of three seasons, she's found true, queer love.

I'm Glenn Weldon and today we're talking about Harley Quinn on pop culture happy hour

from NPR.

Joining me today is JC Howard, a producer at NPR's How I Built This Welcome Back JC.

Hello, good to be here.

Good to have you.

Also with us is NPR contributor Serenatoros Hey Serena.

Hey Glenn.

The character of Harley Quinn was created by the makers of Batman the animated series

back in the 90s.

She was a psychiatrist who fell in love with her patient, the Joker, and joined up with

him in a tight Harley Quinn bodysuit and a thick New York accent on that show.

And later when she made the jump to comics, she basically served as the Joker's emotional

punching bag.

In recent years, she's become a widely popular character on her own in the comics and

in films like Suicide Squad and Birds of Prey, played by Margot Robbie.

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