Harley Quinn mines the vaults of DC history with the latest set of variant covers for her solo series, which homage a wide variety of key moments in Batman history.
The variants run from Harley Quinn #18 to #21 and also include the Harley Quinn 2022 Annual #1. All were drawn by Ryan Sook (Legion of Super-Heroes, Blue & Gold) and do an impressive job of mimicking the style of the original artists.
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Harley Quinn #18's cover tips its hat to Bob Kane and Jerry Robinson's timeless illustration for 1940's Batman #1, swapping out Robin for the red, black and white Harleen, and teasing "all brand new adventures of Harley, the Girl Wonder!" Harley Quinn #19 continues this trend of referencing Kane and Robinson's early Batman covers with another Sook variant that homages Detective Comics #38, the first appearance of Robin. Once again, the Boy Wonder is replaced by Harley, who busts out of a circus hoop mimicking Dick Grayson's trademark pose. The text above her also references 1992, the year that she emerged in the Batman: The Animated Series episode "Joker's Favor."
The variant cover of Harley Quinn #20 jumps further in Batman history to riff off of the cover of Detective Comics #359, which introduced Barbara Gordon as Batgirl and was originally composed by Carmine Infantino, Murphy Anderson and Ira Schnapp. Harley Quinn #21 goes on to homage Batman: The Killing Joke -- the Brian Bolland-illustrated one-shot where Barbara Gordon was shot and crippled by the Joker -- with an eerie cover of Harley holding a camera and asking the viewer to smile in the same fashion as her former beau, Joker.
Finally, Harley Quinn 2022 Annual #1 features Batman and Harley standing together on a gargoyle in a reference to Jim Lee's artwork for Batman #608, which kicked off the "Hush" story arc. Out of all the stories homaged, the "Hush" arc is the only one to actually feature Harley Quinn. Still more of a villain than an anti-hero at this point in her career, Harley appeared alongside the Joker and battled Batman on an opera stage halfway through the story.
The variant covers coincide with Harley Quinn becoming a weekly series, with all four issues plus the annual releasing in August. Harley Quinn #18 debuts on Aug. 2, #19 on Aug. 9, #20 on Aug. 16 and #21 on Aug. 23. Harley Quinn 2022 Annual #1 caps off the month with an Aug. 30 release.
Source: DC