WARNING: The following contains spoilers for Harley Quinn: Black + White + Red #5, by Riley Rossmo and Deron Bennett, available now.
In Harley Quinn: Black + White + Red #5, Harley Quinn offers up a story of her own creation. As she's tucking her hyenas into bed in true Harley fashion, she tells them a bedtime story and uses the occasion to tell a story about herself and her hopes for her life.
In this imaginary tale, Harley Quinn leads an extraordinary life that ends up with two kids, lots of hyenas, friends and a partner who's a member of the Justice League.
However, Harley's husband isn't the hero one might expect her to pick. In this version of events, she imagines herself with Plastic Man. While he may not be the first choice for Harley that comes to mind, Plastic Man is actually a shockingly good fit for her.
While they've never been terribly close, these two have more in common than not. Plastic Man, Patrick O'Brian, began life as a criminal in a Jack Cole story in 1941's Police Comics #1. He made the mistake of trying to rob Cole Chemical, and he was ultimately exposed to strange chemicals that gave him super-stretchy powers.
After this harrowing incident, Plastic Man went on to try and become a better person by using his powers for good as a happy-go-lucky hero While he isn't a consistent member of the Justice League, he does make appearances there and elsewhere around the DC Universe when he's needed.
That origin bears some meaningful similarities to Harley Quinn, who's recently been getting close to another Justice League member. Still, Harley and Plastic man were both exposed to chemicals that gave them superpowers and operated on both sides of the law before settling into heroic roles.
Perhaps that buried psychologist within Harley's mind is aware of those similarities fact, and that could be why she fantasized about being happy with him. And much like her, Plastic Man is constantly smiling and joking, both of which likely to appeal to her character. With all of that in mind, Plastic Man almost seems to encompass all of the positive traits that Harley sees in the Joker in one hero.
While Plastic Man has firmly come down on the side of being a hero, Harley is still in the midst of making that transition fully. She was once a villain, but she has spent many years working to create something for herself. While she hasn't fully embraced the term "hero" quite yet, there's no doubt that she's done her part in making the world a better place. And with somebody like Plastic Man at her side, she could potentially take her journey to the next step. This is a man that could theoretically support, understand and entertain her, all at the same time.
Beyond that, Plastic Man's abilities sound like they would come in handy when it comes to wrangling any children Harley Quinn had. While two seemingly superpowered children with Harley's genes would be a challenge for anyone to handle, Plastic Man would have some semblance of a chance of keeping up with them with his extendible arms and legs, even in the almost certain chaos of this hypothetical family.
It's hard to tell how thoroughly Harley thought out her marriage to Plastic Man in this fantasy. Even so, it's hard to deny all of the reasons these two would work well together. It's almost a shame that their relationship only exists within her mind.
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