Mistress of Mayhem: Harley Quinn’s Closet Plate No. 5

Harley Quinn paper dollsThis week’s Monday Mayhem brings you more Harley Quinn! This plate features more outfits from her solo comic book including torn jeans, a crop-top, her more regular stocking boots, pajamas, and bunny slippers!

I really do like that this doll, thus far, has the most interchangeable options (and that will likely continue to be the case).

But not if I don’t get on the ball and get back to working on Harley & the Joker! I’ve fallen behind on this series, so this could be the last Monday Mayhem for a while! I can’t believe how quickly I ran out of buffer (what have I been doing for the last month? Oh: drawing Star Wars paper dolls). Well I promise I’ll try my best not to drop this series, but I confess I’m teetering on the edge of a great big hole at the moment ~ ha! Last night I did manage to draw and color two outfits, though, so I might make next week’s deadline yet.

As usual, you can find the doll by clicking on the Harley Quinn tag or in the menu at the right.

[Click on this link or the primary image in this post to download a printable .pdf of this plate]

Mistress of Mayhem: Harley Quinn’s Closet Plate No. 4

Harley Quinn paper dollIt’s Monday mayhem even in the face of President’s Day (or maybe that makes it even more appropriate?).

Today we have several outfits from Harley Quinn issue no. 9 (2014) in which Harley is abducted after a burlesque act involving a slinky space alien costume. The sparkly bodysuit was worn under the big-belted dress.

This makes total sense in the comic.

Anyway, she ends up in the lair of an obsessed fan from whom she borrows the less revealing attire of a turtleneck and black skirt, puts her hair up, and play psychiatrist to convince him to let her go (all while they eat pizza, so I really should have included some pizza accessories–gotta keep working on that aspect).

Even though there’s still a lot of red and black here at least it’s different, right?

You can find the doll by clicking on the Harley Quinn tag or in the menu at the right.

[Click on this link or the primary image in this post to download a printable .pdf of this plate]

Mistress of Mayhem: Harley Quinn’s Closet Plate No. 3

Harley Quinn paper dollThis Monday’s Mayhem brings you a new plate of very teeny-tiny outfits for Harley Quinn.

Harley Quinn has been overtly sexualized since her inception, but the artists who draw her in her solo series (typically Chad Hardin and John Timms on interiors, and Amanda Conner on covers) know how to make her sexy without being ridiculous. Yeah, she sometimes wanders around scantily-clad, but it’s never truly gratuitous and many opportunities to make it so are avoided. So, if she moonbathes on her rooftop in her purple bikini, it’s because she’s crazy like that and not because it’s an opportunity to put her in compromising positions to delight 13 year-old boys.

I actually bet the majority of Harley Quinn’s readership is, in fact, female, and the type who don’t put up with that sort of thing. Which is my long-winded way of saying yes, this week’s offerings include some very teeny-tiny outfits, but what’s to come is more along the lines of the pirate ensemble from Issue No. 3 (2014)–complete with buckle shoes and epaulets.

My favorite thing on this plate is her flip-flops. Was loathe to draw them, but pushed myself–and in doing so decided to make her footwear mix-match. Yay!

You can find the doll by clicking on the Harley Quinn tag below or in the menu at the right.

[Click on this link or the primary image in this post to download a printable .pdf of this plate]

Also: it’s officially Force February, so expect to see all-new Star Wars plates to begin posting on Wednesday.  Guess that means I’d better go finish them!

Mistress of Mayhem: Harley Quinn’s Closet Plate No. 2

Harley Quinn paper dollMonday Mayhem continues with some pretty traditional outfits for Harley Quinn. These are the costumes she wears most often in her new series: a basic bustier and hot pants with a jacket, and then her roller derby outfit.

When I originally drafted this doll, I made these costumes all one piece, but in my revision I thought it would be more fun if you could mix and match her footwear, so I separated the boots and roller skates out (and will continue to do this for future costumes).

We’ll be seeing more diverse outfits for Harley soon enough. She does have a lot of red & black to cycle through, but lots of fun stuff on the horizon.

Harley’s also about to undergo a style change and launch a new miniseries featuring her diverse gang. She’s become quite the anti-hero in the last couple of years. Read about her new mini-series here.

You can find the doll by clicking on the Harley Quinn tag below or in the menu at the right.

[Click on this link or the primary image in this post to download a printable .pdf of this platel]

 

 

 

Mistress of Mayhem: Harley Quinn’s Closet Plate No. 1

Harley_01_thumbWelcome to Mayhem Monday!

When Paul Dini & Bruce Timm created Harley Quinn in 1992 for Batman: the Animated Series, she was just a one-off sidekick with a tragic story. Fan response to her was so strong, however, that she became a semi-regular on the show and in 1999 made her crossover into the DC Comics canon. Since then she’s had a rocky career between artists and writers who didn’t seem to understand what to do with her. To complicate matters, the Joker had become so evil and so abusive that the team had to be split up, leaving Harley dangling without direction–until 2014 when Amanda Conner and Jimmy Palmiotti rescued Harley with a new solo series (Vol. 2).

While I appreciate getting Harley out of a homicidal relationship (she’s no role-model for girls, that’s for sure), I worried she’d be no fun without the Joker. But her new book is wildly popular and a huge step in the right direction: smartly written with a Harley as an antihero who is whole and interesting all by herself. Eventually she’s going to have to deal with the Joker again (they have such history and none of it’s resolved). I originally thought their relationship was unconscionably awful. Now I miss their Punch & Judy antics and wish they were back together. Alas, in this current climate of hyper-sensitive illusions of perfect feminism, it’s not likely ever going to happen (sigh).

But about the doll: just as the Joker has a lot of purple (and green), Harley’s costumes contain more than their share of red and black. There have been a few different variations on her Harlequin outfit (which she no longer wears), but, like with the Joker, I’ll just pick the most divergent styles.

BatmanHarleyQuinn_1999Otherwise, Harley has a good-sized wardrobe to draw from over the last 16 years. She wears a “uniform costume” like other comic book characters, but also sports civilian clothes in a large percentage of her stories.

I’ll be drawing heavily from her current series, but also occasionally dipping into her past in no particular order. Harley is making her big-screen live-action debut in Suicide Squad with Jared Leto’s Joker in 2016 (she’ll be played by Margot Robbie). Let’s just say I am mostly reserving judgment about the design decisions they have made with the movie version. Have to see the film before I know whether I’ll be making costumes from it.

[Click on this link or the primary image in this post to download a printable .pdf of the paper doll]